USB devices slow boot time of Windows XP Professional

[Dade Murphy]

Anyone got an idea what would cause a system to boot slower only when the
USB devices are connected. The system in question is:

AMD 64 3000+ CPU
Soltek SL-K8AV-R Motherboard
1024mb PC400 Memory
Soltek SL-5700-QD Graphics Card
2 * Seagate 120Gig Sata Baracuda 7200 running Raid 0
Windows XP Professional

USB Devices used include:

Genius optical superior mouse
Genius 8 in 1 card reader
Sony Ericson docking station
Genius USB Keyboard
Canon Printer

Also had an instance where the computer blue screen with IRQ NOT LESS OR
EQUAL and rebooted only to find that one of the drives in the raid config
had been lost in the raid array but was being detected though.

Any Ideas out there?

 

[Nathan McNulty]

The two USB Devices that stick out to me are the card reader and the
docking station. Windows needs to load drivers for those and anything
that is connected to them as well as allocate the card reader as a disk
drive. Whenever you have extra devices connected, it is going to need
to load those drivers.

I don't think that these extra devices connected should decrease the
bootup time so much that you can actually notice a difference. The only
thing I can think of is that one of the devices aren't installing
properly or something that is causing it to hang a bit.

 

[Dade Murphy]

I would of thought that myself buti have now had a chance to really look at
the problem and puzzling to say the least is how best you could describe it.
Using standard ps/2 mouse the machine boots fine and does not seem to hassle
at all. I found that the pc would take excessive time between the text boot
of windows xp and the gui during the inialization of the usb devices only
when the USB mouse was connected. Then when in windows the mouse wouldnt
work and you had to unplug it and then reconnect it and it would work. I
grabbed a new mouse of different model and booted up and went quickly, only
because it hadnt been added to the device list yet. On reboot the same thing
happend again, as well as not being usable unless unplugged and replugged
back in. I would watch the optical sensor on the mouse switch on and off
multiple times during this wait period. as for drivers ... the running off
the standard hid compliant drivers. Strange huh?

 

[Jim Macklin]

How is the USB shown in the BIOS? It could be that the USB
support on the mobo and the Windows USB drivers have some
conflict. I don't know about any issues with your
mobo/BIOS, but you might want to check for any update that
addresses such an issue.
Also, you didn't say exactly what USB mouse/driver
combination you're using, but there could be an issue there
too. Does the Genius mouse use some special drivers? Have
you looked for any issues on their website?


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.




| I would of thought that myself buti have now had a chance
to really look at
| the problem and puzzling to say the least is how best you
could describe it.
| Using standard ps/2 mouse the machine boots fine and does
not seem to hassle
| at all. I found that the pc would take excessive time
between the text boot
| of windows xp and the gui during the inialization of the
usb devices only
| when the USB mouse was connected. Then when in windows the
mouse wouldnt
| work and you had to unplug it and then reconnect it and it
would work. I
| grabbed a new mouse of different model and booted up and
went quickly, only
| because it hadnt been added to the device list yet. On
reboot the same thing
| happend again, as well as not being usable unless
unplugged and replugged
| back in. I would watch the optical sensor on the mouse
switch on and off
| multiple times during this wait period. as for drivers ...
the running off
| the standard hid compliant drivers. Strange huh?
|
|
| | > The two USB Devices that stick out to me are the card
reader and the
| > docking station. Windows needs to load drivers for
those and anything
| > that is connected to them as well as allocate the card
reader as a disk
| > drive. Whenever you have extra devices connected, it is
going to need to
| > load those drivers.
| >
| > I don't think that these extra devices connected should
decrease the
| > bootup time so much that you can actually notice a
difference. The only
| > thing I can think of is that one of the devices aren't
installing properly
| > or something that is causing it to hang a bit.
| >
| > ----
| > Nathan McNulty
| >
| > Dade Murphy wrote:
| >> Anyone got an idea what would cause a system to boot
slower only when the
| >> USB devices are connected. The system in question is:
| >>
| >> AMD 64 3000+ CPU
| >> Soltek SL-K8AV-R Motherboard
| >> 1024mb PC400 Memory
| >> Soltek SL-5700-QD Graphics Card
| >> 2 * Seagate 120Gig Sata Baracuda 7200 running Raid 0
| >> Windows XP Professional
| >>
| >> USB Devices used include:
| >>
| >> Genius optical superior mouse
| >> Genius 8 in 1 card reader
| >> Sony Ericson docking station
| >> Genius USB Keyboard
| >> Canon Printer
| >>
| >> Also had an instance where the computer blue screen
with IRQ NOT LESS OR
| >> EQUAL and rebooted only to find that one of the drives
in the raid config
| >> had been lost in the raid array but was being detected
though.
| >>
| >> Any Ideas out there?
|
|

 

[Dade Murphy]

Not sure if anyone got a clue on this ...

I found that by disabling the EHCI in the BIOS for the board my problem
would go away and the mouse would work fine. The problem with that though is
that i no longer have USB 2.0 available. I dont think the EHCI is faulty
mainly cause i can boot in fine and if i plug the mouse in it is recognized
and works. Just doesnt like being connected while booting. I am not sure if
it is just poor impliimentation of the USB on the board of a software/driver
issue with USB 2.0 and Windows XP. With EHCI enabled i can still use the USB
normally just not have a mouse connected while booting. It seems like the
USB controller gets confused with the feedback from the mouse during the
polling on boot up and because of the confusing feedback it just disables
the mouse and continues the boot process ... well thats my theory anyways.