USB Port repair

[Sid Elbow]

I seem to have lost some functionality in my usb ports. Some devices
seem to work fine in any position, some devices don't work.

Sometimes when I plug in a device I get an error window which states:

"An error occurred during installation of the device.

The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for
this device instance."

The problem, which has only recently surfaced might be related to the
fact that I physically removed (with power off) one of those built-in
multiple memory card readers (which never worked properly anyway) which
was connected to the internal (motherboard) usb connector. The problem
dates from around that time but I can't say positively it's related.


Device manager is showing (amongst a bunch of other entries) an "Unknown
Device". I tried removing that and rebooting but it comes back.

Is it safe to remove all the device manager entries under USB
Controllers and reboot/redetect. If so should I unplug all the external
usb devices during the process?

 

[philo]

I seem to have lost some functionality in my usb ports. Some devices seem
to work fine in any position, some devices don't work.

Sometimes when I plug in a device I get an error window which states:

"An error occurred during installation of the device.

The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for
this device instance."

The problem, which has only recently surfaced might be related to the fact
that I physically removed (with power off) one of those built-in multiple
memory card readers (which never worked properly anyway) which was
connected to the internal (motherboard) usb connector. The problem dates
from around that time but I can't say positively it's related.


Device manager is showing (amongst a bunch of other entries) an "Unknown
Device". I tried removing that and rebooting but it comes back.

Is it safe to remove all the device manager entries under USB Controllers
and reboot/redetect. If so should I unplug all the external usb devices
during the process?

Yes....you can remove all USB entries in device manager
then reboot.

If your USB ports still do not function...
you can just add a USB-2 card and forget about your built-in ports

 

[Sid Elbow]

Yes....you can remove all USB entries in device manager
then reboot.

If your USB ports still do not function...
you can just add a USB-2 card and forget about your built-in ports

Thanks, Philo - I'll try removing all the entries then.

In the meantime I remembered that I have another partition running XP on
this machine, booted that and found the same problem. It's beginning to
look like hardware.

I did try reinstalling the motherboard USB driver which initially got
rid of the "Unknown Device" error but didn't help the operational
problem. When I rebooted, the "Unknown Device" error returned.

Good point about the USB card - I hadn't thought of that.

 

[philo]

Thanks, Philo - I'll try removing all the entries then.

In the meantime I remembered that I have another partition running XP on
this machine, booted that and found the same problem. It's beginning to
look like hardware.

I did try reinstalling the motherboard USB driver which initially got rid
of the "Unknown Device" error but didn't help the operational problem.
When I rebooted, the "Unknown Device" error returned.

Good point about the USB card - I hadn't thought of that.

The USB2 card should do the trick

but also have a look in the bios...to be sure that USB is enabled...

some boards have the option to disable USB (Don't know why)

 

[Sid Elbow]

The USB2 card should do the trick
but also have a look in the bios...to be sure that USB is enabled...
some boards have the option to disable USB (Don't know why)

I hadn't touched the BIOS before the problem showed up but I did, in
fact, check it this morning (no joy). Removing/redetecting the whole USB
tree didn't help either (although I no longer have an "Unknown Device"
in that tree).

I still get the error message on some devices, but not others. All
devices do work on another machine.

As far as disabling USB in the BIOS .... I would think that's exactly
what you'd want to do if you were going to dump the onboard USB and go
with a plugin USB card. And I think I'll be going that route. I located
a nice 4 + 2 card, inexpensive enough that it probably isn't worth
spending more time on the built-ins any more. Particularly as my XP boot
partition is seeing the same problem suggesting that it's not a Windows
setup thing.

 

[philo]

I hadn't touched the BIOS before the problem showed up but I did, in fact,
check it this morning (no joy). Removing/redetecting the whole USB tree
didn't help either (although I no longer have an "Unknown Device" in that
tree).

I still get the error message on some devices, but not others. All devices
do work on another machine.

As far as disabling USB in the BIOS .... I would think that's exactly what
you'd want to do if you were going to dump the onboard USB and go with a
plugin USB card. And I think I'll be going that route. I located a nice 4
+ 2 card, inexpensive enough that it probably isn't worth spending more
time on the built-ins any more. Particularly as my XP boot partition is
seeing the same problem suggesting that it's not a Windows setup thing.

Yes...
I'd just get the card