USB trouble

[Jim Ludwig]

Hi all,
I have recently had some new usb problems that I can't explain. I have an
older Gateway P4 running
WinXP that has 2 front usb 1.0 ports and 2 rear usb 1.0 ports. I have also
installed a pci usb 2.0 card some time ago. Recently, the built in ports
have stopped working properly. If I plug my thumb drive into the front
port, it is recognized and shows up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
However, I can't access the files on it. I get an error message about
input/output problems. Also, I have an HP Photosmart multifunction printer
plugged into the back. I keep getting balloon notifications down in the
system tray telling me that my HP Multifunction device has been
disconnected, but of course it hasn't. Furthermore, I can't print to this
printer at all. If I send a print job, the printer comes alive and I see
the status screen behaving as if it were taking in all the data prior to
printing. However, this goes on way longer than it should and finally, the
printer spits out a paper with maybe on line printed on it or if the type
was large, only half the line will be printed. So far, it appears that my
pci card is working fine. Also, there are no conflicts in Device Manager.
So evidentally, I'm having some sort of input/output issue. Any thoughts to
what is going on here?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Jim]

Hi all,
I have recently had some new usb problems that I can't explain. I have an
older Gateway P4 running
WinXP that has 2 front usb 1.0 ports and 2 rear usb 1.0 ports. I have also
installed a pci usb 2.0 card some time ago. Recently, the built in ports
have stopped working properly. If I plug my thumb drive into the front
port, it is recognized and shows up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
However, I can't access the files on it. I get an error message about
input/output problems. Also, I have an HP Photosmart multifunction printer
plugged into the back. I keep getting balloon notifications down in the
system tray telling me that my HP Multifunction device has been
disconnected, but of course it hasn't. Furthermore, I can't print to this
printer at all. If I send a print job, the printer comes alive and I see
the status screen behaving as if it were taking in all the data prior to
printing. However, this goes on way longer than it should and finally, the
printer spits out a paper with maybe on line printed on it or if the type
was large, only half the line will be printed. So far, it appears that my
pci card is working fine. Also, there are no conflicts in Device Manager.
So evidentally, I'm having some sort of input/output issue. Any thoughts to
what is going on here?
Thanks,
Jim

Upgrade the usb 1.0 sockets to usb 2.0 .

 

[SC Tom]

Hi all,
I have recently had some new usb problems that I can't explain. I have an
older Gateway P4 running
WinXP that has 2 front usb 1.0 ports and 2 rear usb 1.0 ports. I have
also
installed a pci usb 2.0 card some time ago. Recently, the built in ports
have stopped working properly. If I plug my thumb drive into the front
port, it is recognized and shows up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.
However, I can't access the files on it. I get an error message about
input/output problems. Also, I have an HP Photosmart multifunction
printer
plugged into the back. I keep getting balloon notifications down in the
system tray telling me that my HP Multifunction device has been
disconnected, but of course it hasn't. Furthermore, I can't print to this
printer at all. If I send a print job, the printer comes alive and I see
the status screen behaving as if it were taking in all the data prior to
printing. However, this goes on way longer than it should and finally,
the
printer spits out a paper with maybe on line printed on it or if the type
was large, only half the line will be printed. So far, it appears that my
pci card is working fine. Also, there are no conflicts in Device Manager.
So evidentally, I'm having some sort of input/output issue. Any thoughts
to
what is going on here?
Thanks,
Jim

You're more likely to get better results from fewer answers if you cross
post instead of multi-post.

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

SC Tom

 

[Roy Smith]

Upgrade the usb 1.0 sockets to usb 2.0 .

It may not be possible for the average user to do that if the 1.0 USB
ports are built into the motherboard. Did you miss this line in the
OP's message?

I doubt that it would be as simple as swapping a chip on the
motherboard. Chances are that pin requirements wouldn't be the same
between both chips. If they are the same, then chances are the chip is
surface mounted and the average user would not have the required
equipment or skills needed to do the task.

 

[Jim Ludwig]

An update...
Tonight when my computer booted up, windows detected new hardware. It found
a "USB Composite Device". I don't know what this is and every time it tried
to automatically install a driver for it, the computer rebooted itself right
after it created a restore point. So far, I am not able to install the
driver for whatever this is. I would install from a disk, if I knew what
disc to use. Any thoughts about this? Is this related to my original
issue?
Thanks again,
Jim

 

[Jim Ludwig]

SC Tom,
What is the difference between cross posting and multi posting? Also, what
do I need to do differently to do one or the other?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Raymond Shaw]

SC Tom,
What is the difference between cross posting and multi posting? Also, what
do I need to do differently to do one or the other?
Thanks,
Jim

Googling would have been a way to get your answer.

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

 

[Paul]

An update...
Tonight when my computer booted up, windows detected new hardware. It
found a "USB Composite Device". I don't know what this is and every
time it tried to automatically install a driver for it, the computer
rebooted itself right after it created a restore point. So far, I am
not able to install the driver for whatever this is. I would install
from a disk, if I knew what disc to use. Any thoughts about this? Is
this related to my original issue?
Thanks again,
Jim

Would the USB Composite Device be your printer ? Where is
the printer plugged in right now ? Have you un-installed
the printer software perhaps ? Did you follow the
instructions for the printer installation (some
require the device plugged in, before installation,
others require it after installation) ?

Paul

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

SC Tom,
What is the difference between cross posting and multi posting? Also, what
do I need to do differently to do one or the other?

I'm not SC Tom, but here's my standard message on the subject:

Please do not send the same message separately to more than one
newsgroup (called multiposting). Doing so just fragments the thread,
so someone who answers in one newsgroup doesn't get to see answers
from others in another newsgroup. And for those who read all the
newsgroups the message is multiposted to, they see the message
multiple times instead of once (they would see it only once if you
correctly crossposted instead). This wastes everyone's time, and gets
you poorer help than you should get.

If you must send the same message to more than one newsgroup, please
do so by crossposting -- sending a single message simultaneously to
multiple newsgroups (but only to a *few* related newsgroups).

Please see "Multiposting vs Crossposting" at
http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

 

[Jim Ludwig]

Paul,
You are on the right track with this I think. I did indeed have the printer
plugged into my PCI USB 2.0 card before I installed the software. So I
uninstalled the software and started from scratch. There comes a point in
the software installation when it prompts me to plug the printer into the
usb slot. When I do, the found new hardware wizard starts saying it
detected usb composite device. Again though, it creates a restore point and
while the graphic of the files being transferred is on the screen, the
computer reboots itself and my installation fails. So then I discovered
that I can install the software and bypass plugging in the printer until
later. So I did this and removed the driver disc from the drive. However,
every time I try plugging the printer into the port, I get the same
rebooting result. It evidently finds the necessary driver on the hard drive
somewhere (that's why I took the cd out because I didn't know where it was
tying to find the driver), but it can't install it. Also, as long as I keep
the printer plugged in, I get the wizard everytime the computer boots. Any
ideas as to what is causing the computer to reboot?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Paul]

Paul,
You are on the right track with this I think. I did indeed have the
printer plugged into my PCI USB 2.0 card before I installed the
software. So I uninstalled the software and started from scratch.
There comes a point in the software installation when it prompts me to
plug the printer into the usb slot. When I do, the found new hardware
wizard starts saying it detected usb composite device. Again though, it
creates a restore point and while the graphic of the files being
transferred is on the screen, the computer reboots itself and my
installation fails. So then I discovered that I can install the
software and bypass plugging in the printer until later. So I did this
and removed the driver disc from the drive. However, every time I try
plugging the printer into the port, I get the same rebooting result. It
evidently finds the necessary driver on the hard drive somewhere (that's
why I took the cd out because I didn't know where it was tying to find
the driver), but it can't install it. Also, as long as I keep the
printer plugged in, I get the wizard everytime the computer boots. Any
ideas as to what is causing the computer to reboot?
Thanks,
Jim

The reboot can be because of a crash. Do you see a blue screen with
an error message flash by ? It is possible to prevent immediate
rebooting, by a setting in a control panel.

Control Panels:System:Advanced:Startup and Recovery:untick Automatically restart

If you're getting a BSOD, now you should be able to see the error
number.

If, on the other hand, the crash and reboot is more uncontrolled, you
may get different symptoms.

I don't know too many tricks for dealing with these giant
printer software packages. On the one hand, you can try to
clean out the USB stack (and then let Windows rediscover the
hardware again). That may help if something is lodged in the
registry, which is upsetting things.

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Cleanup Device Manager Safe Mode.htm

" Windows Safe Mode

The order of removal must be followed exactly

* Delete USB peripheral devices (Scanners, Printers, Cameras etc.)
* Delete HID and/or Composite USB (Human Interface Devices)
* Delete USB Root Hub(s) (Universal Host Controllers)
* Delete USB Host Controller(s) (Universal Host Controllers) "

There is a setupapi.log file on the computer, and sometimes the
tail end of that file has interesting stuff in it. For the moment,
I'd try to capture a BSOD, if that is what is happening. Maybe
it'll hint at the problem.

Actually, I do have another suggestion for you. In your initial
posting, you indicate that the built-in USB is in sad shape,
while the USB PCI card works fine. If you aren't using a USB
keyboard, I might be tempted to move all USB devices
to the USB PCI card, and then go into the BIOS and disable
the built-in USB. Maybe this reboot problem is related to
Windows having a look at your "sad" USB hardware and
encountering a problem there.

I don't think a USB keyboard will work with a USB PCI card,
to give you access to the BIOS. For that, you should try a
PS/2 keyboard instead. The PCI card is good once you're out
of the BIOS, but while in the BIOS, there are limits as to
what hardware is supported. If you want a keyboard to work
in the BIOS, it should be PS/2 type, or if it is USB, it
should be plugged into the built-in USB ports (USB ports on
the motherboard chipset, are the ones that get supported).

There is only one chipset, which seems to be subject to a
significant number of failures on USB. The Intel chipset
with an ICH5 or ICH5R Southbridge, tends to get bad USB ports.
I've probably seen at least twenty posts now, involving stuff
like that. The really unlucky people, end up with a burned
chip like this one. The funny thing is, I have a motherboard
with one of these on it. I like to pretend it is a
ticking time bomb The chip has no heatsink, so it is
easy to check for the burn mark.

http://onfinite.com/libraries/179057/2ea.jpg

Paul

 

[Jim Ludwig]

Paul,
Two things...
First, I learned so much just from your reply to my post. You are obviously
pretty knowledgable about this stuff. Thank you for the informative reply.
Second, your suggestion indeed worked. I deleted the entire usb stack from
device manager and let everything reload itself on a reboot and that fixed
all my problems. As I mention in my OP that I have installed a PCI USB 2.0
card. I used the driver from the cd that came with the card. Recently, I
upgraded to Win XP Service Pack 3. After I wiped the stack clean, I just
let XP load all of its native drivers and everything seems to be working
fine. Thank you very much for your assistance.
Jim

 

[Paul]

Paul,
Two things...
First, I learned so much just from your reply to my post. You are
obviously pretty knowledgable about this stuff. Thank you for the
informative reply.
Second, your suggestion indeed worked. I deleted the entire usb stack
from device manager and let everything reload itself on a reboot and
that fixed all my problems. As I mention in my OP that I have installed
a PCI USB 2.0 card. I used the driver from the cd that came with the
card. Recently, I upgraded to Win XP Service Pack 3. After I wiped the
stack clean, I just let XP load all of its native drivers and everything
seems to be working fine. Thank you very much for your assistance.
Jim

Not that knowledgeable Glad it worked out for you.

Paul