USB: works with Linux but not with Windows XP

[myemail.an]

Hi all,

I have a Dell Latitute D630 laptop with Windows XP SP2.

I have a problem with USB ports: the only USB device that works is a
Microsoft wired mouse. Everything else (keyboards, wireless mice, USB
keys, external hard drives) does not: every time I plug one of these
devices, Windows asks for the drivers but then fails to find them.
Evem if I install them first (e.g., as I did for a Microsoft wireless
mouse), when I connect the device Windows asks me for drivers anyway
and then fails to find them.

The IT department of my company (it's not a private laptop) has no
clue, nor does Dell. They made me run all sorts of diagnostics, and
the hardware is fine, as confirmed by Linux: I ran a Linux Live
Knoppix distribution (off the dvd, without installing on the hard
drive) and all the USB devices I mentioned work perfectly under Linux!

Dell suggested I get in touch with Microsoft, but those @@###$$## want
£ 46 for the "support" even if it's a brand new laptop. My company is
not willing to pay for that, nor am I willing to spend my money to fix
the company's laptop!

Dell made me upgrade the Bios and a number of drivers, but nothing
changed.

The only alternative they proposed was the classic IT "solution", the
equivalent of killing a mosquito with a nuclear bomb: reformatting the
hard drive and reinstalling everything from scratch, which would be
very annoying and time-consuming.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a Dell Latitute D630 laptop with Windows XP SP2.

I have a problem with USB ports: the only USB device that works is a
Microsoft wired mouse. Everything else (keyboards, wireless mice,
USB keys, external hard drives) does not: every time I plug one of
these devices, Windows asks for the drivers but then fails to find
them. Evem if I install them first (e.g., as I did for a Microsoft
wireless mouse), when I connect the device Windows asks me for
drivers anyway and then fails to find them.

The IT department of my company (it's not a private laptop) has no
clue, nor does Dell. They made me run all sorts of diagnostics, and
the hardware is fine, as confirmed by Linux: I ran a Linux Live
Knoppix distribution (off the dvd, without installing on the hard
drive) and all the USB devices I mentioned work perfectly under
Linux!

Dell suggested I get in touch with Microsoft, but those @@###$$##
want £ 46 for the "support" even if it's a brand new laptop. My
company is not willing to pay for that, nor am I willing to spend
my money to fix the company's laptop!

Dell made me upgrade the Bios and a number of drivers, but nothing
changed.

The only alternative they proposed was the classic IT "solution",
the equivalent of killing a mosquito with a nuclear bomb:
reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling everything from
scratch, which would be very annoying and time-consuming.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Since you have talked with Dell - I assume they had you install the latest
Motherboard Chipset drivers in Windows XP as well?

Otherwise - 4 hours (8 at the tops) for the IT department to backup entirely
and install anew the laptop (with the ability to restore it back to what it
was before if the installation does not fix it and have Dell replace the
laptop as a whole.) or - how many hours have you put into this yourself now?

Of course - I may be over-estimating your IT departments abilities.

 

[myemail.an]

Since you have talked with Dell - I assume they had you install the latest
Motherboard Chipset drivers in Windows XP as well?

Yes, they had.

Otherwise - 4 hours (8 at the tops) for the IT department to backup entirely
and install anew the laptop (with the ability to restore it back to what it
was before if the installation does not fix it and have Dell replace the
laptop as a whole.) or - how many hours have you put into this yourself now?

What annoys me is the idle time: I'll have to be most of the day
without working and then pull crazy hours to catch up
But it's probably better than keep wasting a lot of time anyway.
My reservation is, there is no guarantee this would work and they have
no clue: they're just proposing this because they have no idea at all.

Of course - I may be over-estimating your IT departments abilities.

I'd rather not comment on that

 

[RalfG]

Part of Dell's deal to buy bulk licenced OEM software from MS at a deep
discount is that Dell is responsible to provide all the OS related software
support to their own customers.. that's why MS support isn't available to
you for free.

Anyways, was one of the trouble shooting steps to uninstall the hidden USB
devices? I've seen where once Windows associates a device (incorrectly or
through corrupt drivers) with the default "Unknown" device driver it may
continue to do so even after the correct drivers are installed. Uninstalling
these Unknown devices is a neccessary step. In order to make them visible
any time you require it, add the following to the User Environment variables
(Advanced tab in System properties).

DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES and enter a value of 1, click ok to
finalise.

After rebooting when you go into Device manager and select Show Hidden
Devices from the View menu all of the installed but non-present/detected
device entries will show up. Uninstall those in Device manager then shut
down and unplug the USB devices that weren't detected properly. After
Windows is rebooted, install driver software as neccessary and plug in each
of the USB devices. The devices should hopefully be detected and install
properly this time.

 

[Uwe Sieber]

Maybe this helps:
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html#xp_asks_for_drivers