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USB devices not recognized in certain ports

This is something that is getting on my last nerve. I used to have three USB devices: a flash drive, an external hard drive and a laptop cooler. Each had it own port and all was right with the world. I now have a second hard drive and want to use it. However, it only works in one port. I discover all my other devices will only work in their port.

Worse, the port that the laptop cooler was in doesn't recognize data from flash drives (however it will recognize external hard drives but not assign a drive letter nor allow it to show up in device manager).

So now I am stuck with only two USB ports that access data with three data devices, soon to get a fourth.

It is window XP so what can I do, TFP?

I have found that in 2 different computer my USB ports are not very durable. I have killed 2 of them buy pulling things in and out as designed. The outside collar deforms quite easily. The flat board breaks easily.

I just find that USB is really much more delicate than say a headphone/mic jack, DB9, PS2 port, etc.

Get a hub for one of the working ports.

You have looked in compmgmt.msc and checked the disk management, right? If you use multiple USB drives on one PC, many times they get a drive letter stuck on them and you have to change it in disk management in order to let other USB devices work on that port. Happens all the time at work. I usually change the drive letter away from E or F and to L, M, or N, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ubertuber

Get a hub for one of the working ports.

I no longer use hubs as all of them I use which say 2.0 compatible bottle neck the speed like it was 1.0.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasereth

No luck trying that either. I have changed the device letters and they still only work in the port they are seemingly assigned.

My laptop has some pretty stunning problems with its USB ports. The devices (I usually have a mouse and a keyboard) do a lot of locking up and are recognized only sporadically by the machine. It's a real pain in the ass when gaming, and it's sometimes more temperamental than others. Just off the cuff, I'd imagine that the problems we're both experiencing are a combination of what Cynthetiq described (that USB ports just aren't the most durable things out there) and the fact that we're slowly frying our mobos because our laptops overheat. I don't think there's a quick, easy or inexpensive fix, unfotunately.

Guys, the ports still work. The problem is with Windows. I know it can work because my friend in Linux never has this problem and his laptop is almost 10 years old.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

Guys, the ports still work. The problem is with Windows. I know it can work because my friend in Linux never has this problem and his laptop is almost 10 years old.

I have a 10 year old laptop that has perfect USB ports. I only use them when travelling to transfer photos from the card reader to the laptop.

My desktop is only 2 years old and I've already busted one of the front case ports just from plugging and unplugging a drive, headphones, and ipod adapter.

If you said I ran linux on it and the USB ports still work without any problems, I'd agree with you. Beyond that I'm sticking with that the USB port may be damaged, even slightly.

Well the goddamned laptop won't recognize my external hard drive again. The port works, other USB devices are recognized in it. The drive is good, other computers see the data.

I have this issue also. Sometimes it will recognize my camera, sometimes it doesn't. All of my ports on my newest PC are doing this now. It is a huge PITA.

First M$ article that comes up on a Google search:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817900

I actually encountered this the other day with my iogear USB video card (so I can dual screen at work.)

I called iogear tech support because I thought I fried my unit and would require warranty service.

I had to do all these types of things to get the unit back to working and it didn't work. I was even prepared and looking to buy a new one.

I came in to work in the morning and started the machine after an overnight shutdown. Thinking the unit dead, doing my work on one screen. I then decided I needed to see an email and check it against something in an online database so I moved the email to screen number 1 out of habit. I was shocked as I realized it moved!

Here's what's odd: My family's computer (XP Pro Corp, ASUS A7N8X or something, few years old) had an issue like this at one point. My brother's iPod apparently only worked in one port.

Knock on wood, but I've never had this issue with my desktop. I've been through two different ABIT motherboards, and no issues of that sort.

Just as a hunch, do you usually run the remove hardware wizard before unplugging your devices..? If you're having a problem w/device enumeration, try booting into safe mode and removing all usb related controllers and letting them reinstall fresh upon reboot before plugging something else in...You may also need to make sure there are no updated drivers for your mobo or bios upgrades available...

@ AYHJA:

I found an article, linked here (<a href="#article1">1st article</a> embedded below), that describes a procedure for removing USB drivers. Needless to say, telling windows to delete anything system related has me worried, let along the USB peripheral devices, HID and/or Composite USB, USB Root Hub(s), and USB Host Controller(s).

Sony's EU Customer Support describes the exact same procedure (<a href="#article2">2nd article</a>).

Quote:

View: Cleanup Windows Device Manager // Source: Usbman (http://www.usbman.com)

Abstract: "Cleaning Up the Device Manager while running in Windows Safe Mode is the first step in resolving hardware conflicts in Windows." click to show

This post created with FASS

Quote:

View: Removing USB entries from the Windows Device Manager // Source: Sonydigital-link (http://www.sonydigital-link.com)

Abstract: "Cleaning up USB can only be done when your computer is in SAFE MODE." click to show

This post created with FASS

this happened again to me, but this time I shut down the computer before removing the USB device.

I added the device back on a before a power on, and no worky... so I disabled, restarted. Renenabled and it came back to life.

strange.