adding USB ports

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jo-Anne
  • Start date Start date
J

Jo-Anne

My desktop computer isn't functioning well, and I've been forced to use my
laptop--a Dell Precision--as my main computer (both computers run WinXP). I
have only three USB ports on the laptop, and I've been using a powered
Kensington USB hub. It's not working very well, however. I can't use my
mouse plugged into it at all, and my keyboard (an old one) works but is
acting flaky.

Is there something that would work better to add USB ports to the laptop? I
hesitate buying a docking station (Dell wants around $130 for a docking
station for this laptop), given that I hope not to keep the laptop as my
main computer too much longer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne
 
Jo-Anne said:
My desktop computer isn't functioning well, and I've been forced to use my
laptop--a Dell Precision--as my main computer (both computers run WinXP).
I have only three USB ports on the laptop, and I've been using a powered
Kensington USB hub. It's not working very well, however. I can't use my
mouse plugged into it at all, and my keyboard (an old one) works but is
acting flaky.

Is there something that would work better to add USB ports to the laptop?
I hesitate buying a docking station (Dell wants around $130 for a docking
station for this laptop), given that I hope not to keep the laptop as my
main computer too much longer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...
Is it possible that the power brick for the hub isn't working? Do you maybe
have one from another external device that's the same voltage/polarity/plug
size? I have a small 7-port powered hub I got from Amazon for ~$16 (Zonet
USB2.0 Powered Hub) that worked fine for about a year, then started acting
flaky with my game controller and mouse. Through trial and error, I found
out that the power supply for it died. I had another one that was the same
voltage and wattage, but I had to splice the plug from the old one to the
new one. I haven't had any trouble with it since :-)
 
SC Tom said:
Is it possible that the power brick for the hub isn't working? Do you
maybe have one from another external device that's the same
voltage/polarity/plug size? I have a small 7-port powered hub I got from
Amazon for ~$16 (Zonet USB2.0 Powered Hub) that worked fine for about a
year, then started acting flaky with my game controller and mouse. Through
trial and error, I found out that the power supply for it died. I had
another one that was the same voltage and wattage, but I had to splice the
plug from the old one to the new one. I haven't had any trouble with it
since :-)
Click to expand...

Thank you, SC Tom! I'll see if I can find another power supply to try. If
not, maybe it's time to buy a new hub. Mine is at least a couple years old.

Jo-Anne
 
Jo-Anne said:
Thank you, SC Tom! I'll see if I can find another power supply to try. If
not, maybe it's time to buy a new hub. Mine is at least a couple years
old.

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...
You can check it with a volt meter if you or the hubby have one, or have
access to one, or one of those cheapie probe lights if you can find one that
registers voltage as low as the power supply puts out (probably around 5V).
 
SC Tom said:
You can check it with a volt meter if you or the hubby have one, or have
access to one, or one of those cheapie probe lights if you can find one
that registers voltage as low as the power supply puts out (probably
around 5V).
Click to expand...

We do have a volt meter, and it definitely is worth checking. Thank you!
I've also been looking at Amazon's collection of hubs, and I can get a new
Belkin 7-port for as little as $16 or a 4-port for $14 (or even $7 for one
without its own power).

Jo-Anne
 
Jo-Anne said:
We do have a volt meter, and it definitely is worth checking. Thank you!
I've also been looking at Amazon's collection of hubs, and I can get a new
Belkin 7-port for as little as $16 or a 4-port for $14 (or even $7 for one
without its own power).

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...
I would opt for a powered one just for the fact that it takes the load off
your laptop's power supply. The more devices added, the more drag on the
internal PS, and most laptops don't have a lot to spare.
 
SC Tom said:
I would opt for a powered one just for the fact that it takes the load off
your laptop's power supply. The more devices added, the more drag on the
internal PS, and most laptops don't have a lot to spare.
Click to expand...

Thank you again, SC Tom! But what about when the laptop is kept plugged
in--which is how I'm using it right now.

Jo-Anne
 
Thank you again, SC Tom! But what about when the laptop is kept plugged
in--which is how I'm using it right now.

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...

Some USB widgets draw as much as 250 mA. The danger, whether your
laptop is plugged in or not, as what happens to the chipset that
drives the USB ports when you overload the power rails; some chipsets
semi-destruct, making the whole MoBo as flaky as a good pie crust.

I vote for a powered external hub for almost any USB widgets other
than keyboard and mouse. Better safe than sorry.
 
Jo-Anne said:
Thank you again, SC Tom! But what about when the laptop is kept plugged
in--which is how I'm using it right now.

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...
What Bob said.
The reason I bought a powered USB hub was that at the time, I had a USB
keyboard, wireless mouse dongle, and an external sound card. Then I bought
an Xbox360 game controller and plugged it into the PC ports along with all
the rest of that stuff (I have 7 ports on my PC). As soon as I fired up a
game that used the Xbox controller, the sound would come out like Jimi
Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner. The only way to get it right again
was to unplug the controller, reboot, then plug it back in. But then, the
sound would mess up again on the next usage. After checking in Device
Manager, I found that the darn thing draws 500mA! Add that to what the rest
of the devices were drawing, that had to be close to the limit, I would
think. So I bought the powered hub and have my keyboard and mouse plugged
into the PC and everything else into the powered hub. All is well now in USB
land.
Much as I like Jimi, I prefer to listen to him when I choose :-)
 
You likely need a self powered" hub, e.g. one that includes it's own power
cable. Otherwise the 500 Ma the pc provides for ONE port is not enough for
the hubs many ports. Something has to go if the power requirements of all
attached devices exceeds that 500Ma. Self powered hubs provide the 500Ma to
each port separately, e.g. 500 x "#of ports", using nothing from the pc for
power.

Although most devices today use relatively little power, a Logitech
RunblePad uses 500Ma just itself. You can go into device manager and look
under the usb branch for a dialog says Power, each port listed will have it.
Add up what the various devices you use require.
 
Bob Willard said:
Some USB widgets draw as much as 250 mA. The danger, whether your
laptop is plugged in or not, as what happens to the chipset that
drives the USB ports when you overload the power rails; some chipsets
semi-destruct, making the whole MoBo as flaky as a good pie crust.

I vote for a powered external hub for almost any USB widgets other
than keyboard and mouse. Better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...


Thank you, Bob! You've clarified the issue for me, and I'll definitely look
for another powered USB hub.

Jo-Anne
 
SC Tom said:
What Bob said.
The reason I bought a powered USB hub was that at the time, I had a USB
keyboard, wireless mouse dongle, and an external sound card. Then I bought
an Xbox360 game controller and plugged it into the PC ports along with all
the rest of that stuff (I have 7 ports on my PC). As soon as I fired up a
game that used the Xbox controller, the sound would come out like Jimi
Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner. The only way to get it right
again was to unplug the controller, reboot, then plug it back in. But
then, the sound would mess up again on the next usage. After checking in
Device Manager, I found that the darn thing draws 500mA! Add that to what
the rest of the devices were drawing, that had to be close to the limit, I
would think. So I bought the powered hub and have my keyboard and mouse
plugged into the PC and everything else into the powered hub. All is well
now in USB land.
Much as I like Jimi, I prefer to listen to him when I choose :-)
Click to expand...


Thank you, SC Tom! I had no idea the various USB devices could use so much
power. I'll definitely look out for at least a powered hub--but maybe will
splurge on the docking station so I can at least get my old printer into a
parallel port instead of having to use a USB to parallel cable for it...

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne
 
My desktop computer isn't functioning well, and I've been forced to use my
laptop--a Dell Precision--as my main computer (both computers run WinXP). I
have only three USB ports on the laptop, and I've been using a powered
Kensington USB hub. It's not working very well, however. I can't use my
mouse plugged into it at all, and my keyboard (an old one) works but is
acting flaky.

Is there something that would work better to add USB ports to the laptop? I
hesitate buying a docking station (Dell wants around $130 for a docking
station for this laptop), given that I hope not to keep the laptop as my
main computer too much longer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne
Click to expand...

I've often had a lot of problems with various USB hubs of mine. One
which was powered seemed to be very flakey, until I took the external
power supply off it, and let it get powered by the system's own USB
ports. It got more stable after that, for a while at least.

Yousuf Khan
 
Yousuf Khan said:
I've often had a lot of problems with various USB hubs of mine. One which
was powered seemed to be very flakey, until I took the external power
supply off it, and let it get powered by the system's own USB ports. It
got more stable after that, for a while at least.

Yousuf Khan
Click to expand...


Thank you, Yousuf Khan! I've often heard that USB hubs get flakey over time.
I guess I'll try another one (after I check the power supply, as suggested
by SC Tom).

Jo-Anne
 
Thank you, pjp! I now understand why a powered port is essential. I suspect
my printer alone uses a lot of power (I have a parallel printer connected
directly to the laptop right now through a usb-parallel cable)...

Jo-Anne
 
You're welcome. My propensity for using Logitech Rumblepads led me down that
road years ago :)

I have same problem I believe as you with my laptop, only 3 ports. Solved
with a very small USB 2 (insure it's 2) 4 port hub < $15 Can in Bargain shop
wall came without it's own power supply but thankfully had the connection
and worked once I found a match looking thru my bin of old adapters (if they
pass multitester I save all of em, if not I cut cord and save the endpeice
as they're easy enough to splice to another provided to take care with
pos/neg wire.)

I wouldn't expect your printer to use 500Ma with the adapter but one never
knows. As mentioned you can check it under Device Manager and search the
various USB device and see what it says under their Power section. Add them
up. Might find you can use almost all of them except for item "x" or item
"y" at same time, which never happens anyway. I typically plug/unplug my
various game controllers in separately but for another reason (games get
confused) and don't really find it a problem.
 
Thank you, again, pjp! I'll print this out for my husband, who collects
adapters much the way you do! I definitely plan on a USB 2 hub.

Jo-Anne
 
Jo-Anne wrote on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:49:33 -0500:
Thank you, Yousuf Khan! I've often heard that USB hubs get
flakey over time. I guess I'll try another one (after I check the
power supply, as suggested by SC Tom).
Click to expand...

I have been reading this thread with interest. I installed a PSI
four-port card a little while ago in order to use a Logitech wireless
keyboard and mouse with a Unifying Plug. All seemed to be well but for
occasional total hang-ups of the mouse. Mostly, moving the mouse from
the pad to my desk surface woke the thing up and even pressing control
to locate the mouse worked. However, it was irritating. The notion that
there was insufficient power supplied by the card was interesting so I
installed a Belkin four-port powered external hub and the hang-ups now
seem fixed....touching wood!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
 
James Silverton said:
Jo-Anne wrote on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:49:33 -0500:



I have been reading this thread with interest. I installed a PSI four-port
card a little while ago in order to use a Logitech wireless keyboard and
mouse with a Unifying Plug. All seemed to be well but for occasional total
hang-ups of the mouse. Mostly, moving the mouse from the pad to my desk
surface woke the thing up and even pressing control to locate the mouse
worked. However, it was irritating. The notion that there was insufficient
power supplied by the card was interesting so I installed a Belkin
four-port powered external hub and the hang-ups now seem fixed....touching
wood!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Click to expand...

What gets me is the number of USB 2 hubs you see for sale with so many of
them without included power supply. Thankfully most seem to at least have
the actual plug for one and often they state what it expects for power (e.g.
5, 6, 9 or 12 volts most common). Geez, the manufacturers must know people
can't always use all "x" ports at same time without it yet no mention of it.
Same old selfish greed so common in our society. What's a 6 volt power
supply cost in bulk?
 
Back
Top