Ultra 4 port USB Hub driver issue

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Guest

I have an Ultra 4 port USB Hub. Vista seems to find a device driver to
install but says it "encountered a problem". Thats as much as I'm told.
Anyone know how I can get Vista to correctly recognize and install a USB
driver for my device?

Thanks
 
Walt,

Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
delete it, because of Windows built-in security. Just right click the file,
select Properties and then
click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.
 
Freddy,

I actually found that possible fix in a newsgroup search and tried it before
posting my question. Unfortunately, no luck. I tried again this morning but
Vista is not installing the driver. Please let me know if there are other
suggested fixes available.

Thanks
Walt
 
Walt,

There are often many variables involved in USB detection issues. If
deleting that infcache.1 file didn't work, you simply have to do more
intensive troubleshooting. HP established the following site to aid its
customers in resolving USB connection issues. Because USB is a universal
standard, the steps involved can apply to any system. Take a look for
possible solution.:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c00820197

You'll see what I mean by "variables." Post back on results.
 
My original posts were pointing to the USB hub when I actually should have
indicated the problem is when I insert a 1gig SanDisk card from my digital
camera into the 4 port hub. Device Manager sees it as a Mass Storage Device
and can't install a driver. It worked fine in XP so I'm really expecting MS
to come up with a fix rather than ask customers to walk through a mirid of
steps to fix the issue. Why would Vista have this problem and not XP? I was
fortunate to have a PS2 keyboard around after I spent 2.5 hours trying to
restore USB connectivity.
 
Walt,

I suppose you didn't manage to locate a solution, or perhaps you simply
threw up your hands. I agree with you that these problems are troubling, but
keep in mind that most people don't experience these issues. Some people
have problems, but as best I can tell, most people do not, but I have no clue
as to the numbers involved in either category. I'm running five different
USB devices, including a digital camera, with no issues in Vista Home
Premium. I agree that users shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get
their USB hardware recognized by Vista. But once you have the problem, what
else can you do?

What should you do next? I always connect my camera directly to the USB
port. Vista always recognizes it and then I manage to download the images
from the camera and install them to my hard drive. Have you tried that
approach?

As you know, It's really hard to tell what the problem is. There are all
those variables, and it's not just Vista that's involved in all this.

Apart from the SanDisk card, are you having connection problems with any
other USB devices? If not, I wonder why. Perhaps you aren't using any other
USB hardware.

There is one other troubleshooting procedure that I know about, but it
involves removing more files from the C:\Windows\inf area. More, that is,
than that one INFCACHE.1 file. I'm a little reluctant to recommend it
because it's more involved and could scare some people. So, I dunno. Anyone
else?
 
Walt,

Another troubleshooting step is to connect your SanDisk and/or camera to
another Vista based computer to check whether that system can recognize the
hardware. If it does, then your system is corrupted in some manner. I
suppose it's hard to find another Vista based computer to try it on. Just a
thought that came to me. More hoops, sorry.
 
Freddy,

I'll try your new suggestions and see if I'm able to resolve or pinpoint the
problem. I will tell you that I'm running several USB connected devices with
no issues.

Walt
 
Walt,

This forum seems to see more USB connection problems with Cannon cameras
than other brands. Is your camera a Cannon? Is it on the compatibility
list? Just something you need to know. I'm not sure about the connection
between a memory card and the camera it comes from, but who know about these
things anyway.
 
I haven't tried to plug in my cameras, one a Canon and the other a Panasonic.
I'll try to do so today.

I continue to have the same USB storage device issue with both the San Disk
card as well as my Kingston Datatraveler. Vista won't install a driver for
either device. I'm poking around other forums but this is definetly a Vista
issue MS needs to fix. Other users having the same issue with similar USB
storage devices.

Walt
 
Walt, any luck?
--
freddy


Walt said:
I haven't tried to plug in my cameras, one a Canon and the other a Panasonic.
I'll try to do so today.

I continue to have the same USB storage device issue with both the San Disk
card as well as my Kingston Datatraveler. Vista won't install a driver for
either device. I'm poking around other forums but this is definetly a Vista
issue MS needs to fix. Other users having the same issue with similar USB
storage devices.

Walt
Click to expand...
 
No luck. I attached the San Disk and Kingston Datatraveler into a Vista
laptop and both work fine, so the driver installation issue is specific to my
pc. Just to reiterate, when I plug in either device, I search C:\ for a
driver (no luck having Windows search for a solution). What I get back is:
"Windows found a driver for your device but encountered an error while
attempting to install it"

"USB Mass Storage Device"

"System cannot find the file specified"

All of my other USB devices (printer, wireless mouse and keyboard) work
fine. I even connected the devices to the USB ports on my motherboard but got
the same error. I also connected my Panasonic digital camera with the San
Disk card and Windows delivered the same error, Mass Storage Unit driver
can't be installed. This is a mass storage/thumb drive issue and not USB.

I had deleted the INFCACH file but another was never re-created. Is that
normal?

Any more suggestions? This is quite frustrating.

Walt
 
Walt,

Thanks for the update. People here want to know about outcomes.

Windows not reestablishing that infcache.1 file is normal. Windows
establishes that (as far as I know) file when it encounters certain inf files
that it doesn't recognize. It puts them there as a holding cache, and that's
when problems can arise when it sees those inf (information) files it doesn't
recognize. That's why deleting that file can solve some problems because
that act gets rid of the confusion.

An inf file stands for "information file" and all hardware devices have an
inf file to tell Windows how to install and configure the hardware to which
that inf file relates to. So, does all this make more sense now? My take on
your problem is that there is some corruption in some inf file that we can't
identify. That's why Windows can't find the driver for your cards. You
system has many inf files. Sometimes a single inf files can provide
information on many hardware devices. For example, one HP inf file I have
looked at has information on how to install and configure a large number of
HP printers, all in one inf file.

I'm reluctant to provide you with a procedure for a more radical surgery to
remove more files from C:\Windows\inf. If you want to know about it, and if
you're willing to try it, I'll give it to you. It's been used successfully
by others, but I'm not fully familiar with all aspects of it. Whether the
procedure could cause more problems than it cures, I'm not sure. It's up to
you.
 
I'm willing to consider it so please pass it along. If I decide it might be
too risky I'll let you know either way.

Thanks
 
Walt,

OK, here is the information:

http://forums.logitech.com/rss/message?board.id=bluetooth&message.id=3755

I only became aware of this procedure a couple of days ago. The individual
that used it and posted the information here had a similar situation as
yours. That is, after trying everything that had ever been posted here and
elsewhere, he tried this procedure and his devices then all connected.

After performing the above referenced procedure, he said, "I had to plug in
each and every device I have ever plugged in to the computer and let windows
search for and install the drivers. Sometimes I had to point to
C:\windows\system32 and sometimes it installed drivers automatically (after I
clicked on "search for drivers"). I think that the messages about unknown
devices related to the devices that I hadn't plugged in yet." Apparently,
Windows gave him messages that it found "unknown devices" after he performed
the procedure, but notice that he figured out how to handle the problem.

Anyway, he later reported that all is well and good with his system.
Performing the procedure is up to you, but no one can argue with the results,
as far as we know them to date. Post back on what you find.
 
The process does not appear overly complicated so I will probably give it a
go. According to the MS Vista SP-1 press release, SP-1 is beta in July and
perhaps not released to the general public until November.

Do you know if Vista will rebuild these files automatically, and can I
expect to have to do a fair amount of plugging / replugging devices to get
them to work? If I have all devices connected while performing the changes
and then re-boot, can I expect Vista to recognize all USB devices and install
drivers automatically as needed?

I'll post in the next few days with results.

Thanks
Walt
 
Walt,

The only person who used this procedure, and posted here, said that all
files were recreated except for the DRVINDEX.DAT file. He couldn't tell that
that fact made any difference, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Also,
the procedure calls for deleting the INFCACHE.*, which I think is the
infcache.1 file you have already removed.

As far a plugging and replugging devices is concerned, all I know is what
that person said. Apparently, he didn't have all his devices plugged in when
he performed the procedure. Consequently, he was getting prompts and
messages about unknown devices, as best I can tell from what he said. If I
were doing this, I'd probably plug in all my devices before I boot and after
I've finished the procedure.

Will Vista automatically recognize all devices and install the proper
drivers? According to what that person said, sometimes and sometimes not.
Take another read of my prior post. I think he said that he sometimes had to
tell Vista where to look, but in the final analysis everything was properly
installed. It just took several attempts to straighten out.
 
I can report 80% success with this process. It was painless enough, and at
first I thought nothing changed. My USB printer and wireless mouse/keyboard
work fine. Eventually, Vista started to ask to update the SD card reader and
Kingston USB drive. I received some strange responses as I pointed Vista to
search my C drive for updates.

One was for Kingston, esentially "we found a driver but we don't recommend
installation, not Windows certified" but I said go anyway. I've had at least
two messages similar to the previous Mass Drive message: "Windows found
software but encountered an error. Microsoft WPD Filesystem Volume Driver.
The system cannot find the specified file".

After several driver install tries, both devices can be seen / used via
Explorer (at least for now), but I still have 2 "Unknown Devices" listed in
Device Mgr under Other Devices. I'll see what happens as I use both devices
and let you know if the driver installation messages continue.

Walt
 
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