USB 2.0 hubs drop-reconnect-drop-reconnect....?

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CraigNJ

Has anybody seen an erratic USB2.0 port problem like this?:

When I connect an AD-DC adapter-powered USB 2.0 hub (have tried 2
different brands -- one being a switch-hub and other being a hub) to
my P4G8X-Deluxe, after a while it starts getting very erratic.
Spontaneously WinXP reports the USB connection is dropped (WinXP dong
sound effects indicate it & hub LED's go out), then moments later
reconnects (dong, lights on), then drops, then reconnects, etc. It's
usually stable for a few minutes after rebooting. It seems only
stable if I use a USB 1.1 hub instead.

I have not noticed this problem with directly-connected USB 2.0
peripherals, just with USB 2.0 hubs. (I haven't tried unpowered hubs
for this problem, but in the past they caused too much drain of 5v to
the point that my keyboard spacebar could no longer be used to power
up the PC, so now I always use powered hubs.)

According to my Motherboard Monitor software, my voltage levels from
the power supply are strong & stable. I'm wondering if maybe the
motherboard's USB 2.0 port might not be delivering the full 5v even
though the powersupply is steadily providing 4.97 to 5.00 v?

Craig in NJ
 
SP2. (Frequently check for autoupdates.)

Are you implying that there is a known problem with some versions of
XP? (I was guessing I might be seeing a problem with Asus boards'
distribution of power to USB ports? Not sure how I'd test that with my
voltmeter.)

Craig in NJ
 
SP2 has better driver handling for USB.
However in your case I would also look at Asus support page, because they
have specific drivers for ICH4 chipset, responsible of USB ports.
I've found there the following text:
---------------------------------------------------
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.Important! You need to follow the steps
decribed in Readme-XP.txt; otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP
installation to FIX POTENTIAL USB 2.0 PROBLEM.
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.
This is a WHQL driver.
Important! You need to follow the steps decribed in Readme-XP.txt;
otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP installation to FIX POTENTIAL
USB 2.0 PROBLEM afterwards.
 
SP2 has better driver handling for USB.
However in your case I would also look at Asus support page, because they
have specific drivers for ICH4 chipset, responsible of USB ports.
I've found there the following text:
---------------------------------------------------
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.Important! You need to follow the steps
decribed in Readme-XP.txt; otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP
installation to FIX POTENTIAL USB 2.0 PROBLEM.
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.
This is a WHQL driver.
Important! You need to follow the steps decribed in Readme-XP.txt;
otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP installation to FIX POTENTIAL
USB 2.0 PROBLEM afterwards.
 
SP2 has better driver handling for USB.
However in your case I would also look at Asus support page, because they
have specific drivers for ICH4 chipset, responsible of USB ports.
I've found there the following text:
---------------------------------------------------
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.Important! You need to follow the steps
decribed in Readme-XP.txt; otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP
installation to FIX POTENTIAL USB 2.0 PROBLEM.
ICH4 USB 2.0 Driver for Windows XP.
This is a WHQL driver.
Important! You need to follow the steps decribed in Readme-XP.txt;
otherwise, you may need to do a new Windows XP installation to FIX POTENTIAL
USB 2.0 PROBLEM afterwards.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. It's a lead worth looking into.

In theory, the correct USB 2.0 drivers were part of both SP1 and SP2
(see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312370 or
the Asus support page that refers to this MS Q#) so this PC should
have the right ones. It seems to have been working well for
directly-plugged USB 2.0 devices; it's just 2.0 hubs that aren't
working for me. But let's look at my driver details:

I can see a "USB Generic Hub" using driver version 5.1.2600.2180 from
SP2 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158), file usbhub.sys.

I can see a four "USB Root Hub" devices using both the above driver
plus 5.1.2600.0 (XPClient.010817-1148), file usbd.sys. I assume the
latter is just the USB 1.1 controller drivers, so they're supposed to
be there.

The various "controller" devices also seem to be using the newer SP2
driver.

There is one contradiction, though. These devices using the newer
drivers show the SP2 driver details under the "Driver Details. ..."
button, but the window before that refers to an older version. I
assume the Driver Details ... window contains the true driver details.

It's possible I have a bad driver, although it's only the hubbing
feature that has any trouble. It's been so long since I've had to
mess with driver setups, though, that I'm not sure how safe it is to
try to delete the USB drivers and hope they reload from the SP2
compressed files on the PC. I'd hate to make myself worse off.

Craig in NJ
 
To delete a device and reload it again or update a driver on the "Device
manager" windows shouln't threat your system at all.
You can also click right button over the ICH4 controller and choose to
update driver, and guide manually to the place you've stored the latest
version, to make sure you use them.
In case you're fear of your system, I would recomend to make a backup -
perhaps a Ghost - before any change.

Anyway, if the general performance of all the USB ports is good, I would
also consider the on-offf isue as a particular trouble of the USB hub.
Did you try to use anoter hub on this pc?
Did you try to use same device on another pc?

Regards
PD: I don't know if my ISP was jerky yesteday but I haven't post three time
on purposse. Better three than zero.
 
To delete a device and reload it again or update a driver on the "Device
manager" windows shouln't threat your system at all.
You can also click right button over the ICH4 controller and choose to
update driver, and guide manually to the place you've stored the latest
version, to make sure you use them.
In case you're fear of your system, I would recomend to make a backup -
perhaps a Ghost - before any change.

Anyway, if the general performance of all the USB ports is good, I would
also consider the on-offf isue as a particular trouble of the USB hub.
Did you try to use anoter hub on this pc?
Did you try to use same device on another pc?

Regards
PD: I don't know if my ISP was jerky yesteday but I haven't post three time
on purposse. Better three than zero.
 
I had a D-Link 4 port that did *exactly* the same thing as you described.

(FYI:I too am using Windows XP Pro SP2 and an Asus mobo)

I finally fixed the problem by trashing the D-Link hub and buying
a TRENDware.
 
Zeneca,

Thanks for the advice on how to get rid of the drivers. That still
has me scared because I don't have any "other" versions as far as I
know, so it sounds like that would leave me without any USB 2.0
drivers.

Regarding the suspicion that it might be a faulty USB 2.0 hub, as my
original posting said I've seen this with two different brands. They
were a powered ioGear Minihub (has been a very reputable brand for me
over the years) and GWC Tech switch-hub. They have a similar size &
shape, and both are made in China, so it wouldn't surprise me if they
both used some similar component inside which my PC is having trouble
with. I haven't tried it on another PC; I could try it on my office
laptop, but that only supports USB 1.1 so it wouldn't be a real test
if its only USB 2.0 that doesn't seem to be working. Maybe I can find
a colleague at the office with a newer laptop to try it for a while --
that would certainly seem worth the effort.

Craig in NJ
 
I had a D-Link 4 port that did *exactly* the same thing as you described.

(FYI:I too am using Windows XP Pro SP2 and an Asus mobo)

I finally fixed the problem by trashing the D-Link hub and buying
a TRENDware.
Click to expand...

Might be something simple. I experienced intermittent USB disconnect
problems, but I suspect that the connector wasn't making proper
contact. Try loading the connector in some way by holding it in one
position or another to see if it remains steady.
 
Unfortunately, Windows XP Pro won't let me update all the USB drivers.

The available devices are
Generic USB Hub
four USB Root Hubs,
USB Printing Support,
3 Intel(r) 8280 1DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controllers, and
Intel(r) 8280 1DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller

I was able to get it to update or refresh the drivers for most of
those, except for the Generic USB Hub. It keeps telling me I have the
most up to date driver and refuses to replace/fresh it. It's
referring to usbhub.sys from 2001.

How can I force it to update/refresh which copy of usbhub.sys driver
it is using (in case the copy it had installed before is corrupted)?

Craig in NJ
 
PS -- I was able to extract the usbhub.sys file from a slipstreamed
XPpro+SP2+hotfixes folder I created, and then replaced the file that
the generic usb hub device had been referring to. It doesn't seem any
newer than the old driver, but for the last hour it's been stable with
a USB2.0 hub, which is a good sign. Maybe the old file was corrupted.
I hope it'll continue to work.

Craig in NJ
 
That fix didn't last too long. It's driving me nuts again with its
drop-reconnect-drop-reconnect thing again a few times a minute right
now.

BTW, it happens regardless of whether the hub is on external power or
not, so it isn't that known problem, and a colleage at work tested
this 2.0 hub on his office laptop with no problems.

So I'm guessing it must be some kind of hardware problem with my PC.
I should probably test a different power supply first, but maybe this
will give me an excuse to upgrade my motherboard. ;-)

In the meanwhile, the old USB1.1 switch/hub was stable, so I'll have
to drop back to that.

Craig
 
FYI -- Just for the record, in the end, it appears to be a
P4G8X-Deluxe motherboard failure (or defect, based on a thread on
erratic USB2.0 ports at
http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25653 ).

My USB2.0 switch-hub has been stable for a week plugged into a USB 2.0
PCI card I bought as a potential workaround. It worked.

I wonder if maybe the motherboard's USB 2.0 problem is related to a
once-common onboard LAN problem which kept crashing my PC until I
resorted to an old NIC.

Anyway, the good news is I have a successful workaround. The bad news
is that I don't have a good excuse for upgrading my PC anymore.

Craig
 
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