Richard said:
Should not XP recognize any USB device?
Even so, the instructions that came with the drive states "Connect to any
USB port. Once you have made the connection your system will automatically
detect the drive as a new device and load the necessary drivers.
Only for Windows 98 does it state to install drivers from CD
Richard
Richard:
Indeed you are correct. At least theoretically the XP OS should recognize a
USB-connected device without any auxiliary drivers. In some cases the
manufacturer has provided a firmware update for their device and I assume
you've looked into that. In your particular case you say that the USB
external floppy disk drive hasn't worked in two different computers so this
might be an indication that you're dealing with a defective device, no?
Unfortunately these USB non-recognition problems have been vexing all of us
for some time now. We've become increasingly convinced that the relatively
large number of problems in this area involving USB device(s) that we've
all been experiencing is an indication that there is something seriously
flawed with respect to either the USB 2.0 specifications, possibly
involving quality control issues affecting the manufacturer of these USB
devices as well as supporting components such as motherboards as well as
other USB-related components. Then too we've become increasingly suspicious
of the XP OS as it relates to its recognition of these USB 2.0 devices.
We have encountered far too many unexplained problems affecting
detection/recognition of these devices and their erratic functioning not to
believe that something is seriously amiss in this area.
Be that as it may, here are some general troubleshooting tips, some of which
may apply to your specific problem. I realize you've tried many, if not
most, of the following, but for what it's worth here they are...
1. Access Disk Management and see if the USB device is listed. If so, and
there's no drive letter assigned, see if you can assign a drive letter to
the device.
2. If the USB device is listed in Disk Management with an assigned drive
letter, right-click on its listing and select Explore from the submenu.
Hopefully, Windows Explorer will open and the device will be listed.
3. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via
a USB hub. Try different USB ports should your computer have multiple ports.
4. Avoid using a USB extension cable.
5. Try connecting a USB device (that does not contain an auxiliary power
supply) to a USB port both before and after the boot operation.
6. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own
power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.
7. Try a different USB cable.
8. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
9. If the device in question is HD which you installed in a USB enclosure,
jumper the USB external HD as Master (or Single if the HD is a Western
Digital disk). A number of users have reported that jumper configuration
corrected their non-recognition problem. In my own experience it didn't seem
to matter how a USB external HD was jumpered. But it may be worth a try.
10. If the device in question is a USB external HD, first check out the HD
with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility. If it checks out OK,
and you can remove the HD from its enclosure (without voiding any
applicable warranty), do so and install the HD as an internal HD to
determine if there are problems with the drive.
11. If the USB device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI card, try changing the
PCI slot to which it's currently connected to another one.
12. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if
there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.
13. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a
BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.
Anna
