USBs NOT working

  • Thread starter Thread starter rob
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rob

ok my USBs are not working and they haven't been working for some time
now. i have been to several forums and talked to several savvy people.
nothing has worked. At this point i have no idea if it is a hardware
issue or a software issue. i know this is a really vague post but, i
don't know what else to do. if you guys could post some possible
problems/solutions, no matter how simple or complex that would be a
big help.

thanks in advance

<a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg8n24dd_15fkf552">Specs</a>

if that doesn't link here are the specs

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg8n24dd_15fkf552
 
ok my USBs are not working and they haven't been working for some time
now. i have been to several forums and talked to several savvy people.
nothing has worked. At this point i have no idea if it is a hardware
issue or a software issue. i know this is a really vague post but, i
don't know what else to do. if you guys could post some possible
problems/solutions, no matter how simple or complex that would be a
big help.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not all that savvy, and probably won't be much help.
Assuming you've tried everything including deleting all your USB devices and
restarting the machine to rediscover them.

If that doesn't work, then try upgrading drivers.

If you'd realized they'd stopped working soon enough, you could've restored
to a previous state or remembered what may have changed during the period
they stopped working (hardware/software/storms etc...)
 
winston19842005 said:
Well, I'm not all that savvy, and probably won't be much help.
Assuming you've tried everything including deleting all your USB devices
and
restarting the machine to rediscover them.

If that doesn't work, then try upgrading drivers.
Click to expand...

And if that doesn't work try this (if you haven't already)
A computer that is running Windows XP cannot detect a USB thumb
drive..........
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/925196
 
And if that doesn't work try this (if you haven't already)
A computer that is running Windows XP cannot detect a USB thumb
drive..........
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/925196
Click to expand...

Hmm. Just tried attaching an old digital camera to my wife's Vista computer
this morning.
In normal mode, Vista id'ed it as a "Coach" camera - it isn't.
So I put the camera in "PC Disk mode" where it should show up as a drive -
it doesn't.

Funny you get the little noise when you plug it in and unplug it. But it
isn't seen anywhere (Windows Picture viewer or Device manager).

So, I wonder if this issue you report might also be a Vista issue - never
had trouble with it detecting my thumb drive - that is I seem to remember
actually trying it...

I had to plug it into my Mac to upload the pictures (in disk mode it
auto-mounts). I skipped the Mac because I thought the camera needed a
"powered" usb port, and the hub I had wasn't - but it worked...
 
rob said:
ok my USBs are not working and they haven't been working for some time
now. i have been to several forums and talked to several savvy people.
nothing has worked. At this point i have no idea if it is a hardware
issue or a software issue. i know this is a really vague post but, i
don't know what else to do. if you guys could post some possible
problems/solutions, no matter how simple or complex that would be a
big help.

thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The ICH5 has a known defect. A number of people have had USB
hardware failures, and you could have one of those. The failure
can be small (loss of USB at the physical interface level, yet
the logic blocks still show in Device Manager) or a big failure,
where the Southbridge is damanged.

http://onfinite.com/libraries/179057/2ea.jpg

I'd reach for my trusty Knoppix boot CD, and try booting into
Linux, and then see if I could get a USB device working
there (or at least visible). Using an alternate OS, means
different software is attempting to use the hardware.

You can also try resetting the USB stack in Windows, but
given that you have an ICH5, I'd try booting from an alternate
OS and see if there is anything still alive or not. If you
can see any USB devices in Linux, then return to Windows and
work on the USB stack. (The home page for Knoppix is at Knopper.net
- the Linux ISO is a 700MB download, and you burn it to a CD.
It boots without needing to write to a hard drive, which makes
it a "portable" test tool. You can try a tool like "lsusb" as
a means of probing for USB devices.)

http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/lsusb8.html (lsusb for Linux)

The equivalent of lsusb in Windows, is here (UVCView). Use
the download link on the right. When a USB device is plugged in,
you should be able to see its config info listed.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stream/vidcap/UVCViewdwn.mspx

You can add USB ports to your computer, with a PCI USB2 card.

Paul
 
The ICH5 has a known defect. A number of people have had USB
hardware failures, and you could have one of those. The failure
can be small (loss of USB at the physical interface level, yet
the logic blocks still show in Device Manager) or a big failure,
where the Southbridge is damanged.

http://onfinite.com/libraries/179057/2ea.jpg

I'd reach for my trusty Knoppix boot CD, and try booting into
Linux, and then see if I could get a USB device working
there (or at least visible). Using an alternate OS, means
different software is attempting to use the hardware.

You can also try resetting the USB stack in Windows, but
given that you have an ICH5, I'd try booting from an alternate
OS and see if there is anything still alive or not. If you
can see any USB devices in Linux, then return to Windows and
work on the USB stack. (The home page for Knoppix is at Knopper.net
- the Linux ISO is a 700MB download, and you burn it to a CD.
It boots without needing to write to a hard drive, which makes
it a "portable" test tool. You can try a tool like "lsusb" as
a means of probing for USB devices.)

http://linuxcommand.org/man_pages/lsusb8.html (lsusb for Linux)

The equivalent of lsusb in Windows, is here (UVCView). Use
the download link on the right. When a USB device is plugged in,
you should be able to see its config info listed.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stream/vidcap/UVCViewdwn.mspx

You can add USB ports to your computer, with a PCI USB2 card.

Paul
Click to expand...

wow thanks for the great post. i do have a pci card with two usb ports
but those also do not work. all of the USBs have power because they
will charge my brothers ipod, and i can see a quick flash on my thumb
drive. i installed ubuntu but they still do not work :(
 
rob said:
wow thanks for the great post. i do have a pci card with two usb ports
but those also do not work. all of the USBs have power because they
will charge my brothers ipod, and i can see a quick flash on my thumb
drive. i installed ubuntu but they still do not work :(
Click to expand...

It's funny that Ubuntu wouldn't be able to use the PCI USB card.
If you use something like "lspci", can the card be seen there ?
I would think it would be hard to boot, if the PCI bus itself
was broken.

About all I can think of, to try next, is record all your settings
in the various BIOS screens, then follow the CMOS reset procedure
listed in your manual. Usually, the most important step in that
procedure, is unplug the computer, before you try to clear the CMOS.
That avoids a certain problem which damages the ORing diodes in the
CMOS battery path.

That will reset to BIOS defaults, meaning any custom BIOS settings
(boot order etc), will have to be set up again.

Paul
 
It's funny that Ubuntu wouldn't be able to use the PCI USB card.
If you use something like "lspci", can the card be seen there ?
I would think it would be hard to boot, if the PCI bus itself
was broken.

About all I can think of, to try next, is record all your settings
in the various BIOS screens, then follow the CMOS reset procedure
listed in your manual. Usually, the most important step in that
procedure, is unplug the computer, before you try to clear the CMOS.
That avoids a certain problem which damages the ORing diodes in the
CMOS battery path.

That will reset to BIOS defaults, meaning any custom BIOS settings
(boot order etc), will have to be set up again.

Paul
Click to expand...

Reading Paul's post reminded me that a few months ago I had the same
problem with USB's - tried everything - last thing to try was clearing
motherboard CMOS back to factory defaults, and that fixed the problem!
Gary
 
It's funny that Ubuntu wouldn't be able to use the PCI USB card.
If you use something like "lspci", can the card be seen there ?
I would think it would be hard to boot, if the PCI bus itself
was broken.

About all I can think of, to try next, is record all your settings
in the various BIOS screens, then follow the CMOS reset procedure
listed in your manual. Usually, the most important step in that
procedure, is unplug the computer, before you try to clear the CMOS.
That avoids a certain problem which damages the ORing diodes in the
CMOS battery path.

That will reset to BIOS defaults, meaning any custom BIOS settings
(boot order etc), will have to be set up again.

Paul
Click to expand...

i took out the bios battery and it did set it to defaults but, neither
ubuntu 7.10 or Windows XP could detect it.
 
So when booted into Ubuntu, and you use the "lspci" program,
you cannot see the PCI USB card ?

What about the LAN controller ? Does it sit on the PCI bus ?
Does "lspci" list it ? (Realtek 8100C)

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=848P_Neo-V

Paul
Click to expand...

this is what i got from using lspci

[robert@robert-desktop:~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/
Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP
Controller (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2
EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC
Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
(ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 JK
[Radeon X800]
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 [Radeon X800]
(Secondary)
02:02.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems V.92 56K WinModem (rev
02)
02:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
 
rob said:
So when booted into Ubuntu, and you use the "lspci" program,
you cannot see the PCI USB card ?

What about the LAN controller ? Does it sit on the PCI bus ?
Does "lspci" list it ? (Realtek 8100C)

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=848P_Neo-V

Paul
Click to expand...

this is what i got from using lspci

[robert@robert-desktop:~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/
Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP
Controller (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2
EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC
Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
(ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 JK
[Radeon X800]
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 [Radeon X800]
(Secondary)
02:02.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems V.92 56K WinModem (rev
02)
02:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Click to expand...

So your add-in PCI USB card is missing.

I do see an RTL-8139 family Ethernet device, and that would be sitting on
the PCI bus.

PCI bus is working, but separate USB card is not.

I can also see the five ICH5 USB entries, in all their glory, but if the I/O
is burned, then the logic blocks are isolated at the plug end.

Have you tried the PCI USB card in another PCI slot ?

Note that, for slots or connectors on a motherboard, that have never
been used, there can be a bit of "manufacturing residue". After the solder
step, the boards are washed. At one time, this was done with solvents.
Today's "green" processes try to use plain water. But there can still be
a film left on some connectors. My recommended procedure for cleaning,
is to insert and remove the card or device five times, into the dirty
connector. By relying on the wipe action inherent in the connector pins,
you get some cleaning effect, without the damage caused by using pencil
erasers (which can remove the thin gold plate, and expose the less noble
metals underneath).

Paul
 
this is what i got from using lspci
Click to expand...
[robert@robert-desktop:~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P DRAM Controller/
Host-Hub Interface (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82865G/PE/P PCI to AGP
Controller (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB
UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) USB2
EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev c2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) LPC
Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) IDE
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER (ICH5/ICH5R) SMBus
Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801EB/ER
(ICH5/ICH5R) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 JK
[Radeon X800]
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc R420 [Radeon X800]
(Secondary)
02:02.0 Communication controller: Agere Systems V.92 56K WinModem (rev
02)
02:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Click to expand...

So your add-in PCI USB card is missing.

I do see an RTL-8139 family Ethernet device, and that would be sitting on
the PCI bus.

PCI bus is working, but separate USB card is not.

I can also see the five ICH5 USB entries, in all their glory, but if the I/O
is burned, then the logic blocks are isolated at the plug end.

Have you tried the PCI USB card in another PCI slot ?

Note that, for slots or connectors on a motherboard, that have never
been used, there can be a bit of "manufacturing residue". After the solder
step, the boards are washed. At one time, this was done with solvents.
Today's "green" processes try to use plain water. But there can still be
a film left on some connectors. My recommended procedure for cleaning,
is to insert and remove the card or device five times, into the dirty
connector. By relying on the wipe action inherent in the connector pins,
you get some cleaning effect, without the damage caused by using pencil
erasers (which can remove the thin gold plate, and expose the less noble
metals underneath).

Paul
Click to expand...

well upon further inspection i realized that the card was actually a D-
Bracket and it just plugs strait in the MOBO. Sorry for the
misinformation. should i go out and buy a PCI USB Card?
 
well upon further inspection i realized that the card was actually a D-
Bracket and it just plugs strait in the MOBO. Sorry for the
misinformation. should i go out and buy a PCI USB Card?
Click to expand...

That would be the easiest solution.

Something else you might try is going into bios menus and
examining the USB related entries, making sure USB is
enabled and if you have any legacy USB settings you might
enable those towards the end of seeing if you could boot the
system to a (bootable) USB drive or at least if the system
detects it as a device during POST enumeration.
 
rob said:
well upon further inspection i realized that the card was actually a D-
Bracket and it just plugs strait in the MOBO. Sorry for the
misinformation. should i go out and buy a PCI USB Card?
Click to expand...

:-)

Yes.

Paul
 
well i bought a USB card and everything works perfectly. i forgot how
much i missed USBs on my desktop. i would just like to say thank you
to everyone, especially Paul. you guys were a big help and i really
appreciate it :)

the best of luck to you all
 
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