Optiplex 380 - USB drives not recognized

Hi Andy,

Did you run Fix-it or manually delete the registry keys? Whichever you tried, do the other.

I manually edited the registry keys - I was familiar with the UpperFilters / LowerFilters issue causing problems with reading DVDs.

Running FixIt from suport.microsoft.com/.../925196 does not help, it only recognises, and offers to fix problems with,  the installed DVD/CDRW

Additionally, the Dell on-line diagnostics does not detect the problem with USB drives, which is also fail to be recognized in Safe Mode.

Andy

A bit of further information, I've tried a USB card reader which works fine. It's recognised, drive letters allocated and inserted cards can be read with no problem.

So the 'Device not recognised' issue is ONLY related to USB memory sticks and USB hard drives.

...and, both USB sticks and USB hard drives work fine when connected to the computer via a USB hub!

So the 'Device not recognised' issue is ONLY related to USB memory sticks and USB hard drives that are plugged DIRECTLY into the USB ports.

I'm stumped on this one...

Yep, that's a good one.

What I would do is delete all USB devices from device manager and reboot. You could also try updating your chipset drivers.

Deleted USB devices from Device Manager last night - have to be careful with the order of deletion as mouse and kbd are both USB and there's no PS2 ports. Tried both with and without a USB HD connected. Doesn't fix the issue.

The chipset drivers are the latest from the Dell download section, I already tried re-installing them. I've also tried the Intel Driver Update Utility www.intel.com/.../detect which updated the video driver but reported that the chipset drivers were up to date.

Did you see this?

Try adding the key with the DWord value set to 1.

I saw that suggestion but thought it was to fix write protect problems, however I've just tried it. No difference.

When you ran Fix-it, was a problem with the upper and lower filters detected?

No, no problem was detected.

Did the ports work since you reinstalled Windows? The only thing I can think of is that something did not go right with the chipset installation and you might try another clean reinstall.

I didn't check the USB ports until after I'd installed XP, Dell drivers and Windows updates.

I've just acquired a spare HD so I'll try installing XP on it and check the USB ports after each stage.

This is really bugging me, it seems like there should be a simple explanation, what's needed is a process or error logging utility that would help pinpoint exactly what is failing during the device installation.

Well, I've found that Windows had a built in logging service for Windows setup and device installation. In XP the log is located at C:\windows\setupapi.log

I deleted the existing log so that a new one would be created. This is the contents after plugging in a USB stick:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SetupAPI Log]

OS Version = 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3

Platform ID = 2 (NT)

Service Pack = 3.0

Suite = 0x0100

Product Type = 1

Architecture = x86

[2013/03/19 10:30:11 804.3 Driver Install]

#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\unknown

#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\unknown

#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe

#I022 Found "USB\UNKNOWN" in C:\WINDOWS\inf\usb.inf; Device: "Unknown Device"; Driver: "Unknown Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard USB Host Controller)"; Section name: "BADDEVICE.Dev".

#I023 Actual install section: [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT]. Rank: 0x00000000. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.

#I063 Selected driver installs from section [BADDEVICE.Dev] in "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf".

#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}.

#I060 Set selected driver.

#I058 Selected best compatible driver.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.

#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\5&3777BD40&0&7".

#-011 Installing section [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT] from "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf".

#-046 Processing Coinstaller registration section [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT.CoInstallers].

#V132 File "C:\WINDOWS\INF\certclas.inf" (key "certclas.inf") is signed in catalog "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\nt5inf.cat".

#V132 File "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf" (key "usb.inf") is signed in catalog "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\nt5inf.cat".

#V132 File "c:\windows\inf\layout.inf" (key "layout.inf") is signed in catalog "C:\WINDOWS\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\nt5inf.cat".

#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.

#I056 Coinstallers registered.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.

#-011 Installing section [BADDEVICE.Dev.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\windows\inf\usb.inf".

#I054 Interfaces installed.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.

#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\5&3777BD40&0&7".

#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_0000&PID_0000\5&3777BD40&0&7" finished successfully.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and this in the relevant content of setupapi.log after plugging the same USB stick into my Dell laptop also running XP SP3:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SetupAPI Log]

OS Version = 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3

Platform ID = 2 (NT)

Service Pack = 3.0

Suite = 0x0100

Product Type = 1

Architecture = x86

[2013/03/19 11:37:14 1016.3 Driver Install]

#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_090c&pid_1000&rev_1100,usb\vid_090c&pid_1000

#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\class_08&subclass_06&prot_50,usb\class_08&subclass_06,usb\class_08

#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe

#I022 Found "USB\Class_08&SubClass_06&Prot_50" in C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.inf; Device: "USB Mass Storage Device"; Driver: "USB Mass Storage Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "Compatible USB storage device"; Section name: "USBSTOR_BULK".

#I023 Actual install section: [USBSTOR_BULK.NT]. Rank: 0x00002000. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.

#I063 Selected driver installs from section [USBSTOR_BULK] in "c:\windows\inf\usbstor.inf".

#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}.

#I060 Set selected driver.

#I058 Selected best compatible driver.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.

#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_090C&PID_1000\FBB1003302200048".

#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.

#I056 Coinstallers registered.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.

#-011 Installing section [USBSTOR_BULK.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\windows\inf\usbstor.inf".

#I054 Interfaces installed.

#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.

#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_090C&PID_1000\FBB1003302200048".

#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_090C&PID_1000\FBB1003302200048" finished successfully.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seems to me that the process is failing right at the start with Windows failing to detect the hardware ID of the USB stick, therefore installing it as an unknown device.