USB Root Hub Shows As Unkn own Device

Question

My USB stopped working.  The Root Hub keeps showing up as an Unknown Device and will not install and can not find a driver.  The USB does not work even after a new motherboard was installed.  Dell is telling me I have to reload my system which I do not wnat to due because I cannot afford to loose my data on the hard drive.  Is there anything else I cando?

Art · Answer

You did not mention your model or operating system, but the utility that I have linked below is multi-system.

System Utilities: Dell Notebook System Software, Utility, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Multi Language, Multi System, v.3.11.0, A18

"11/6/2005
Description: Notebook System Software (NSS) is a utility that provides critical updates and patches for your operating system.
Install the NSS program to gain support for Dell 3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel Pentium-M processors, CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD drives,
Infrared (IR) communications, and USB devices. NSS is necessary for correct operation of your Dell portable computer,
including the Dell D/Bay, D/Dock, D/Port, and D/View family of docking devices.

NSS automatically detects your computer and operating system and installs the updates appropriate for your configuration."

The utility above is a 50MB download, You can open "Notebooks^" tag above and navigate to your system's Download site
and likely see a 7MB version and see the above one under "Other Versions". The newer (smaller) version did not do the USB fix
for me, but the previous version did.

jcrummie · Answer

Thank you for the suggestion.  My model is a latitude c640.  When I attempted to intall the software you suggested it told me that the program could not be run on my computer?????  Any other thoughts?? Message Edited by jcrummie on 04-15-200610:38 AM

Art · Answer

Not at all familiar with the 'C' Series, but here is one of your diagnostic utilities:

Dell Diagnostics is designed to run under a DOS environment

Here is your main Download site from Dell, (assuming you use WinXP Operating System):

Latitude C640 / Microsoft Windows XP / English- Choose a Device for Download

Often, just removing a device from Device Manager and rebooting will reinstall the driver from within Windows
and solve the problem.

edit:-
"Dell is telling me I have to reload my system which I do not wnat to due because I cannot afford to loose my data on the hard drive"

You should have a backup copy of any data on your Hard Drive that you don't want lost anyway:)

If you do reinstall your Operating System, then reinstall your Dell Drivers from the above Download site,
be sure to begin with "Chipset" so the other Drivers will install properly.

Message Edited by Art on 04-15-200601:29 PM

CroMag33 · Answer

I had a similar problem on my D600 running XP plugged into a d/port. I bought my laptop on dfsdirect, so I had to manually load all the drivers when it came in the mail. ---Frustrating--- Anyway my symptoms were varied:

-usb webcam was freezing up
-drivers would cause "serious errors" and cause restarts
-usb mouse would freeze sometimes
-USB HID hardware (my skype Dualphone) would install as an audio device and not work
-Epson scanner/printer would not install
-later had just partial success installing my webcam and printer, but only while not docked

I finally found Microsoft article 822603, which exactly fit my symptoms, but I already had Service Pack 2. Your post cleared things up – thanks. After searching all over the net, I was sure the Notebook System Software was going to do the trick, but it didn't - at first...Everything was the same until I went in device manager and asked to update each driver in each USB root hub as well as my USB 2 enhanced driver. I had done this before, with no result. After installing NSS, it found new drivers and updated.

All problems are solved except that somewhere in the process, now the scanner driver of my Epson CX3810 (printer scanner combo) has a yellow exclamation mark - error code 39 "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing." I can still print (through USB printer support), and I can even scan by pressing the copy button on the machine. But I can't open the TWAIN32 scanning program. I have done the following:

-reinstalled
-reinstalled with slightly older driver from Epson site
-turned off computer and unplugged d/port for a night then reinstalled
-reinstalled directly through my computer without the d/port
-tried different USB ports
-banged my fist on the desk a few times

Seems like the problem is related... What am I missing?

Message Edited by CroMag33 on 09-06-200608:33 PM

CroMag33 · Answer

OK found the problem with my scanner.

I had uninstalled my Logitech web cam because it was freezing up and causing restarts since I didn't have the NSS. After reinstalling it, my scanner (which XP considers as another imaging device) works. Perhaps when I uninstalled my webcam software, it took a driver that the scanner relied on....

Anyway, other than my webcam (Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX) seems to be awfully slow, everything seems to be working.

Hope this helps someone else.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

USB Root Hub Shows As Unkn own Device

Was this post helpful?