Problems with my USB ports not working

Question

I have an Inspiron 1150 laptop with 512 MB RAM and Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz...   My problem is the USB ports. I have a mouse I use, among other devices, that I plug into the USB port. The mouse I use constantly, which is why I am anxious to get this problem fixed. I don't like using the touchpad if I can help it.   Anyway. A few days ago, I noticed my ports were being touchy and if I unplugged the mouse and plugged it back in, it wouldn't work. It usually was okay once I switched to the other port on the back of the laptop. Well, today I had the mouse plugged in and when I plugged my digital camera in, they both stopped working at the same time.   My warranty ran out in June and I've had some issues with Dell Support before, so I'm in no big hurry to call them and see what's wrong. I was in the Device Manager earlier and according to it, all my USB Hub Ports are working... And I plugged my mouse into my Dell PC and it worked.   So I'm not sure what the problem is, but does someone know what needs to be done? I really need both of those USB ports. I have a lot of devices I plug into them.   Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

ejn63 · Answer

Run the Dell diagnostics to see what they show. If the ports still don't work, even in Safe Mode, the cheapest way to fix the situation is to install a PCMCIA USB controller. The ports are part of the mainboard and the other option is to replace that. While a PCMCIA card runs about $30, a system board will run more like $400-500.

melange86 · Answer

I ran the Diagnostics test and nothing is wrong with the USB ports. I ran first the Custom Test and then the Express Test. Nothing was wrong with the ports.   However, I did get an error message. The message said: 'IDE device failed. Blank media or no media present in optical drive.' I have no idea what an IDE device is or what an optical drive is. Could you help me out? (For reference, the error code is 0F00:136C)

ejn63 · Answer

Assuming there was no writeable disc in the drive, the error is normal.

melange86 · Answer

Okay, thank you. Thanks for helping me out. I have one question, though. Since I ran the diagnostics test and there was no error.... would I still need that PCMCIA card?   At first I thought maybe I needed to reinstall my camera and my mouse, but the mouse didn't come with any installation discs or anything, I don't think, because you just simply plug it straight in to the USB port. And my camera came with an installation CD, but it's only for the picture editing program. In the camera manual it says to just plug it in and that's all you have to do to put the pictures on the computer.   So as far as I'm aware, my problem isn't in the devices themselves and the computer is telling me there's nothing wrong with the USB ports either. I've restarted the computer several times, and shut it down several times, in an attempt to maybe just jog the laptop into reading the mouse, but it hasn't worked.   So is the PCMCIA card still necessary, would you think? Do you have any other ideas/suggestions?   I appreciate all of your help.

Syndrose · Answer

Do your USB mouse and camera not work at all or can you plug them into different ports and get them to work again.   Also, open up the device manager, and watch as you plug in your mouse or camera. Does it flash/refresh and detect any new devices?   Do you have any other USB devices you can use in those ports to see if its just the mouse and camera.   I would try an avoid buying the PCMCIA card, as some model don't deliver enough power through the PCMCIA card to power a mouse. Which makes them useless for a fix.

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Problems with my USB ports not working

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