USB Hi-Speed Problems

Question

Hello all,   I am having a problem that I can't seem to fix. When I bought my Inspiron 8600, I immediately formatted my system and installed Windows XP SP 2 Professional. All software and drivers were installed and all seemed well. I got all the drivers straight from the Dell website and to this date, they are still current.   So, I plugged in my Smartdisk Firelite USB 2.0 hard drive which has LEDs based on weither its USB hi-speed 2.0 (blue LED) or USB 1.1 (green LED). When I plugged it in, it wasn't going hi-speed, and I got the bubble in the system tray confirming that and it even said I should plug it into another port... I only have two, so I tried both. No dice.   I did notice if I rebooted my computer WITH the hard drive attached, when Windows would show the startup/login screen, it would be hi-speed USB 2.0 from that point forward. If I detached the drive, reattached while in Windows XP, back to USB 1.1.   I have downloaded the Intel chipset software, disabled the USB things in the Device Manager, and even uninstalled them without any changes. I saw a switch in BIOS talking about USB emulation or something, and I tried that enabled/disabled without success there either...   Most of the posts on this website about these problems seem some what related but there is no answer. I HATE rebooting just to use this device. Any solutions out there?   I have the docking station for this laptop, and when I dock it, the USB's on that hardware will pickup the hard drive with USB 2.0 at any point, regardless of rebooting. But, the dock isn't always available to me. And yes, I am positive my drivers, OS, and software is all up-to-date. And yes, I installed the Intel Chipset many times over. Please help!   Thanks, B Message Edited by Ballmatic on 12-15-2004 10:58 PM

Ballmatic · Answer

That could be it, however... the difference between USB 2 and USB 1.1 is the amount of power my laptop provides it? I mean, if the USB device doesn't work, then I understand external power might be needed. But, this thing will work in XP with USB 2 if I boot the computer up with the thing attached. How does it handle power then?

ejn63 · Answer

The symptoms you describe are those of a USB port that can't meet the power requirements of the drive. If the drive doesn't have an external power supply or a PS/2 bridge connector, invest in a powered USB hub, which will also solve the problem.

notebookvet · Answer

seems like I am having the dialog 'please use HI-SPEED' when plugging in a scanner, and I also have installed a clean Windows XP SP2, then Dell Notebook System Software, then Intel Mobile Chipset, then the other drivers, I am investigating too now, but if you find an answer, please post here too

notebookvet · Answer

under Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> System Tools -> Device Manager -> Universal Serial Bus controllers there are eight entries ?!?

three each Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller, one Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller, four each USB Root Hub

now go and have fun and do a right-click Properties on all of them and your 1920x1200 screen is big enough to lay them out next to each other

for the Host Controller the Advanced tab the bandwidth consumption gives away which one you are connected to

for the Hub the Power tab gives away which one you are connected to

maybe for each non-USB2 Host Controller in the General tab with Device usage you could disable the device, and only the one USB2 would be left over

for me it worked by just unplugging it, plugging it back in, and then it showed up on the USB2 instead of the USB

I'll find out whether it has "learnt" to do that from now on, if you don't hear from me it means that worked for me

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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