XPS 8910, Rear USB 2.0 ports not working?

Power on and IMMEDIATELY press F2 to open BIOS setup. Look for USB Configuration options and make sure the rear USB ports are all fully enabled.  Don't change anything else in setup, but be sure to save the change if you changed USB settings.

If that doesn't help, power off and unplug the power cord from the REAR of PC. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec. Disconnect all other USB devices and connect the K+M to those 2 ports next to the Ethernet port. Reconnect the power cord to rear of PC and reboot. If K+M work now, try reconnecting other USB devices.

If you get to a point where K+M fail again, that might suggest the USB hubs are being overloaded with power-hungry devices and you might need an externally powered USB hub with its own power brick.

If none of that helps, contact Dell Tech Support since the PC should still be under warranty.

Thanks for the quick reply, RoHe. I have a strange answer.

I contacted Dell support and I did the 3 steps they suggested:

1. Resolve USB issues using Dell Click 2 Fix.

2. Run ePSA. My computer passed.

3. Update BIOS and chipset drivers.

None of those worked. Then I read your post and tried your suggestions. Your suggestions did not work either.

Now here is the strange part. With no other devices connected to any USB port on my computer, for some weird reason, the two USB ports in question work again with my mouse. However, the keyboard does not work with either port. If I plug the mouse into one of the two USB ports in question and any other device (e.g. a removable hard drive), the other device works in the other port as well. However, the keyboard still does not work in any of the two ports in question. The keyboard does however work on any of the four remaining USB ports below (rear) and on any of the USB ports in front.

STRANGE.

Can you try a different USB keyboard on one of those 2 rear ports?

Does keyboard work, eg its arrow keys, if you reboot and open BIOS setup?

You might also try this:

1. Reboot and open BIOS setup
2. Copy down ALL current settings
3. Power off and unplug
4. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
5. Open case and remove motherboard battery
6. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
7. Reinstall battery and close case
8. Connect only mouse and keyboard to those 2 rear ports
9. Reboot and press F2 to open BIOS setup
10. Make sure all settings match what you wrote down, or change to match
11. Save any changes and exit setup
12. See what happens when PC gets to desktop now

Remove the motherboard battery?! That scares me.

Not very difficult. Read the Service Manual for instructions and/or find a geeky friend to help.

downloads.dell.com/.../xps-8910-desktop_service manual_en-us.pdf

I had the same problem on my 8910.  This worked for me.  Go to device manager and expand the usb tree, expand each usb device and uncheck "allow  the computer to turn off this device to save power" in the power management tab if available.

Hello...

As mentioned before this issue is about 2 USB ports on the back of the tower located next to the Ethernet port - Dell XPS 8910 - bought 3 months ago.

In my case, first symptom was severe mouse lag (port next to Ethernet port). I tried switching Keyboard and Mouse but that resulted in severe keyboard lag, even multiple keys pressed when single key was pressed. So I left that port and connected my mouse elsewhere. After few days, suddenly my keyboard stopped working.

Following instructions mentioned in this thread did not help....

Connecting another USB keyboard to same port did not work - i received and windows error "one of the USB devices ... malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it". Connecting same keyboard to other ports went fine. Connecting other USB devices to ports with M/K issue is OK - for example, webcam work just fine.

What is specially worrying, keyboard connected to these two ports doesn't work in BIOS - so I concluded it's not windows/drivers problem.

@tdb41 - did you solve your issue?

Is there any official comment about this issue, has anybody found the cause and/or solution?

Thanks

They two USB ports next to the Ethernet port are the only two USB 2.0 ports, the rest are USB 3.0 or 3.1. It seems to me that these ports have failed and your motherboard needs to be replaced. I think the biggest clue is that these ports did not work in the BIOS. I would contact Dell for a warranty repair.

I have had the same experience, performed the above suggested fixes, and still the two USB 2.0s are malfunctioning.

What is now the solution?

Try updating all the chipset drivers. Assuming this is Win 10, the drivers are here:

www.dell.com/.../advanced

And there's a firmware update for USB3.1 listed that you might also need...

If the USB 2.0 ports do not work in the BIOS I fail to see how updating the chipset drivers is going to help.

If the USB 2.0 ports do not work in the BIOS I fail to see how updating the chipset drivers is going to help.

There are multiple users posting in this thread and I see only one who said anything about USB2 ports not working in BIOS setup.

Either way, the users should also check in BIOS setup to make sure the rear USB2 ports are Enabled...

I have my USB keyboard plugged into one of the two USB ports "dedicated" on the XPS for keyboards/Mice. One day it just got the "USB device is unrecognized" error.

I've done the usual:

-Unplugged the USB/restarted the PC from cold boot
-Unplugged the power supply for a couple hours for a true cold boot
-Updated the USB port drivers for all ports, not just the one with the issue (Device manager -> Update driver software)
-Uninstalled the USB port using device manager and let the restart re-install it
-used the USB device diagnostics software from MS, but for whatever reason it doesn't detect it as an issue.

All of these still ended up with the "unrecognized error" the second I press a key on the keyboard.

Here's the odd part: When I use one of the USB 3.0 slots (either on the back or the front of the XPS) everything works (hence why I'm able to type this). What's ever weirder is that if I plug a USB hub into one of the USB slots that is having the issue (the "dedicated" keyboard/mouse slots), then plug the keyboard into that hub, it also works. 

In addition, basically every other USB device, including my mouse, also works using the usb port in question. 

Obviously I would like to use the "keyboard" usb slot as I'd like to keep the 3.0 USB for devices that need the high speed. I'd also like to use the dedicated USB port without the hub since I don't want my keyboard fighting with other usb devices.

OS is Windows 10 using a Microsoft Multimedia keyboard with the most recent drivers.

I know it's not a hardware issue, since plugging in the keyboard into one of the USB 3.0 slots properly installs the drivers, yet plugging it into the 2.0 Keyboard USB fails the install and gives the "DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE" error. I have checked the event properties for the slot and the oldest event ("Device USB\VID_0000&PID_0002\5&1cd0e23a&0&5 was configured") matches up with the date that the issue started. I'm wondering if there is a way to reset the usb.inf driver just for this, because uninstalling the device retains the information from the previous dates.

I've tried looking for solutions online buy can't find anything; they all seem to be the situation where the device doesn't work on any USB port (hardware issue), whereas this seems to be software one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you!  

Always include exact PC model in your posts.

If it helps it's an XPS 8910