'USB Device Not Recognized' Errors

Question

I've recently started having problems with my Dimension 4550 recognizing some USB devices, specifically some SanDisk Cruzer Mini flash drives and the USB connection on my Dell 1905FP monitor. Just recently, whenever I plug one of these devices into any USB port on the CPU, a Windows balloon error pops up from the taskbar's notification area. The error says, "USB Device Not Recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it."

In the Device Manager, each of these peripherals get listed under Universal Serial Bus controllers as an "Unknown Device". In the device status box of the properties window, it says, "No drivers are installed for this device."

These peripherals were working fine until just recently, and they work fine when I plug them into other computers. And I know it's not a problem with the SanDisk drives themselves, because I have plugged three identical units into my Dimension and gotten the same error each time.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the devices' drivers to no avail. A Diagnostic scan came up clean.

Meanwhile, I am having no problems with my other USB devices (mouse, PDA, printer, external hard drive). ANY help???

Dimension 4550
Windows XP Professional

Rauckman · Answer

A quick update/addition. The iPod Nano my wife gave me for my birthday last night is experiencing the same problem. I just plugged it into the USB port and got the same errors. Not sure why this is only affecting certain devices. I can't think of a common denominator among those that work or those that don't.

RoHe · Answer

Is it possible that the combination of devices is just exceeding the power limits on the USB ports? Try moving all USB devices to different ports than they're currently using. You might need a USB hub with its own power source.

Try unplugging all USB devices and then connect them, one at a time, until you find the one that's malfunctioned. If first one works, unplug it and try another one...

You could also try the generic fix for USB issues. Unplug all USB devices except keyboard and mouse, if you have those. Open device manager and expand the list under USB. Right-click each item, one at a time, and starting from the bottom, uninstall each one.

When they're all removed, reboot the PC and let XP reinstall all the USB controllers. Maybe that'll fix it. You still might need the powered hub.

Ron

Message Edited by RoHe on 12-06-2005 11:23 AM

Rauckman · Answer

Many thanks, RoHe. I tried uninstalling everything in the device manager under Universal Serial Bus Controllers and rebooted, letting Windows reinstall them. That fixed the problem. You were able to do what 2 hours with two different Dell Chat sessions could not. I appreciate it.

Any idea what might bring about this issue? I have been using this computer at home for quite some time without having problems. It came about only recently when I got a new PC for home and brought this Dimension to use at my office.

As for exceeding power limits, what I'm using doesn't seem excessive. My typical USB device list is:

-Dell 1905FP Monitor hooked up to USB to allow use of 4 USB ports on the monitor itself (the monitor has its own power source, which I'm assuming those ports would draw power from)
-Maxtor External Hard Drive (has its own external power source)
-HP All-in-One Printer (has its own power source)
-Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (transmitter has its own power source, keyboard and mouse run off of rechargeable batteries)
-iPaq Pocket PC (draws power from USB port on CPU to charge battery)
-finally, the occassional miscellaneous hookup of a flash drive, iPod, etc.

My main concern is, could the lack of power be a hardware issue? My warranty ends in 10 days, so I'd hate for the problem to get progressively worse after my coverage ends.

RoHe · Answer

Rauckman
Glad that was the easy fix for the problem. It's hard to know why these things happen. Maybe the old PC is upset because you replaced it with a new one, and sent it to work at the office. :)

Sometimes USB just gets "confused" trying to deal with too many devices at once. The fix I suggested is usually the first thing to try when USB goes brain dead. Surprising that Tech Support didn't suggest it right away.

There's a difference between having a power source and having powered USB. My Logitech cordless, rechargable mouse has 110V power adaptor plugged into the base station (transmitter plus recharger) but the base is drawing 70 mA from the USB root hub (500 mA is max available). Unplugging the power adaptor from the base doesn't disable the mouse, meaning it probably only supplies the battery charger and not the transmitter. So you have to be careful how you think about these things.

With all your USB devices attached (and hopefully recognized), open Device Manager and expand the list under USB. Double-click on each root hub, one at a time, and then click the Power tab. You'll see what's connected to that root hub and how much power each device draws. The max available for the root hub should be listed at top of the screen so you can see how close you are to max-ing out. If necessary, re-assort the devices on all the root hubs to even out the power consumption as best you can. If you're max-ing out, you may have to plug more things into the monitor's USB ports which should be powered.

Ron

Message Edited by RoHe on 12-06-2005 04:02 PM

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"USB Device Not Recognized" Errors

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