XPS 8700 Special Edition Desktop USB Ports Issue

Hi Shawn,

It seems that the issue was related to the drivers as the USB ports started working after restart.

There might be some corrupt drivers which may have caused the issue; however the drivers installed properly upon restart.

USB 2 ports do not require drivers to be installed in windows 7; however you have to install specific drivers for USB 3.0 ports.

If system has windows 8 installed, it has support for both USB2 & USB 3 ports and does not require any drivers. The drivers install automatically upon restart.

Hi Kuldeep,

Thank you so much for the prompt reply, really appreciated that. The system is Win 7 Pro. There is a drivers and utility disk come with the desktop, do I have to re-install all the drivers by running the disk? Also, how do I tell the USB ports are 2.0 or 3.0. There are 10 ports total for XPS 8700 special edition, if I count them correctly. I found that the inside chip part of USP ports do come in different colors, most of them are blue, and rest of them are black. Does the color indicate different version? Thanks for your help. ~!!!

Hi Kuldeep,

Thanks again for the prompt reply. Before I re install the drivers, do I have to uninstall the drivers first or the re-install will override the previously installed drivers? I did run a PC check by using the application in My Dell program folder, and everything was marked as PASSED. Does this mean the hardware, software and drives that already installed in the computer working properly? Since the USB ports "not-working-issue" was a sudden occurrence and back to normal after restart the computer, do you think is it really necessary to re install the drivers for the system or just wait to see if the same problem happens again in the future to take further actions. Thanks for your time and help ! :)

Hi Shawn,

Thank you for sharing the operating system installed.

Yes you may use the driver’s disk to install any missing or corrupt driver for your system.

Also the XPS 8700 has 10 USB ports in total.

USB 3.0: 2x Front and 4x Rear

USB 2.0: 2x Rear and 1x Top

USB 2.0 with PowerShare: 1x Top

The USB ports with blue color are the USB 3.0 ports available on the front and the rare of the system.

The USB ports with black color are the USB 2.0 ports and are available on the top panel and the rare of the system.

Please feel free to reply for any further assistance.

Try this before messing with drivers:

1. Disconnect all USB devices except mouse and keyboard
2. Open Device Manager and expand list under USB
3. Double-click on a root hub and then click Power Management tab
4. Uncheck box "Allow PC to turn off this device..."
5. Click OK back to Device Manager screen
6. Repeat for all root hubs
7. Reboot

Edited

Hi Rohe,

Thanks a lot for the tips. I will try this when I get home and see what happen. Thank you ~!

Hi Shawn,

You may install the drivers without uninstalling them and it would repair any corrupt or missing drivers; however it is suggested to uninstall the previous version first and then install the drivers.

As all the tests passed for the system and the system is working fine, there is no need to update any drivers for now.

For any updates, you may visit the Dell support website and analyze the system for available updates.

Click on the link provided in the signature below and on the link, enter the system Service Tag and click ‘Continue’-> ‘Analyze System for Updates’.

I had a major problem with my USB 3.0 ports on a  brand new XPS 8700 special edition.  After 10 days DELL sent a technician that replaced my motherboard and all 6 USB 3.0 ports.  Now the computer working properly.  Seems to me these systems are not being tested in the factory before leaving

wonderdoc

Hi Wonderdoc,

Thank you for the heads up. I will try all 6 USB 3.0 ports to see if they are working properly. Do I just use a USB 3.0 device to plug into the ports to check or are there any other ways to run the check? Thanks for your kind help.

Shawn

Hi Kuldeep,

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I will try asap.

Thank you ~!

Hi Shawn,

Yes you may check the functionality of all 6 USB 3.0 ports by connecting a USB device and see if they are getting detected properly.

You may use a USB 2.0 or a USB 3.0 device to check the functionality of the ports.

To determine if the USB ports are working at their operational speed, you may try transferring a data file from your system to first a USB 2 device and then to a USB 3 device and check the difference in data transfer speed.

You can also check the USB Root Hub properties from the device manager to check the operational speed.   

• Press ‘Windows’ key + R on ‘Desktop’ screen 
• Type ‘devmgmt.msc’ in run box and press ‘Enter’
• Click > sign next to ‘Universal Serial Bus Controller’
• Right click on the ‘USB Root’ Hub entry and click on ‘Properties’
• Click on the ‘Advanced Tab’ to check the operational speed.

USB 2.0 works at high speed and the USB 3.0 works at super speed.

Please feel free to reply for any further assistance.

My problem was very interesting.  Not only did I buy a XPS 8700, but I also bought the S2340T multi-touch monitor, and it uses USB 3.0 ports on the PC.  If I plugged it into a USB 3.0 port, my system almost froze.  Mouse and keyboard disabled (plugged into USB 2.0) and touch facility not working.  Device drivers showed that USB 3.0 ports gets enabled, then disabled, in a loop system.  if I unplug it from USB 3.0, and only use it as monitor, the system behaves itself..  Keyboard & mouse also normal then.

Replacing the monitor with a new one, made no difference.  Ports were uninstalled and reinstalled a number of times.  Made no difference.  Interesting, if I plugged a USB 3.0 external drive into a USB 3.0 port, it worked perfectly.  Support tested all 6 USB 3.0 port remotely this ways and they only malfunctioned with the monitor.  After 10 days, the motherboard and all 6 USB 3.0 ports were replaced and like magic the system works normally.

wonderdoc

Hi Shawn,

Please let me know if you have tried the steps and if the USB ports are working fine.

Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist you further in case of any issues.