Author Topic: USB Drives Not Recognized (Read 17518 times)

crysridge · « **on:** February 13, 2012, 07:34:31 am »

This seems a very common problem without a simple solution. I'm wondering if this could be something addressed in your tweaking program. It seems to occur in all versions of Windows. Until recently I have had no problem at all but, suddenly, my computer no longer "sees" anything I connect after bootup. This includes items connected to built-in USB ports and to ports on external hubs. Hardware that is always always connected seems OK (ie. printer).

Thanks for your work and interest.

Shane · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2012, 11:59:51 am »

Is it just USB hard drives or anything plug into usb like keyboard, mouse or printer?

Shane

crysridge · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2012, 02:02:00 pm »

Hi Shane, it's a mystery ! The printer works, a couple of other items that start when booting work. The powered hub no longer seems to work and several USB hard drives
did not register with windows when plugged in directly to the tower. Just tried a flash drive and it worked in the tower but not in the hub. I'm beginning to suspect my powered hub has gone bad. The confusing part is that several USB hard drives that worked in both the hub and the tower no longer work in either. The first USB HD I tried that did not work in either I plugged into a netbook and it worked just fine. Go figure !

Thanks
Brian

Shane · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2012, 02:23:12 pm »

Might be the hub.

If nothing is working in the hub and yet they work when plugged directly in then I think you found the problem

Shane

crysridge · « **Reply #4 on:** February 13, 2012, 04:40:11 pm »

Nope !! Not the hub. I plugged it into my netbook and it was immediately recognized and the "Generic Hub" driver was initiated. Then I connected the USB hard drive that didn't work on my tower and it was immediately recognized. Seems there is a problem with the "Generic Hub" driver on my tower. Somehow it has been recently removed or corrupted. That is the issue I thought might be a good one for your "tweaking" software. As I stated before, a search of the web has shown that this is a very common problem, it seems.

I really don't know what to try next. Any suggestions ?
Brian

Shane · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2012, 04:44:20 pm »

On the tower have you tired plugging the hub into a different USB port?

Reason why I ask is a lot of hubs pull the power they need from the USB ports (instead of a power cable). Sometimes a USB port can start to go bad and not give the power it needs. You can tell this by simply using a different port.

I want to cover all bases before we start digging into drivers :-D

Shane

crysridge · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:49:13 pm »

Yes, I have tried that. I have also tried plugging the HD in several different ports. I also tried flash drives in both tower and netbook. Everything works in the netbook but not in the tower. And, as I stated, everything was working in the tower until the last several days. WOW !

I can work around this by using multiple computers.

Brian

Shane · « **Reply #7 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:52:48 pm »

I just had to replace a motherboard for a customer because all the USB stopped working, didn't work even after a fresh windows or Linux install. So I knew they where dead.

We need to find out if it is windows or if your USB has died.

One way we can do this is by downloading the Ubuntu Linux live cd. It allows you to boot Linux off the CD. From there you can see if the USB works correctly. If it does then we know it is windows, if it doesn't then we know it is the motherboard

Shane

crysridge · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2012, 07:41:39 pm »

OK - latest update ! I ran Ubuntu Live. The hub was recognized just fine. I plugged in a flash drive in both the tower and the hub. It worked just fine in both. I plugged the USB HD in both. It was immediately recognized through the hub but not directly through the tower.

As it receives its power from the unit it is plugged into, could it be it is not getting enough power directly from the tower ? I do have a very good power supply for the equipment I have (585 watts) and this was not a problem previously. The hub is powered directly from a power outlet.

This would still indicate to me that there is a problem with Windows. What do you think ?

Thanks for all,
Brian

Shane · « **Reply #9 on:** February 13, 2012, 07:48:10 pm »

Odd the USB drive did power through the tower but I am sure it is fine.

But the fact that it behaved WAY better in Ubuntu does make it seem like it is a windows problem

So here a trick with Windows that I do.

1. Open the device manager (Normally better to do this in safe mode)
2. Go to advanced and click on show hidden devices
3. Now go through the USB devices and removed all the transparent entries first then remove all the rest.
4. Reboot, Windows will now reload all the USB devices and install the drivers again.

I have had to do this for customers when there USB mouse or camera stopped working, removing it from the device manger and letting Windows reinstall it was the trick. Might work for you as well

Shane