SOLVED - Can't connect phone to laptop for file transfer

[Tone111]

Hi all,
I seem to have a bit of a problem connecting my phones (wired via USB) to my W8.1 laptop to back up my old one and transfer my data etc to my new one. It's not the cable or the phones, as they both connect to my W7 desktop just fine, but this has limited hard drive space and my laptop has loads.

I'm not sure how long this has been an issue as I haven't backed it up to this machine before, but it didn't use to be if I ever connected it to charge it, though I haven't tried it for a while.. 

I've had a little google and play around but no joy with anything so far - the device manager is showing some yellow triangles under 'Other Devices' but uninstalilng and reinstalling and also trying to update driver software both fail with errors so I'm at a bit of a loss on those! 

Also I've installed Sony PC Companion to help backup all my old phone data (rather than do it manually in file explorer) and this tells me it needs an update to be able to run, then fails to update when pressed with an unspecified 'Installation error' which then closes the program!  Not having much joy in any department right now - any of you learned folks have any ideas?...

[Boggin]

You can free up a few GBs of space by turning Hibernate off with this cmd from a Command Prompt (Admin)

powercfg -h off

To turn it back on again, change off to on

In Device Manager click on View/Show hidden devices and post a pic either using PRTSC and Paint or with the Snipping tool so I can have a look at those alerts etc.

Expand if possible anything that has a yellow alert.

[Tone111]

Hi again Boggin, long time no see!

Hibernate is already turned off on my desktop - it's on on my laptop but space isn't an issue on this...

I've attached a snip of the device manager Other Devices - the top one is my new phone which is connected to the USB but won't show in Explorer and won't charge, though it does make a noise when I plug the cable in so something is happening.
The one below is my old phone which also won't connect, although both used to do
The RNDIS and the Unknown ones I have no idea about and don't think they're anything to do with the phone issue, unless you want me to dig more on those..

There's nothing more I can actually expand as such in devman, but I can expand other items in the tree or look at the ones mentioned in more detail if required, just let me know.
Thanks

[Boggin]

You usually get Unknown Device when another has driver problems and there may be alerts in USB Controllers, but right click on each of the unknown devices and select Properties.

Under the Details tab use the dropdown to select Hardware Ids where its driver will be highlighted.

Right click on that and select Copy where you can paste that into a Google search to ID what it is, which may also find a driver for you, or you can paste those into your reply and we both can have a search.

Downloading the driver for the C6903 may help with that one -
https://developer.sonymobile.com/downloads/drivers/xperia-z1-c6902-c6903-c6906-c6943-driver/

[Tone111]

Ok, so I checked the whole of the devman tree and the only other yellow triangle was in USB controllers (see attached) - I tried updating this online but it said the best software was already installed.  [further amendment - since removing the C6903 from devman this triangle has vanished and now there are none except in Other Devices!]

The hardware IDs for the Unknown devices just gave a load of numbers and letters which meant nothing to me - when I tried to update them online however they all errored with the same 'The data is invalid' message  with following descriptions "Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy", "WAN Miniport (SSTP)", and "Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter" for the bottom 2. The RNDIS also errored with this message and description "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device". Not sure if I need any or all of these but they all say they're not configured correctly and the 2 grey ones aren't connected either so I'll leave all those for now..

I downloaded the drivers from Sony for both phones, unpacked them and tried to update them manually from the correct folders but both said they 'could not find driver software for your device'!  I tried online again but both gave the same "data is invalid" message - attached. The newer phone also gave the following error popup message on my laptop (attached) saying Windows didn't recognise the device - spiffing! 

I also tried uninstalling the C6903 from devman, thinking it would reinstall when I reconnected it, but it didn't and now I have nothing showing for the new one and still the same damn error message!    [- amendment - the C6903 device has since reappeared in devman but still with the yellow triangle and same error]

The old phone is charging through the USB connector but doesn't show up in file explorer, the new one does neither, but does make the same noise when I connect it, then gives me the error above. Getting nowhere fast here, anything else I can do? 

[Boggin]

Does your phone show up in Devices and Printers as an icon that you can right click on and select Troubleshoot ?

The fact that you are getting the same problem on the laptop now would suggest that the fault is with the phone.

When you get you already have the latest driver message, you can select Update Driver Software again but then select Browse my computer - Let me pick..

It may take you straight to the driver store window for that device or you may have to scroll down and select the applicable section.

Click on the driver in the store then on Next where the driver will be reinstalled.

[Tone111]

Think you might be confused here Boggin (or I am!  ), but how do you conclude "The fact that you are getting the same problem on the laptop now would suggest that the fault is with the phone"? Both phones connect fine to my W7 desktop so surely the issue must lie with the laptop?!  At least that's my deduction...

Anyway the phones do both show in Devices & Printers - the older LT26i (Xperia S) shows under Devices and the newer C6903 Xperia Z under Unspecified. On right clicking both show a yellow Troubleshooting triangle but on diagnosing both said they couldn't identify the problem!   

The 'latest driver' message was when I tried to update the yellow icon in the USB tree, but that disappeared when I uninstalled the C6903 driver and when it reinstalled that triangle had gone. What I have since discovered is that one of the 3 USB ports on my laptop is dead - neither phone or my mouse work when plugged into it, however on the other 2 the mouse is fine and the old phone charges but the new one doesn't, and neither show in file explorer (though they both do in Devices & Printers). That yellow triangle in USBs only shows up when I plug anything into this 'dead' port. I followed your instructions anyway and it errored with the now familiar 'The data is invalid' message (attached)

So I'm not sure where that leaves us as neither phone will connect fully to allow file transfer and none of the troubleshooters seem able to resolve the driver issues or even identify the problem... 

[Boggin]

Sorry - was getting confused.

I'm not familiar with Win 8.1 but in Win 10 there's a System Devices section in Device Manager.

Do you have that in Win 8.1

If you do, check for yellow alerts and/or right click on each and select Update Driver Software to see if Windows finds anything - that section can include Chipset drivers.

However, as one USB port has gone down then there could be other motherboard problems which is the cause as it affects both phones.

I'm not sure if Event Viewer will have recorded anything that will be useful, but have a look.

I'm also not sure if msinfo32 will tell you anything that you don't already know in that an USB port has gone down, but if you got Start - type msinfo32 and press enter then expand Components/Problem Devices to see what that comes up with.

[Tone111]

No problem - I often do as well! 

Yes there is a System Devices branch in devman (8.1 is quite similar to 10 but I don't really bother with the apps and use Classic Shell to make it more like 7!), but everything is fine - as I mentioned earlier the only yellow triangles in the whole of the tree were under Other Devices (and the one in USBs when I plug into the dead port)

msinfo 32 is empty under Components/Problem Devices so nothing to report there. Which bit of Event Viewer do I look in, and what am I looking for?? (attached) - there are several areas to search in and I don't know which key words to search for as the Event log is Huge!!

[Boggin]

With Event Viewer (Local) highlighted, click on Errors then on View All Instances of This Event in the lower right pane and look for time stamped errors when you were trying the phones.

There may be something in System under Windows Logs and Hardware Events under Applications and Services.

Did you have any of the phones plugged in when you checked msinfo32 ?

I don't know if this will have any effect but with the phone unplugged, shutdown then plug it in and reboot to see if you still get the alerts in Device Manager.

[jpm]

I know this will sound weird, but I would wager it is a cable problem.

I have seen this a number of times with different phones - even my old s3. If you are using the cable that came with the phone - swap it and see if it works. OR, find the cable that came with the phone and see if it works.

[Tone111]

Thanks for the suggestion jpm - not that weird really as I have had cabling issues in the past, but not this time - both cables are connecting both phones (they're interchangeable) to my W7 desktop so that rules them out as the cause here. Also the yellow warning triangles are showing in devman for both devices, and both are telling me to Troubleshoot in Devices & Printers, so it's clearly a software/driver issue which seems remarkably stubborn right now..

Ok Boggin - not sure if the phones were in or not when I checked msinfo, so I reattached and rechecked, also plugged my mouse into the dead port at the same time, closed and reopened msinfo32, and at no point did anything appear in Problem Devices - curious...

Anyway, so onto Event Viewer - checking on the Overview & Summary (Local) page - the only 2 Error events in the 'last hour' are a 1000 Application Error (Application) and a 7011 Service Control Manager (System). There's also 1 Warning in the last hour for a 1014 DNS Client Events (System) which I guess is when I opened the laptop or reconnected to the Wifi but it seems unrelated.. There's also 58 Information events in there as well, but nothing that looks obvious, and I gather we're looking for errors here, not just info?

Clicked on All Instances of the 1000 and it's an explorer.exe errror, with older ones being SDUpdate.exe, OneDriveStandaloneUpdater.exe, GWIdlMon.exe - all program related by the look of it. The 7011 error says 'A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the BFE service.', with others also being timeout errors relating to FDResPub service, Dnscache service, NlaSvc service, and so on (mostly DNS) - are any of these linked to my problem? Nothing obvious is standing out to me right now 

[Boggin]

Not sure if the FDResPub service error is relevant as it's more to do with printers etc. - http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-7/what-is-the-function-discovery-resource-publication-fdrespub-service/

Win 10 from what I've seen tends to set the network connection as Public - what is your desktop set as - open Network and Sharing Center to check.

Can you check to see if the phones can connect in Safe Mode.

EDIT - Been looking into the Public and Private settings and it's possible that could be the cause if your Win 10 laptop is set to Public.

https://www.photosync-app.com/photosync/en/help/connectivity/answers/how-to-change-the-windows-10-network-type-from-public-to-private.html

[Tone111]

Did you mean desktop or laptop??  my laptop is set as Private Network (Home) as it's the home Wifi; my desktop is currently not connected to anything as it doesn't have Wifi and the only way I can connect it, when needed, is to either plug an ethernet cable in or more often tether it to my phone and use the data from that. Does the type of network connection affect the USBs and phones connecting??

Anyway I'll boot my laptop into safe mode with networking and see what happens there and let you know.... 

[Boggin]

Have a look at my Edit in my last post, but as yours is already set to Private - that's another possible solution down the pan

Trying it in Safe Mode - I had antivirus programs or other 3rd party programs or non-MS services in mind which will be isolated in that mode.

EDIT - Also forgot the laptop is using Win 8.1.

[Tone111]

Yeah it's 8.1 

Well I'm now in safe mode with networking, connected both phones and no change! Looks the same in devman with the triangles (and also a triangle in Monitors now on Generic PnP Monitor which wasn't there in Normal Mode)

I did try Troubleshooting them again from Devices & Printers and the message was different - both said driver error rather than data is invalid and then tried to reinstall the driver for the phone but both had the same end result - failed or Not fixed! 

Anything else we can try....? 

[Boggin]

That Generic PnP Monitor error is normal in Safe Mode.

The only thing I've found so far is to check if the services mentioned in this article are enabled, but I have a couple of more links to check out.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-hardware/windows-81-fails-to-install-device-drivers-data-is/81322c85-c552-4224-b737-d23d54f5bd1f

[Tone111]

Well that link does sound very similar to my issue.

I've tried starting those services mentioned but in safe mode the only one I can start is the Device Install Service - the other 2 give me a red cross saying they can't be started, which I'm guessing is a safe mode issue. They're all set to Manual by the way.

I'll go back into Normal mode and try those again...

[Tone111]

Bingo Boggin!!! 

Started those 3 services back in normal mode and when one of them went on both phones connected! Excellent, cheers mate, not sure which one it was but both are now showing in file explorer and in devman they're now in Portable devices with the proper icons and No triangles - brilliant!

Not sure why the necessary services don't start when the phones are connected, and don't know if I need them running all the time (they're on Manual not Auto), but I now know how to get them connected properly and where to look if I ever have this issue again.

Thanks again mate, you're a star! 

[Boggin]

That's great news - another one for Google

To see if they now start when they should, I'd unplug the phones - shutdown - wait about 20 secs - reboot and try the phones in again.

I've just checked the status of those services on my Win 10 and they are -

Device Install - Manual

Device Setup Manager - Manual

Device Association - Running - Auto (Triggered)

[Tone111]

Yeah I did do a bit of googling myself, but after drawing several blanks I decided to give this old forum a try and luckily you (and google) came up trumps - thanks again. 

I checked the services and since starting all 3 manually the DAS has now changed to Automatic (Trigger start) and stays running whenever a device is connected - the others are on manual and not running, but I checked on Blackviper.com and this is the correct status for all 3 so the same configuration as W10 for those.

I also disconnected and reconnected the phones and they show up just fine now in both devman and file explorer so we can safely say this one is Solved - bye then, till we meet again..... 

[Boggin]

I decided to look at it for the driver failing to install in Win 8.1 which got me that link.

Anyway - the longer you are away from the forum means that everything is trouble free