Re: Problems With All USB Devices Connected to Dimension 8300

I have no silver bullet here, but you might try to check your power settings
in two places: 1) The control panel (probably OK, but just to be sure) and
2) Device Manager somewhere under the USB controller properties there are
some power settings. I don't remember exactly what there are but make sure
that they are set to not time-out or power down.

Mike


"gary" <gary.nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:NtDMf.3947$F56.1259@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am having a problem with virtually every USB device I have
connected to my Dell D-8300. Am not using a USB hub, and
all devices are connected directly to the available USB
ports on the back of the PC. The problems, and frequency of
the problems seems to get worse over time. Until now, it is
almost intolerable.

I have an HP USB-2 Printer (Photosmart 7960), and HP USB-1
Scanner (Scanjet 5300), a Maxtor One-Touch II USB-2 external
hard drive, a Logitech USB-2 web cam, and an ATI Remote
Wonder USB remote.

I also have three PNY Attaché flash drives, all USB-2, which
I use the front-two USB ports to connect to. Am using
Windows XP Pro-SP2, 2 GIGs RAM.

In Device Manager, there are no errors shown on the main USB
controller. But I think the controller has intermittent
problems detecting USB devices.

Here's the problems:

1. Printer - About 50% of the time I boot my PC, the
printer is not detected. I have to right-click the system
tray icon, and choose RECONNECT PRINTER, and it will
connect. BUT when printing documents or powering-off the
printer, about 25% of the time, the printer will lock up
during printing or power-off. The LED display goes
hay-wire, and you cannot turn the printer off. None of the
buttons on the printer will work. The only way to fix the
problem is to disconnect the power and USB connectors from
the back of the printer, then re-connect them. Then, the
printer resets and I can print for awhile longer until the
problem re-occurs.

2. Scanner: 100% of the time when i try to scan something,
I always get a blank scan (black screen) and the scanner
does not power up. I then have to select RE-SCAN. On the
second scan, you can hear the scanner powering up and
scanning the document, and the scan completes normally. But
IT ALWAYS TAKES TWO TRIES TO SCAN ANYTHING, REGARDLESS OF
THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM I USE TO INITIATE THE SCANNER.

3. Maxtor One-Touch II USB-2 External Hard Drive:
I use this for backing up my hard drive, and it probably the
most important USB device I have. Even though the drive is
always detected, when I try to back up my hard drive,
nothing happens. It's as if the Maxtor software DOES NOT
SEE the drive. I have to power on/off the Maxtor drive
about 3-4 times, before I can perform a backup. I called
Maxtor and they sent me a new replacement drive. I was
hoping it was just the drive. But after replacing the
drive, and un-installing/re-installing all the Maxtor
software, I'm having the exact same problems. Backups won't
run until you turn the drive on/off 3-4 times, until the
system finally detects the drive. So, I've eliminated that
this is a hard drive problem.

And when recording TV programs to the hard drive, only a few
minutes gets recorded, then the connection is lost and the
recording stops and my PC is locked up (have a new ATI AIW
X800XT 256MB video card).

4. Logitech Web Cam Quick-Cam Zoom:
In Device Manager and Control Panel/Scanners and Cameras,
this web cam shows as Logitech Quickcam Zoom #7. It shows
as #7 because whenever it isn't detected during boot-up, it
re-detects is, and adds a "number" to the end. I'm now up
to #7. This is the # of times the web cam wasn't detected,
and had to be re-detected, and each time it gets a different
name. I have other friends with Dells and the exact same
web cam, and after a year, their's still shows as Logitech
Quickcam Zoom (no numbers) after hundreds of re-boots.

New PNY 4-Gig Flash Drive:
There are two USB connectors on the front my D-8300. Just
bought this PNY Flash Drive. When I first plugged it into
the first USB port on the front, got an error that Windows
could not detect the device due to some unknown error. So,
I plugged the flash drive into the 2nd (back) connector on
the front of the Dell, and it was detected without problem.
Every time I plug it into the first one, I get an error
that Windows cannot read from the device. But it always
works fine on the 2nd connector.

I have plugged this same flash drive into 3 different USB
connectors on my laptop and it installed/worked perfectly on
all 3 USB connectors. Then, took it to my office, and it
worked perfectly on both of my USB connectors at the office
PC. It just doesn't want to work on the first (one facing
me) USB connector on my home D-8300.

IS IT THE CONTROLLER?
If it is the controller, is this built on the motherboard,
and would a replacement of the USB controller require a new
motherboard?

IS IT "SOME" OF THE USB CONNECTORS?
Can some USB connectors "go bad" after a certain amount of
time? In other words, would plugging a USB device into a
DIFFERENT USB connector make a difference? Or is it an "all
or nothing" with the available USB connectors? Meaning, if
one should work, they all should work? Has anyone had a
problem with one or more USB connectors not working, but
others working fine?

My Dell is still under it's 3-year on-site warranty. When I
called Dell tech support, I got someone in India, which I
just hate (not the Indians, but the quality of tech support
they provide). They aren't well trained, and force you to
"jump through hoops" based on, not their own knowledge and
experience, but based on "scripts" that Dell has provided
them.

They wanted me to spend 3-4 hours disconnecting and
reconnecting every USB device, reinstalling it's software,
all while remaining on the phone with them. I told them I
would call them back when I had time.

But this sounds to me like the internal USB controller is
having problems, or at a minimum, some of the USB connectors
not all working correctly.

Sorry for this long message, but wanted to provide enough
info, so that ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCING THE SAME OR SIMILAR
ISSUES, would understand, and hopefully provide some
help/advice, BEFORE I call Dell Tech Support back and spend
3-4 hours doing all the stuff they want me to do, when in
most cases, I have already done them.

I've disconnected and reconnected every USB device a number
of time. Doesn't help. I've replaced the Maxtor drive, and
reinstalled the software, but still didn't fix the problem.

Again, many thanks to anyone for help/advice on this issue.
It would be great (but unfortunate) if someone had similar
problems to mine, and to find out how it was resolved, e.g.,
DID DELL COME OUT AND REPLACE THE MOTHERBOARD CONTAINING A
NEW USB CONTROLLER? Or was it resolved by disconnecting
every device, one-by-one, and reinstalling the software
one-by-one, for every USB device?

Thanks again.
Gary


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