Re: Problems With All USB Devices Connected to Dimension 8300
- From: gary <gary.nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 11:35:13 GMT
Thank you for responding. Much appreciated. And thanks for the tips. In Control Panel/Power, everything is set to ALWAYS ON mode. In Device Manager, I have 5 USB Root Hub entries with Power Management tabs. I went into every one and removed the checkmark by "Allow Computer To Turn Off This Device To Save Power."
I'm not sure if this will help. I mean, would the computer power off devices immediately after you power the computer ON? Or immediately after you power the USB device on? We'll see. You'll note in my original post, I have to turn some USB devices on-and-off 3-6 times before they work properly.
And nothing in the BIOS has changed, except I've always updated to the latest BIOS version. There hasn't been a new version in a few years for my 2-1/2 year-old model.
Anyway, I THINK I FOUND THE SOLUTION. There is a thread on DELL TALK about someone who is having the exact same problems with his Maxtor One Touch USB II External drive, AND other USB devices. Others wrote in saying they were also having the same problems.
And IT IS THE USB Controller. It may be a common problem with 8200 and 8300 machines and Dell doesn't want to admit it, which is why their tech support wants you to spend 3-4 hours on the phone with them running tests, before they will replace the motherboard (and USB controller) knowing it may not fix a problem that is possibly inherent to these models.
The solution was the person's D-8200 ran out of it's warranty, so instead of dealing with tech support and requesting a new motherboard/USB controller, he went and bought a PCI card-based USB 4-port hub and plugged all his USB devices into that. He said the EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE WORKED PERFECTLY AND MUCH FASTER EVER SINCE, NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. All other USB devices worked perfectly, no "flaky" detection problems, etc.
Once he by-passed the internal USB controller on the Dell motherboard, and used a PCI-based controller, the problems with every USB device went away.
You can read about the problem (and solution) here:
http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=dhs&k=Maxtor+One+Touch&cat=all&eh=4&c=us&l=en&subcat=
Article entitled: "Disappearing Maxtor External Drive"
Since my PC is still under warranty, Dell should replace the USB controller without my having to spend 3-4 hours on the phone with them, running tests I have already run. They only make you do this to discourage people from calling them, so they won't have to spend any money sending a tech support person to your house.
Now I have to decide whether to spend the 3-4 hours on the phone with Dell (will have to take a half-day off work, or cancel plans just for this tech support call which I'm dreading, and which may not even result in getting the problem fixed), or should I just go buy a PCI-card USB hub/controller and plug everything in there so my USB devices will all work properly?
DELL NEVER USED TO BE THIS WAY. Their "expert" technical reps from the pre-India days could tell whether or not you had a "known, documented" problem (like the one I'm having) and they would dispatch someone without question.
And there was a certain amount of trust involved, and whether the tech support rep could tell if you knew what you were talking about. And they didn't force you to comply with a "script" that came from Austin, to run test after test, spending hours on the phone.
Those were the days when Dell was #3 or #4 in PC sales. But it was THAT kind of service that got them to where they are today (#1, and without a merger). Now that they are #1 in PC sales, they are getting greedy, moving everything to India, and refusing to provide on-site support unless the customer "jumps through hoops" on their own time. (I did hear Dell was building a new 1,000 employee call center in Oklahoma City, but I think they will only provide support for high-end models, and only during the initial Dell-provided warranty period).
Dell can afford to pay someone from India to spend 3-4 hours on the phone with you. But can YOU afford to spend 3-4 hours with them, running tests you've already run a dozen times yourself?
It's just crazy. Appreciate any comments, advice, etc., especially from anyone having similar problems with an 8200 or 8300 machine, or anyone who is fed up of the quality of tech support now being provided.
I have a known, documented problem that others have experienced. Yet Dell refuses to acknowledge that. My last 3-4 PCs have been Dells. But I'm not sure my next one will be. I would like to buy a PC from a company who's tech support is NOT in India or outside of the U.S..
I don't want to have to spend hours on the phone with tech support reps who can barely speak English, who are not "experienced" with computers, and who will force you to run unnecessary tests for hours on end EVEN FOR KNOWN PROBLEMS, JUST TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS WHEN BUYING MY PC. It's not worth it in the long run. Does anyone agree (or not)?
Thanks again for the tips.
Gary
=================
S.Lewis wrote:
Gary,.
Some thoughts.
Check device manager first. Look for (yellow) conflicts on any devices. You may also wish to go into BIOS and ALT+F default those settings to be sure something hasn't been inadvertently changed.
Also, the previous poster's suggestion is a good one. This link shows the power management settings on my USB keyboard. You'll note the grayed-out entry for "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power." You want to make sure that this box is NOT checked on your devices.
http://i2.tinypic.com/oqd7ux.jpg
Run the Dell diags on the system (custom/non-interactive) after booting to your Resource CD. You may wish to test only the USB controllers and set the diags to run overnight in the event that function is intermittent on those ports - perhaps this will produce an error message you can easily convey to tech support. It's been my experience when you can do so, the discussion ends and service or parts are dispatched since there's no disputing errors of their own diagnostics.
I would, however, run a few FULL non-interactive loops on the entire system FIRST to see if there are any other devices creating problems. When you do so, be sure to load media with readable files into all optical and floppy drives, otherwise they will fail testing.
I have the same Dim8300 and fully utilize (4) separate USB devices - including HP printer and scanner - along with a USB key. I'm not seeing what you're seeing. I did have a quirky problem with my HP 3670 scanner software a few weeks back when pulling multiple photos from a folder to the HP photo album creator (pretty CPU intensive), but I got it cleared up.
Post back if we can help.
Stew
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