Re: Problems With All USB Devices Connected to Dimension 8300

Thanks to all for the replies and suggestions. Much appreciated. But now I can say: Hallelujah! Got the problem with the external Maxtor OneTouch II drive resolved.

As mentioned, Maxtor sent me a new, replacement drive. I totally uninstalled and reinstalled the Maxtor software, and used a different USB port on the back of my D-8300. Exact same problems. Drive wasn't being detected 90% of the time, backups wouldn't work unless you re-booted and turned the drive off/on several times, software would lock-up (forcing a system hard-boot to resolve), repeated pop-up error messages from Windows saying that it couldn't write to Drive I: (the drive letter assigned to my Maxtor drive).

I still felt this was a USB Controller problem, since everything was working fine 9 months ago, even the Maxtor drive, and haven't changed/added any other USB devices since. The problems with ALL THE USB DEVICES started about 6 months ago, and over time increased with frequency until recently they became intolerable.

RESOLUTION:
My Maxtor drive has both USB and 1394 Firewire connections. I discovered my Soundblaster Audigy 2-ZS card has a 1394 Firewire port on it. Check your sound card, to see if it has a firewire port on it. If so, there's no need to buy a firewire PCI card/hub, which like any other PCI card, will draw a little more power from the system. But I have no idea how much more power any PCI card (whether firewire or USB hub) will actually draw.

I also bought a PCI card 4-port USB-2 hub (Belkin). So I could either try the Firewire connection (getting the Maxtor external drive OFF THE DELL USB CONTROLLER, -OR- try the FIREWIRE option. Knowing that inserting ANY PCI card would draw more power from the system (not sure how much more, but my ATI All-In-Wonder X800-XT graphics card recommends a 300-watt power supply, 350-watt if you have a lot of PCI card in your system (I only have 2 PCI cards, the sound/NIC card, then the AGP graphics).

Knowing the ATI graphics card is pulling a lot of power anyway, I decided to try the FIREWIRE option. All I did was re-connect the Maxtor to the Dell via FIREWIRE vs. USB, AND PROBLEMS WITH THE MAXTOR EXTERNAL DRIVE WERE RESOLVED.

Before posting this message, I waited until I had done 4 backups, deleted backups, and ran some disk-intensive programs (DVD editing) on the Maxtor Drive. All worked perfectly (KNOCK ON WOOD). No need to re-boot.

But the coolest thing is how much faster the Maxtor drive is. The old transfer rate under USB was 300 MB/Minute. After the Firewire backups, I'm getting 800 MB/Minute. Backups that used to take hours, now take 30-40 minutes. TOTALLY AWESOME. And USB-2 is theoretically faster, with a top speed of 480 MBps, whereas 1394 Firewire is 400 MBps.

And the drive used to "grunt and grind" all the time. Now, I barely hear it during most accesses.

So now I'm convinced there is a continually worsening problem with my Dell D-8300's USB controller, with intermittent communication errors, slowing down or stopping devices intermittently and with increasing frequency, etc.

On the Dell Talk article I mentioned in a previous post, that person solved his problem by installing a PCI card USB hub. He reported the same improvements, including in speed/performance of his Maxtor OneTouch II drive.

My next step is to install the PCI card-USB hub. But I want to give the Maxtor external drive another week or two, to make sure it's OK. Once I've installed the PCI USB hub, and connected the devices, I'll post back here.

My Dell on-site warranty is good until August, so have a little bit of time to validate my suspicions before calling Dell back.

I can't tell you how relieved I am to FINALLY have that Maxtor drive working normally.

Gary
=================
Quaoar wrote:

gary wrote:

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


Frankly, I think the problem is nothing more than inadequate power. Try removing all but one device in sequence and see if the performance of that device returns to normal. If single devices work, you might need one or two externally-powered hubs to make up for the line power deficit.

Q

.

Loading