Ichinisan
Lifer
When this problem occurs, I always find this in the device manager:
picture
You will notice that there are several "Unknown" device's listed under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers". These appear even when all USB devices are disconnected. They do not appear in an "Other Devices" group as they should if there are no drivers installed. There is no red "X" or exclamation mark (!) to indicate a conflict or disabled device.
I've been through several installations of XP Pro and XP MCE 2005. With each install it works fine for a couple of weeks, then starts reporting "unrecognized device" when I plug in specific USB devices. It can sometimes be resolved by using a different USB port; other times it can't be resolved without formatting. I suspect that the built-in USB 2.0 hub from my Dell 2005FPW display is causing the problem, but Windows should not be stupid enough to botch software because of a faulty hardware device! I can never figure out conclusively how to reproduce the problem.
Here are some of the various USB devices that I have used:
NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra400 standard USB2.0 host controller
Dell 2005FPW built-in USB2.0 hub - Very suspect as possible cause of problem. Windows seems especially confused when devices are connected through this hub. I've had it stop working where restarting the computer and powering the display on/off does not fix it. The monitor had to be unplugged from the wall and reconnected. Still seems to work fine after computer is reformatted, though the BIOS Setup program still hates to respond to input devices running through it.
Cheap-o USB2.0 IDE-to-USB hard drive adapter - Very suspect as possible cause of problem.
Sandisk Cruzer Mini 512MB USB2.0 thumb drive/USB key
HP infrared receiver for Windows XP MCE 2005 - Also known as "Creative IR Blaster"
Generic Bluetooth Adapter (purchased from Frys)
Dell USB keyboard SK-8115 - Not sure what to think of this keyboard. It does not work with a standard PS/2 adapter and has compatibility problems through USB, even when my BIOS is set to simulate a legacy PS/2 keyboard
Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical
Gyration Ultra wireless keyboard/mouse reciever (not suspected, did not have yet when problem first manifested)
Buffalo Wireless-G USB adapter (not suspected)
I recently experienced another problem that is possibly related (because my computer is again having those USB issues). I purchased two Motorola RAZR V3 phones and tried to experiment with Bluetooth. I had tried my brother's first, and it detected correctly as a phone and installed a COM port for dial-up-networking. I tried to detect mine today and found that the phone is not detected as a "phone" as my brother's had been, but instead it was detected as an "audio device" (such as a headset or microphone). The icon looks like a portable music player with earbuds. Suspecting a possible conflict, I deleted my brother's phone and changed the Bluetooth ID of my phone to include my name so that it would be unique. It still detects my phone as an audio device.
I used System Restore to go all the way back to the earliest point that was allowed. This is a pretty fresh install. The system restore point took me back to a point just after the first of many "Critical" Windows Updates. Both the USB and Bluetooth problems were still as bad as ever, so I reversed the restore process.
It's funny how System Restore does not keep track of this type of thing. The only times that I've ever needed System Restore to save my a$$, it doesn't work at all. It has been a life-saver when working on other people's botched systems, but it seems that my problems are always just too low-level to be resolved by System Restore. It's maddening that Windows' hardware detection keeps getting so thoroughly botched. What the hell can I do about it?
picture
You will notice that there are several "Unknown" device's listed under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers". These appear even when all USB devices are disconnected. They do not appear in an "Other Devices" group as they should if there are no drivers installed. There is no red "X" or exclamation mark (!) to indicate a conflict or disabled device.
I've been through several installations of XP Pro and XP MCE 2005. With each install it works fine for a couple of weeks, then starts reporting "unrecognized device" when I plug in specific USB devices. It can sometimes be resolved by using a different USB port; other times it can't be resolved without formatting. I suspect that the built-in USB 2.0 hub from my Dell 2005FPW display is causing the problem, but Windows should not be stupid enough to botch software because of a faulty hardware device! I can never figure out conclusively how to reproduce the problem.
Here are some of the various USB devices that I have used:
NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra400 standard USB2.0 host controller
Dell 2005FPW built-in USB2.0 hub - Very suspect as possible cause of problem. Windows seems especially confused when devices are connected through this hub. I've had it stop working where restarting the computer and powering the display on/off does not fix it. The monitor had to be unplugged from the wall and reconnected. Still seems to work fine after computer is reformatted, though the BIOS Setup program still hates to respond to input devices running through it.
Cheap-o USB2.0 IDE-to-USB hard drive adapter - Very suspect as possible cause of problem.
Sandisk Cruzer Mini 512MB USB2.0 thumb drive/USB key
HP infrared receiver for Windows XP MCE 2005 - Also known as "Creative IR Blaster"
Generic Bluetooth Adapter (purchased from Frys)
Dell USB keyboard SK-8115 - Not sure what to think of this keyboard. It does not work with a standard PS/2 adapter and has compatibility problems through USB, even when my BIOS is set to simulate a legacy PS/2 keyboard
Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical
Gyration Ultra wireless keyboard/mouse reciever (not suspected, did not have yet when problem first manifested)
Buffalo Wireless-G USB adapter (not suspected)
I recently experienced another problem that is possibly related (because my computer is again having those USB issues). I purchased two Motorola RAZR V3 phones and tried to experiment with Bluetooth. I had tried my brother's first, and it detected correctly as a phone and installed a COM port for dial-up-networking. I tried to detect mine today and found that the phone is not detected as a "phone" as my brother's had been, but instead it was detected as an "audio device" (such as a headset or microphone). The icon looks like a portable music player with earbuds. Suspecting a possible conflict, I deleted my brother's phone and changed the Bluetooth ID of my phone to include my name so that it would be unique. It still detects my phone as an audio device.
I used System Restore to go all the way back to the earliest point that was allowed. This is a pretty fresh install. The system restore point took me back to a point just after the first of many "Critical" Windows Updates. Both the USB and Bluetooth problems were still as bad as ever, so I reversed the restore process.
It's funny how System Restore does not keep track of this type of thing. The only times that I've ever needed System Restore to save my a$$, it doesn't work at all. It has been a life-saver when working on other people's botched systems, but it seems that my problems are always just too low-level to be resolved by System Restore. It's maddening that Windows' hardware detection keeps getting so thoroughly botched. What the hell can I do about it?
