USB Device Not Recognized (Malfunction)

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

I have come across the same problem that apparently many Windows users are ailed with.

 

I thought I found the solution here when I googled the topic and was lead to this post http://www.ntcompatible.com/Desperately_need_help_---_USB_Devices_Not_Recognized_t32356.html

 

It seemed to work for everyone else, but it hasn't worked for me.

 

I have already done the Microsoft Standard 'moron checks' and I have added the stated USB Key to my registry. Nothing. I even unpluged my computer from the power supply twice, and still nothing.

 

My problem though, doesn't seem to be with any Modems, Printers, or flash cards..Instead my problem is with my USB Logitech Mouse and my APC Battery backup Power Strip.

 

My Device Manager tells me that everything is working fine. But when I plug in ANY USB Device, to ANY Port, it comes up as Unknown Device, and I get that annoying Malfunction Bubble that everyone else seems to get.

 

I don't know where else to go... I feel like Microsoft is just as much in the dark as the rest of us about this, and I was very excited to see that I'm not the only person with this problem. I almost got mad and formatted my computer, which I'm happy to say, I didn't go through with, because after finding this forum last night, I read that the format didn't work, and that would only add to my aggrevation.

 

Let me go ahead and follow suit by leaving you with some system specs.

 

Computer:

Alienware Area-51

Pentium4 3.1ghz

Windows XP Home Edition

Service Pack 2 (fully updated)

1gig DDR2 RAM

160gig HD.

ATI Radeon 9550 SE Video

Audigy 2 ZS Sound

ASUS PC4800 Mobo

 

If anyone has solved this problem or has ANY other methods I could try, please please let me know, I appreciate any and all help.

 

PS- I wasn't able to reply in the above said thread, thats why I'm making a new post out of it...sorry for inconvenience.

 

Thanks again.

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

After a bit more tweaking and tinkering, I managed to resolve my issue!

 

Thank you to all the people who have posted on this topic and to those that have thought about helping me

 

I'm so happy right now, that the fact that nobody replied to me in this post is irrelevant.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Clueless 0]

I believe I have the same problem as yours. All my 4 USB ports will not recognize anything...

 

Will you please share what you did to solve yours?

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

Well, basically what I did is follow the instructions that is listed in the link I gave before. And it actually worked when I followed the instructions EXACTLY as they were written.

 

But at the time of this writing, I am once again having the same problems I described above. Its like my system relapsed. The only difference is this time the above instructions are NOT working. I can't figure it out. I'm really afraid to format because I've read that it doesn't seem to solve the problem.

 

It seems that at this point, nothing I'm doing is working. I think I have managed to find the source of the problem this time though. It seems to happen only after using my Samsung Yepp' MP3 player. My USB ports were working fine (after I fixed them) until I pluged in my said MP3 player, then the following day, the USB troulbes came back. This time I can't fix them...

 

So if anyone has any information about this, I would love to get this fixed again too.... Sorry I couldn't be more of a help Clueless, but I'm once again in the same position you are

[Clueless 0]

Thanks Kain for your reply. Here is my situation so far:

 

I have the HP laptop DV8000 with AMD Turion 64. I have tried all the possible ways from many tips but cound not solve the problem. HP technical support seemed to be even more clueless than me! I then used the 3 HP Recovery DVDs to first try a Repair option to keep my files but this still did not work.

 

At this moment, after backing up all my files, I am using these same Recovery DVDs to do a Complete Recovery which is supposed to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything back to Factory Settings. I hope this will solve the problem. It currently seems to take a long time (10% so far after half hour). If this still does not work, I think my new name will then be Cluelessest...!

 

I will keep you informed of how this turns out.

[Clueless 0]

The HP Complete Recovery did not solve the problem. Bummer, all of that for nothing!

[sawman 0]

I'm having the same issue. HP DV5000 laptop.

Was working fine until my daughter plugged in a Coby MP3 player. Worked the first time , then never again. Will no longer recognize Ipod, Coby, or Sony digital camera. Tried all the tricks too. HP online chat support said I should update the ATI chipset driver. That didn't work. Will try again today in "safe" mode.

 

Here's what I was told:

At this point I suggest you to uninstall all the items listed under usb controller and then install the chipset driver.

Spring 2006 Original ATI Chipset Drivers for dv5000: First download the drivers from the following link: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software6/COL13270/pv-36944-1/sp26608.exe Then follow the below steps 1. Download the driver package. 2. Double-click on the icon for the driver package downloaded in Step 1, and then click NEXT. 3. Select I accept the terms in the license agreement, and then click NEXT. 4. Click OK to continue. The original drivers are now stored in the C:\SoftPaq\sp26608 folder. 5. If Device Manager does not start automatically, use the following steps. Otherwise go to Step 6: a. Click Start. b. Right-click My Computer, and then select Properties. c. Click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button. 6. Click the + (plus) sign next to "System devices" or "Other devices". 7. Right-click SMBus Controller or the device you want to update, and then select Update Driver.... 8. Click NEXT to install the software automatically. 9. Click FINISHED to complete the installation.

 

 

 

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

The first time I fixed the problem, what I did was go into control panel and uninstall ANYTHING that used USB.

 

I then booted to safe mode and uninstalled all the Human Interface Devices and Peripherals, then the USB Root Hubs and Controllers (in that order).

 

I then booted back to Nomral Windows, and let all the USB Drivers install themselves again. That did not fix the problem.

 

Then I repeated the above steps, again, this time while leaving Safe Mode, I selected the Turn Off Computer setting. When the computer turned off, I unpluged it from the power strip for about 30minutes. I then pluged it back in and booted it up, waited for the USB drivers to install a 2nd time, and it all worked.

 

But now that my system has relapsed, this isn't working anymore...I'm totally confused on the problem as of now.

 

Hopefully someone reading this will find a sure fire fix.

 

EDIT - The above process is known as Restacking the USB Drives...

And I'm sorry to hear that using the Recovery Discs didn't help. Your now the 2nd person who has reported that recovering WILL NOT fix this problem, so my mind is made up, I will not format, I'll just keep looking for a solution.

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

As an update, I'm going to try replicating the exact system settings I had before the problem occured, then try the USB Restack again and see what happens.

 

I guess I'll get back to you guys on that.

[Clueless 0]

Sawman,

 

I was given the exact ATI chipset driver sp26608 by HP online chat support so we must be sharing the same hardware... I have tried uninstalling all Windows XP USB drivers then install the sp26608 but it still did not work including doing all of this in safe mode.

 

These "generic" Windows XP driver keeps installing by themselves (their names start with Standard....and their properties show driver information as from Microsoft....)

 

I am now leaning toward a possibility of hardware failure. Any thoughts?

[Clueless 0]

This is my update:

 

I called HP Technical Support today specifically asking for the "ATI USB driver" because I strongly believe it is what I am missing based on the fact that no matter what I do, all the USB drivers shown in device manager are generic from Microsoft while there should be at least one that has something to do with ATI.

 

After a long wait, she told me to wait for a call from HP to have my laptop brought in for repair.

 

I will get back with you guys when the situation changes.

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

Windows XP SP2 comes with USB 2.0 Drivers installed on the system, those drivers should be good enough. Besides that, even before my USB drives went berserk, they were still taged by Microsoft in Device Manager.

[Clueless 0]

After all kinds of software updates without success, HP has determined that my laptop needs the motherboard replaced but the lady said it will not be in stock for two months. I then asked if a simple exchange for another compatible refurbished model is OK but she did not have the authority so I was sent up to the next level, a HP case manager, who said he will try to make it faster and if it takes too long then an exchange might be an option.

 

I am now waiting for HP to send me the empty box so I can use the box to send back to them for repair.

 

A little off topic, since the laptop is going back for repair anyway, I also asked them to fix the battery which from the beginning could never be properly snapped into its place securely and thus can get loose easily but I use AC adapter most of the time anyway so did not mind.

 

I will keep you guys updated later on.

[Holraven 0]

Thought I'd join the club here. I'm running Windows Vista x64 RC1, build 5600. Everything ran smoothly since I installed it shortly after its release, but about two weeks ago any USB storage device would fail - "USB Device Not Recognized". I have a printer and a wireless keyboard/mouse connected via USB, and I've also used a gamepad without problems. But neither external harddrive, memory card reader nor Canon camera works.

 

However, when starting Windows XP 32-bit (I have dual boot) it all works fine. I even got it working on Mac OS X Tiger!

 

So I formatted, sure it would solve the issue - yet it didn't. Still works in XP and OS X, though.

 

Further machine specs: Custom built AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+, 3 GB TwinMOS PC-3200, 2 x WD 200 GB S-ATA harddrives, GeForce 7900GT. Running freshly installed Windows Vista x64 5600, only newest ForceWare installed.

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

Geez. I am sorry to say that at the time of this writing, I am still baffled as how to fix my problem.

 

I've also had another issue arise (not sure if this one is related to usb or not though), my computer randomly shuts it self off for no given reason. Not one of those safe soft boots where windows tells ya theres a problem and needs to shut down, but one of those hard boots where the power suddenly leaves the tower w/o notice and your staring at a black screen with No Video Input. You then have to turn your tower back on and boot up, and sometimes (usually happens at least 2 times in a row to me), while its booting up, you'll start to see the desktop and the icons loading, and then boom, off again.

 

I'm getting rdy to format to fix the crazy hard boot problem because I think it has something to do with the way I did my registry in an attempt to fix the usb problem, but I know that formatting won't fix my usb problem.

 

So if anyone, anyone, knows how to fix this, please help us out, Thanks.

[Clueless 0]

I have an update:

 

My laptop came back from HP and the USB problem was not even fixed with a note that an issue with the system was found but no part replacement was required... How they decided to ship the laptop back to me without the problem being resolved is beyond my imagination. Anyway, I called the HP case manager back and he could not give me a clear answer .He then wanted to start the process all over again so I will be waiting for another empty box from HP to ship the laptop back to them again. Wish me luck because I think I will really need it.

 

However, even though the main problem was not fixed, they did fix my battery which can now be securely locked into place without falling out.

[bhava_i4u 0]

when i insert a pen drive,my pc is recognising it but when i insert Blue Tooth Dongle it is not recognising...n says USB Device Not Recognized r malfunctioned....can u please help me on this.....thanks in advance..awaiting reply

[Clueless 0]

Bhava, I wish I can help but I do not know how since I am not even a tech savvy PC user. However, have you tried to insert the Blue Tooth Dongle into another PC and see if it works? Just a suggestion.

 

By the way, about my laptop: it was resent back to HP and received by them on 1/24 but until now, the online status still shows nothing. I called yesterday asking for the status but then someone had to email someone to get the status then get back to me. I called back today but no body is available to take my call so I have to leave a message hoping that someone will call me back. Did I mentioned that HP called themselves "HP Total Care"?

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

Another update:

 

My USB problems seem to fix themselves and break themselves randomly, still.

 

Nothing I'm doing works, formatting doesn't work. I can't seem to fix the problem. Today I went to insert a USB device (because they have strangely been working for the last week or so), and as soon as I did, the entire computer just froze. The only way to get out of the freeze is to hard boot the computer (pull the power) and then boot back up. I tried a couple different methods to fix this new problem such as going into the system works and starting the "Universal Plug and Play" process. But it doesn't work. I'm at a total loss. I'm really angry with my USB ports and I've almost just given up completely on it.

 

Clueless, it really sux that HP failed you lol. I actually just bought a new HP Laptop today, came installed with WinVista Home Premium, it has its own set of "New OS Problems" lol. *sigh* Microsoft needs to get their [expletive] together and start fixing some of these problems.

[Sophora 0]

Dear Kain,

Am I paranoid, or are we using devices that are deliberately bugged to cause this problem? If you check the dates when the "USB Device Not Recognized" error began showing up on forums, they're mostly all pretty recent. No wonder HP support and everybody else is perplexed, and that every solution out there only works temporarily if at all.

 

My problem, like yours, has been fixing and unfixing itself randomly. I know for a fact the problem began when trying set up my ebay purchased ipod shuffle. From then on any camera, card reader, external hard drive or mp3 player has given me the "USB Device Not Recognized" error. Only once has it "fixed" itself.

 

I did not format and reinstall XPHome, but I did install a dual boot Linux OS (Simply Mepis, which I use and love on another machine). Guess what: it didn't recognize the devices either!!!

 

I'm searching for a new motherboard. Boy will I be crestfallen if that doesn't work either!

[Sophora 0]

I just can't bring myself to be angry with USB ports, because I know the problem started with one ipod shuffle. This is the single most baffling (computer) problem I have ever encountered. "USB Device Not Recognized"

[djblackbeer 0]

I am in Mexico and I bought a computer there in USA. The model is Hp Pavilion DV2125nr and it seems that it has the same problem with the USB ports, two days ago I was working in the laptop and the mouse suddenly shut down. When I powered on the computer it used to power the Usb mouse too now it doesn´t. I don´t know what to do the laptop is still under warranty but the HP service is weak here, it seems that I will need to fix it by myself so if you find out a solution please let me know, Regards.

[djblackbeer 0]

I am in Mexico and I bought a computer there in USA. The model is Hp Pavilion DV2125nr and it seems that it has the same problem with the USB ports, two days ago I was working in the laptop and the mouse suddenly shut down. When I powered on the computer it used to power the Usb mouse too now it doesn´t. I don´t know what to do the laptop is still under warranty but the HP service is weak here, it seems that I will need to fix it by myself so if you find out a solution please let me know, Regards.

[Kain Bloodstone 0]

Sophora,

 

Actually I thought about that.

Windows might have installed a usb patch in one of its magnificent *gack* Windows Updates, that could have started the whole thing. But if this is true MS isn't saying anything, and so far they offer no more support then "Yes, we know its broken, and we're confused, but working on it".

 

Quite lame actually.

 

But I seem to have narrowed the source of the problem to a certain Yeppo MP3 player. It seems to the be the 1 device that throws my USB system into non-responsiveness, randomly.

 

For the record tho, my problem isn't on a HP, its on an Alienware with an ASUS P4C800-E Mobo.

[Sophora 0]

Kain,

Thanks for the reply. Mine isn't on an HP either. It's on a self-built, 3.06Ghz P4.

 

Just curious: did you acquire your problem mp3 player new in box? My offending ipod shuffle was an open box return.

 

DJBlackbeer: can you narrow down the origin of your problem to a particular device?