a computer-related mystery

[fox]

So, lately, like in the past few days, my external HD has taken to telling me that it could work better if it were plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  Then it disappears.  Thing is, it is plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  Anyone have ideas why my computer has decided its USB ports are not high-speed all of a sudden?  I can't even find them in the control panel to correct whatever the problem is.  (I can find USB devices, but not ports.)  I'd hoped updating Zone Alarm, which I've been prompted to do since I moved to the new place and just did this evening, would help -- but no dice.

This is kind of pissing me off.  (And that's not even counting the fact that I knocked the damn thing onto the floor tonight and spent a very anxious half-hour or so getting it back up and running.)

Comments

[daktaklakpak.livejournal.com]

If you want to check the ports, you'll find them in Device Manager. Right click on My Computer, and select Properties. Select the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager button.

In the View menu, pick "Devices by Type", and look for the entry labeled "Universal Serial Bus controllers". If you open that part of the tree, you should see an entry for each controller and each hub the computer knows about. Not a whole lot you can do here, but if any of the entries have a little red X on them, there is definitely a problem. You could try right clicking on the entries and selecting "uninstall", then open the Action menu and pick "Scan for hardware changes", which should re-install the drivers for them.

You might also want to go into your BIOS and verify that any control options for on-board USB (there may or may not be any - depends on your BIOS version) are set to USB 2.0

EDIT
These directions are for Windows XP. If you're running something else, YMMV!

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

I don't have a Device Manager button in the Hardware tab as you describe, but I can get there through the control panel. I get the following list:

Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD
82801DB/DBM USB Host Controller - 24C2
82801DB/DBM USB Host Controller - 24C4
82801DB/DBM USB Host Controller - 24C7
USB Composite Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

No red x's.

I guess that shows me that only the first one is 2.0? But I'm confident both my ports have been 2.0 up until now. And I get the error-type message when the external is plugged into either port.

Also, I only have two ports, so why is my list 10 items long. I think the "mass storage device" is the external, right, but what is the "composite device" -- I only have one USB device connected at the moment.

GRAR.

[daktaklakpak.livejournal.com]

Having lots of items listed is not unusual :)

"USB Composite Device" and "USB Mass Storage Device" are probably both for the external drive. Each controller and hub go together as a pair. My machine has 3 ports, but 5 controller/hub pairs. It also only has one controller listed as "USB2 enchanced". In other words, your device listing looks normal.

You may want to try creating a system restore point, then unmounting/disconnecting the External drive, and then uninstalling each of the controllers and hubs. Once they are all removed, hit the "Scan for hardware changes" button (or reboot), and it should find them and reinstall the drivers.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

Could be a loose connection in your computer. Could be dead USB ports. Could be something ate the software that detects the ports. Hard to tell. See if you can get someone to come to your house to figure it out. I've learned that about 40% of the time I have a computer related problem it's specific to my home and the tech guy has to come here to see it.

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Have you plugged it into different USB ports or just the one? Because it could be that the one is bad, that happens.

You also might want a firmware or BIOS update for your mobo. What kind of computer do you have?

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

Both ports, and what happens is it says "You may want to plug this into a 2.0 port", and the icon for the HD goes away, and then a few minutes later it reappears again and works fine.

The computer is a ThinkPad T41, and depending on the costs involved, I'd sort of decided that the next time it needs work I'll just replace it, as it's four years old. But if this would be v. easy to fix to a not-bugging-me standard, I could do that. ARGH.

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Well, I just checked and there is a BIOS upgrade available for the T41, but it doesn't look easy and it's not IBM standard.

So, when you plugged in the drive in the past, it always read it as a 2.0 USB port? Or did this just start? A four year old ThinkPad I would expect to have legacy 1.1 USB ports, actually.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

It's always been 2.0. The iPod requires 2.0, and has always worked fine; this external has always worked fine. It's really just the past few days that it's been freaking out and suggesting I move the device to a high-speed USB 2.0 port for better performance ... and then deciding it must be okay after all.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

The warning balloon also gives me a list of available ports, and suggests a hub with six ports attached. But I don't have a hub. I don't know where it's coming up with these ideas.

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sounds like a firmware short. I don't think it's actually going to harm anything, and you could try to upgrade the BIOS which would probably work, but it'd be a hassle. If you want, I could look into it for you and we could try to do it, but it'd have to be next month.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

I'm not in a rush, so let's get together some time and if it's still bugging me we can try to fix it then? (Define "hassle".)

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Hassle as in it depends on whether I can actually get the right upgrade or not. Sometimes you have to pay for 'em and they're not genuine... it's a long story.

Nansi and Annie have made noises about coming up in September, maybe for Rosie's birfday?