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Ph.D
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USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 9:38 am

Recently I've been having a problem and I have had no success trying to solve it.

Not too long ago my PC started to boot and operate very slowly every so often. A reboot usually fixed the problem.
But now this is happening pretty much every single time. The time it takes to start is slower and when it does it's like running through molasses.

I also started getting "USB Device Not Recognized" errors.

When I click on the error I usually get this:
Image

Other times it does show something:
Image



So here are the things I have tried:
Checked this guide: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 524cdc68c1

At first it seemed like the problem was caused by Motionjoy. A program which allows you to use a PS3 controller on a PC. I then completely removed Motionjoy from my PC, or at least as well as I could.
Then I suspected Antec Chill Control. Removed that as well, then noticed Antec doesn't have that program on their site anymore. This made me quite suspicious but I still managed to find a place to redownload and reinstall it.
I also tried just deleting everything under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" in the Device Manager but that didn't work either.

It feels like some USB device is constantly connecting and then disconnecting from my PC and I have no idea what it is.

I have a feeling it's not an external USB device either.
These are the external devices connected to my PC through USB:
Keyboard
Mouse
Microphone
and a pass-through connector going to my monitor.



Does anyone know how to solve this issue?
not a doctor
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 10:53 am

Ph.D wrote:


Does anyone know how to solve this issue?



Two years ago, I got my buddies PS3 controller working with his PC. There were a lot of drivers, and install hoops to jump through. If I have time this afternoon, I'll see if I can dredge up what steps I followed.


And to be brutally honest, just get a Wireless 360 controller with dongle. Works flawlessly every time. The only downside is that you'll need a new dongle, if you want to use an XBOX One controller (and those are SOOOO much more comfortable to use)
 
NovusBogus
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 2:18 pm

Have you physically unplugged all USB devices except mouse/KB to see if it's a problem with one of the ports? Assuming that makes the problem go away, try plugging in one device at a time to isolate the cause, or using different ports.
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 2:38 pm

Just noticed the USB hub in the screenshot. Think that device pulls more power than the hub can provide? Just a thought...
 
Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 3:39 pm

NovusBogus wrote:
Have you physically unplugged all USB devices except mouse/KB to see if it's a problem with one of the ports? Assuming that makes the problem go away, try plugging in one device at a time to isolate the cause, or using different ports.

I have unplugged all my USB devices except my keyboard, I don't think the problem is being caused by any of them.

Hz so good wrote:
Just noticed the USB hub in the screenshot. Think that device pulls more power than the hub can provide? Just a thought...

But which device would it be? All the external devices I have connected to my PC are connected directly to the motherboard.
not a doctor
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 3:52 pm

Ph.D wrote:
But which device would it be? All the external devices I have connected to my PC are connected directly to the motherboard.



That's odd, because it shows an 8 port USB hub, then a 4 port generic hub with only that unknown device connected.

Here's what my PC shows in Device Manager:

Image


Note that it doesn't show 8port or 4 port hubs.

I also don't have unrecognized USB devices, so that could be part of it. I'm just curious why it lists generic USB hubs possessing X number of ports.
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 3:56 pm

Do you leave that USB device connected while trying to boot? I've got a laptop that will "hang" if I left a thumbdrive attached. It's looking for a boot OS there. Unplugging it fixes it, and it boots like insanely fast.
 
Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:50 pm

Hz so good wrote:
That's odd, because it shows an 8 port USB hub, then a 4 port generic hub with only that unknown device connected.

Note that it doesn't show 8port or 4 port hubs.

I also don't have unrecognized USB devices, so that could be part of it. I'm just curious why it lists generic USB hubs possessing X number of ports.

I don't have a clue. What could it be?

Hz so good wrote:
Do you leave that USB device connected while trying to boot? I've got a laptop that will "hang" if I left a thumbdrive attached. It's looking for a boot OS there. Unplugging it fixes it, and it boots like insanely fast.

What USB device? I have no idea what it is.
I leave my keyboard, mouse and mic connected of course.
not a doctor
 
riviera74
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 5:40 pm

Try this method first: Click here

Before you go into regedit, unplug everything, go into Safe Mode, then Device Manager and delete ALL USB devices. Cold start with nothing attached, attach one device at a time, then test each device.

This USB issue may well be a registry issue. My brother had a Windows 7 system that would not connect with his external HDD. I had to enter regedit and delete UpperFilters and Lowerfilters and reboot. That actually addressed the issue. It is a MS Knowledge Base article where missing USB drives can be resolved, although I cannot find it right now.
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Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:14 pm

riviera74 wrote:
Try this method first: Click here

Before you go into regedit, unplug everything, go into Safe Mode, then Device Manager and delete ALL USB devices. Cold start with nothing attached, attach one device at a time, then test each device.

This USB issue may well be a registry issue. My brother had a Windows 7 system that would not connect with his external HDD. I had to enter regedit and delete UpperFilters and Lowerfilters and reboot. That actually addressed the issue. It is a MS Knowledge Base article where missing USB drives can be resolved, although I cannot find it right now.

I did try deleting all USB devices although I did not do the cold start with nothing attached.
It almost has to be some internal device acting like an USB device.
not a doctor
 
arunphilip
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 7:55 pm

Are any internal USB headers being used, apart from the ones connected externally?

Also, can you download USBDeview from Nirsoft.net and see what additional information it might show? http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Sun Jul 06, 2014 8:39 pm

Do you leave that USB device connected while trying to boot? I've got a laptop that will "hang" if I left a thumbdrive attached. It's looking for a boot OS there. Unplugging it fixes it, and it boots like insanely fast.
What USB device? I have no idea what it is.
I leave my keyboard, mouse and mic connected of course.



Whatever USB devices you have, unplug one at a time, until that "Unknown Device" goes away. Worth a shot, should take less than a minute.

I still have no idea why it lists an 8 port and 4 port hub, respectively.
 
Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:28 am

arunphilip wrote:
Are any internal USB headers being used, apart from the ones connected externally?

Also, can you download USBDeview from Nirsoft.net and see what additional information it might show? http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

Yeah I've been using that to check what the problem might be.

Hz so good wrote:
Whatever USB devices you have, unplug one at a time, until that "Unknown Device" goes away. Worth a shot, should take less than a minute.

I still have no idea why it lists an 8 port and 4 port hub, respectively.

Weirdly enough, the problem seems to have gone away for now. At least no error message has popped up the last 4 times I have booted the PC.
not a doctor
 
Hz so good
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:26 pm

Ph.D wrote:

Hz so good wrote:
Whatever USB devices you have, unplug one at a time, until that "Unknown Device" goes away. Worth a shot, should take less than a minute.

I still have no idea why it lists an 8 port and 4 port hub, respectively.

Weirdly enough, the problem seems to have gone away for now. At least no error message has popped up the last 4 times I have booted the PC.



When stuff like that happens, I chalk it up to stray neutrinos/cosmic rays. Make a note of it though, in case it happens again.

Like that crappy dell business laptop I once had. It would not charge at all, unless I had a cisco rollover cable hooked up the serial port, and the console jack of a switch. *THEN* it would charge. I had Dell swap out the motherboard 3 times, and it still kept happening. No one could ever explain just what the hell was going on.
 
ludi
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:32 pm

Look for an internally-installed USB device such as a Memory Card reader that might be loose or malfunctioning, and look for USB ports that are really sloppy or have cracked/loose pieces inside. Both of those can cause all kinds of weirdness that may come and go depending on how recently the defective item was jostled, or what today's ambient humidity might be.
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Deanjo
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:36 pm

I would first actually try booting up a live linux distro and then compare the output of what lsusb says is there and what windows says is there.
 
Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:04 pm

ludi wrote:
Look for an internally-installed USB device such as a Memory Card reader that might be loose or malfunctioning, and look for USB ports that are really sloppy or have cracked/loose pieces inside. Both of those can cause all kinds of weirdness that may come and go depending on how recently the defective item was jostled, or what today's ambient humidity might be.

Yeah I checked all the connectors inside the PC but I didn't really see or feel anything different.

Deanjo wrote:
I would first actually try booting up a live linux distro and then compare the output of what lsusb says is there and what windows says is there.

That seems like a lot of work for this...
not a doctor
 
Captain Ned
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:13 pm

Ph.D wrote:
That seems like a lot of work for this...

A live distro of the latest Ubuntu LTS (currently 14.04) burned to DVD has saved my chestnuts many times. Work-wise that's maybe 20 minutes for the D/L and the burn. C'mon, it's one DVD and it loads live into RAM. Turn off the power and it's gone. While it's up you can quickly sort out hardware problems from Windows problems. In recent versions you can even blow away malware/virus .EXEs that repropagate. If I was really naughty I'd tell you how to use it to get local root on a corporate domain machine.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
Deanjo
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:42 pm

Ph.D wrote:
Deanjo wrote:
I would first actually try booting up a live linux distro and then compare the output of what lsusb says is there and what windows says is there.

That seems like a lot of work for this...


It's a lot less work than taking blind stabs in the dark plus you isolate it to being an OS or hardware issue.

Every good tech has a live linux distro on hand to test and isolate.
 
Ph.D
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:06 am

Deanjo wrote:
Ph.D wrote:
Deanjo wrote:
I would first actually try booting up a live linux distro and then compare the output of what lsusb says is there and what windows says is there.

That seems like a lot of work for this...


It's a lot less work than taking blind stabs in the dark plus you isolate it to being an OS or hardware issue.

Every good tech has a live linux distro on hand to test and isolate.
Captain Ned wrote:
Ph.D wrote:
That seems like a lot of work for this...

A live distro of the latest Ubuntu LTS (currently 14.04) burned to DVD has saved my chestnuts many times. Work-wise that's maybe 20 minutes for the D/L and the burn. C'mon, it's one DVD and it loads live into RAM. Turn off the power and it's gone. While it's up you can quickly sort out hardware problems from Windows problems. In recent versions you can even blow away malware/virus .EXEs that repropagate. If I was really naughty I'd tell you how to use it to get local root on a corporate domain machine.

I'll have to look into that then. Well that and actually burning disks. I hope it still shows up now that the problem is no longer appearing though.
not a doctor
 
Lordhawkwind
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Re: USB Device Not Recognized

Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:33 am

I've just bought a cheap value Dell Inspiron laptop which came pre-installed with Windows 8.1 and when I plugged in my Asus external optical drive I got this USB not recognised message. Strangely enough if I rebooted with no disc in the drive it recognised it, however, once I popped in a disc the error message came back again. I know the optical drive is OK as it is normally attached to my Mac Mini and works flawlessley

I then put in a 32gb Cruzer blade USB 2.0 pen drive and it recognised it first time and I installed Office 2010 without a problem. I haven't tried any other USB devices and I tried to install the MS hotfix but it stated it was not suitable for windows 8.1. I've seen the regedit fix on the MS tech site but I haven't done it yet. Has anyone got any other ideas? :D

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