USB ports stopped working - wtf?
January 21, 2008 11:00 AM Subscribe
I have a Dell laptop running XP (sp2) with two USB 2.0 ports that until yesterday were working fine. I made no system changes, but now the top one doesn't recognize anything and the bottom only works at USB1 speeds. Is this a hardware issue?
This problem occurs among five or so different USB devices that I've tried, all of which work fine on other computers. The top port gives a "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it." message whenever anything is attached - flash drive, iPod, printer, etc. The bottom port gives a "This device could perform faster" message and the devices will function only at USB1 speeds. The only thing I have that works properly in both ports is a PS2->USB converter hooked up to an old mouse. That works.
I've tried removing all of the USB entries under Device Manager and letting the system re-detect them. No help. I also tried updating the drivers through device manager and applying every relevant driver/utility update I could find on Dell's site, including flashing the BIOS. No help.
I booted into an Ubuntu live CD I had lying around and nothing seems to work there except the PS2->USB mouse, and then only in the lower port that gives USB1 speeds in Windows.
Am I screwed? Have I ruled out software issues? Next steps? Am I going to have to carry around a stupid USB PCMCIA card for the rest of my life?
This problem occurs among five or so different USB devices that I've tried, all of which work fine on other computers. The top port gives a "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it." message whenever anything is attached - flash drive, iPod, printer, etc. The bottom port gives a "This device could perform faster" message and the devices will function only at USB1 speeds. The only thing I have that works properly in both ports is a PS2->USB converter hooked up to an old mouse. That works.
I've tried removing all of the USB entries under Device Manager and letting the system re-detect them. No help. I also tried updating the drivers through device manager and applying every relevant driver/utility update I could find on Dell's site, including flashing the BIOS. No help.
I booted into an Ubuntu live CD I had lying around and nothing seems to work there except the PS2->USB mouse, and then only in the lower port that gives USB1 speeds in Windows.
Am I screwed? Have I ruled out software issues? Next steps? Am I going to have to carry around a stupid USB PCMCIA card for the rest of my life?
Best answer: Same problem, two different OSes? Yeah, it definitely sounds like hardware.
Standard laptop checklist applies:If you can afford it, find a similar laptop on eBay, buy it and sell yours for parts.
If you don't qualify for the above, yeah. It's USB card time. I tried looking around for a USB PCMCIA card that was case flush, but didn't have any luck. Xircom made PCCard plugins like this, but is out of business.
posted by Orb2069 at 12:55 PM on January 21, 2008
Standard laptop checklist applies:
- Double-check the HW warranty to make sure you're not covered - Go to Dell's site, like, RIGHT now.
- Find the take-apart manual(Dell's website, or elsewhere).
- If the USB hardware is on a subboard, get Dell's Part number and see if you can get one from Dell, or off of eBay.
- If the USB is on the mainboard, see if you'd be comfortable doing a screen swap, and buying a broken-screen model off eBay.
posted by Orb2069 at 12:55 PM on January 21, 2008
Response by poster: You're saying that by adding the new card the old ports started working? Carrying around a separate USB card that sticks out the side is exactly what I'm worried about having to do - since this laptop is supposed to have two working 2.0 ports already.
posted by tirade at 12:56 PM on January 21, 2008
posted by tirade at 12:56 PM on January 21, 2008
Tirade: No, I'm saying that I don't use the old ports since I added the new ones. My setup's different than yours because it's a desktop, so I know it's probably not much help...
posted by pdb at 1:35 PM on January 21, 2008
posted by pdb at 1:35 PM on January 21, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pdb at 12:38 PM on January 21, 2008