Problems with all remotes on custom built HTPC

Hi,

I have spent several days on google and several other websites to get this to work to no avail.

I have problems with all remotes on my HTPC. I have a zalman remote (that came with the HD 160 case), I have purchase a ir remore with seperate USB receiver, and a few days ago I bought the gyration air music RF remote.

All have a similar problem:
The remote will work for a while in mce, and then will get 'bogged down'. It will no longer be responsive, and either will stop functioning all together, or will get stuck in repeating the last command (for instance it will 'loop' through the main menu).

If I leave the remote alone for a while, it will resolve itself, and it will work for a short while, but then it will have the same symptoms after some use.

I have doublechecked the HID service to be running, the usb receiver gets recognized correctly. The remote works brilliantly on another pc (a stock HP pavilion). There is no workload on the machine when I have this problem. And I have disconnected the two HVR 950 tuners, and I still have the same problem.

I have had this problem on a x64 install of windows 7 ultimate, as well as the current x32 install.

Any usb connection seems to have the same issue, a USB mouse can also have some issues (which is why I have resorted back to using ps2 mouse and keyboard).

Anyone with any suggestions? I feel like I have tried everything.

Thanks,

Pip.

Do you have many USB devices plugged in and in use? Some USB hubs are underpowered. Some support USB 2.0 devices, some not...do you have a BIOS setting for USB speed?

The motherboard has 4 back usb ports, and then i think 4 additional headers on the mainboard. I use at two usb tuners, the ir / lcd of the zalman case uses a usb header, and the case comes with a smart card reader, which is plugged into the usb.

I don't think the power of the usb hub is it, because i have the same problem if I disconnect all the tuners. The stock zalman remote has worked fine in the past before on xp and on vista 32. I did start the have problems when I connected the second usb tuner to the usb in the back, that was when i was still on vista. I thought an upgrade would cure it (It didn't), then I thought it would be the fact that I was running 64 bit (so i reinstalled the x32 version of Windows 7). When all that did not work I bought two more remotes, thinking that the stock lcd/ir receiver was the problem.

How should I test whether the usb is underpowered?

By plugging in multiple devices and having issues is one way.

Use only one or two at a time and see if that works - also check your mobo manual as some USB ports are 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 only...this was a way of making the board work with as many periferals as possible when both USB 1.0/1.1 and USB 2.0 devices were being sold. Something like a USB TV tuner is surely USB 2.0 only (at 480 Mbps not 12 Mbps) and requires a lot of juice...

The latest 1401 BIOS of the ASUS M2NPV-VM motherboard is the culprit. I noticed on some other boards that other people were having problems with their mouse after the BIOS upgrade, and so I decided to downgrade to 1201 - and voila, everything works.

Turns out this USB bus is not underpowered after all: I have two usb tuners, a thumb drive for rapid boost, the usb receiver for the gyration, the lcd screen for the zalman 160 case all plugged in at the same time without any issues.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Pip