Dreaded USB device not recognized

[thoob]

Here's my problem.
I built my own system. Everything works great except for the USB.
Mouse and keyboard work flawlessly. I can connect up to 2 devices in addition to the mouse and keyboard. If I connect a 3rd device, I get a message saying the USB device isn't recognized and that it has malfunctioned. It doesn't matter which device either so I know it's not a hardware malfunction. The device manager shows it as an unknown device.
I've tried re-installing the USB drivers. Updated the BIOS. Cleared the CMOS. Nothing seems to help.

Any assistance with the problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[zigzag3143]

Here's my problem.
I built my own system. Everything works great except for the USB.
Mouse and keyboard work flawlessly. I can connect up to 2 devices in addition to the mouse and keyboard. If I connect a 3rd device, I get a message saying the USB device isn't recognized and that it has malfunctioned. It doesn't matter which device either so I know it's not a hardware malfunction. The device manager shows it as an unknown device.
I've tried re-installing the USB drivers. Updated the BIOS. Cleared the CMOS. Nothing seems to help.

Any assistance with the problem would be greatly appreciated.

may be power related. system specs?

 

[DocBrown]

Since you built it, did you install the MB drivers that come with the MB. ?

 

[pooch]

Here's my problem.
I built my own system. Everything works great except for the USB.
Mouse and keyboard work flawlessly. I can connect up to 2 devices in addition to the mouse and keyboard. If I connect a 3rd device, I get a message saying the USB device isn't recognized and that it has malfunctioned. It doesn't matter which device either so I know it's not a hardware malfunction. The device manager shows it as an unknown device.
I've tried re-installing the USB drivers. Updated the BIOS. Cleared the CMOS. Nothing seems to help.

Any assistance with the problem would be greatly appreciated.

Hello thoob, Welcome to the forum,

Try this out; General USB problems
After a USB device is installed and then removed Windows hides the driver this first part makes all hidden drivers visible.
Remove all USB devices
Click on start orb, Type Advanced System settings in the search box and click to go there.
Click on Advanced tab, Click on Enviroment Variables.
Under the window System variables click on New.
Type " devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices" (without the ") as the variable name and type 1 as the value.
Click ok 3 times to close the windows
Click on start orb, Type Device Manager in the search box and click to go there.
Click on View, Click on Show hidden devices.
Now you can uninstall all old and unknown USB devices.
The infcache.1 file is used to store information about USB drivers, the information in this file may have become corrupted or may cause windows to load the wrong driver or cause a driver not found message to be generated.
Deleting this file will force windows to generate a new infcache.1 file
Right click on the start orb and select Windows Explorer,
Select Computer in the address bar and search for infcache.1
Right click on the file infcache.1 (if you have more instances of Windows installed only do this for infcache.1 C:\Windows\System32\Driver Store)
Click on properties, Click on security tab, Click on Edit, Click on Add
Type Administrators In the window with the blinking cursor, Click OK
Place a tick in the box under allow to the right of Full Control, Click Apply, Yes and OK
Delete the infcache.1 file
Connect a USB device, but not the one you were having trouble with to make a new infcache .1
New Start the PC and try your device again.

 

[thoob]

The motherboard is a GIGABYTE G41M-Combo, intel duel core 3.2, 1TB HD, GeForce graphics card, 4 Gig ram. I have installed the MB drivers. However, I did this after I installed windows.
I do believe this could be a power issue but how the heck do I fix it?

 

[pooch]

Have you tried the above post?
It may look difficult, but if you take your time and follow it through you will find it is easier than it looks

 

[pooch]

You could also check that you have USB HiSpeed selected in the BIOS

 

[thoob]

No I haven't tried the above post. I will when I have some time. Also, I don't have an option in the BIOS to enable HiSpeed.

 

[yowanvista]

Try this hotfix
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2529073

 

[thoob]

Ok, hotfix wouldn't work for some reason. I did try the above post by pooch. It didn't work. Here's what I have hooked up right now and these all work fine.
USB keyboard
WD mass storage HD
HP photosmart printer
WD 320 gig hard drive

If I connect another device on top of that, it says it malfunctioned or says it's not recognized. This number of devices is all I get regardless. I can mix and match but I only get 4 devices total. It really sucks.

 

[thoob]

I'm also not sure this is power related. Any device I plug in on top of the 4th has power to it. For instance, my phone will charge as normal.

 

[pooch]

what is your legacy device setting on in BIOS
Do you have a USB hub you can try out and see if it is possible to add more devices that way?
Do all USB ports work if you plug your 4 devices in in other ports?
If you add a 5th device with its own power supply does it work?

 

[thoob]

Pooch, I'll check my legacy device settings in the BIOS after this post.
I do have a USB hub I'll try out.
All my USB ports work. I've already tried plugging the 4 devices into various ports and they all work fine.
One of my 4 devices is a 2TB external drive with it's own power supply. It works fine but doesn't work if I plug it in as the 5th device.

 

[thoob]

Ok, I guess I don't have a USB hub to try. I thought I did.
I don't have the option in the BIOS menu for USB legacy options.
Any more ideas I could try before I wipe it clean and start over?

 

[pooch]

Ok I think a New install could potentially save time Before you do that can you confirm these BIOS settings, assuming I have the right manual. See attachment.
Do you use the easy energy saver? if yes be aware and I am guessing here that it might limit power to the USB ports.
Check in Device Manager that Power Management is turned off for all USB Devices

 

[thoob]

All my settings mirror the ones you've posted. I'm really baffled. I can't help but wonder if this may be a faulty MB. I'll probably be forced to do a fresh windows install. Whats the best way to do that?

 

[pooch]

I believe you,

Last try at a fix. I can't think how you could have plugged the front/extra USB ports in wrongly and they still work, but best check them again, maybe unplug and replug them, then try the new install if you still have no joy

Have a look here; http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

You should be able to get the board checked by a reputable dealer, then you will know for certain if it is a faulty MB

Let us know how you get on

Brian

 

[thoob]

I did double check that I had the USB ports plugged into the MB correctly. It definitely wouldn't hurt to check them again.
As far as the mother board goes, I'm an American living in Italy. Italians aren't exactly technologically savvy. I'll have an extremely hard time finding a dealing to check the MB. MB's aren't really all that expensive so I could just buy another. Before I do that, I'll try a clean install. When I first got the system up and running I installed windows and ran it without the chip set drivers for a good bit of time. Maybe 2 weeks went by before I realized that I needed to do that. So, once I did that, the USB drivers worked better but not great. I did a repair install of windows, and the USB functions got better yet. So here I am. They work but they're not working perfectly. I'll let you know how the clean install goes after I get everything backed up.