USB problems

J

Juggler7823

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 May 2001
Messages
903
Location
UK, North Wales
Visit site
I have been struggling for several days to sort out my printer problems. I now think that the problem lies with the USB ports. They will only work with a USB mouse. Plugging in the Plug and Play printer, a memory stick and a USB floppy drive (remember them?) has no effect at all. Device Manager does not list any hardware at all.

I would reinstall Windows XP but do not seem to have any discs for it.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any suggestions offered.

Roy
 
Thats tough I just bought a usb to parallel printer cable and connected my nearly 10 year old Epson printer up to my new computer and it all installed itself as Plug and Play should. Recognised the printer and found found the driver all by itself. Vista too!.

I had checked with the Epson website that it was compatible beforehand.

Sadly my somewhat younger Canon scanner is not compatible with Vista
 
A friend of mine had a similar problem when his printer stopped working. After swopping leads and everything around etc we discovered that one usb socket was duff. Havn't gone deeper. Now he uses a hub to connect everything through one port.
 
Maybe too many things plugged in at the same time? My PC has 6 usb ports but the scanner goes on strike if it has more than 4 other usb devices plugged in at the same time. Another possibility are the cables long? I've had problems using extension cables.
 
In control panel > system > hardware > device manager click on the USB controllers right-mouse menu > choose uninstall.
Make a note of the type of controller if you do not have Windows disks at hand.
Uninstall all the nonworking controllers. Then reboot the computer. A wizard will start up to prompt you to reinstall the ports. If Windows was properly installed in the first place, the drivers will reinstall themselves and the ports should work.
If the wizard can't find any drivers on your system, they have been inadvertently removed or the files have been corrupted. You will have to download the appropriate drivers from the net and retry.

Reminds me, some computers have low wattage power supplies. USB 2.0 puts a drain on USB ports, as in the case of Canon LIDE scanners. If you have lots of USB stuff hanging of one hub, a controller will cut out, simply of shortage of current.
 
I have a usb hub (a new buy) that wont work with some items like scanners unless the auxiliary power supply is plugged in. but it does work with the mouse.

does your printer draw all its current from the usb port ie there is no power supply to plug in? if so, that could be your problem.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have been struggling for several days to sort out my printer problems. I now think that the problem lies with the USB ports. They will only work with a USB mouse. Plugging in the Plug and Play printer, a memory stick and a USB floppy drive (remember them?) has no effect at all. Device Manager does not list any hardware at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you get into the BIOS setup at bootup? I wonder if you've got "Enable USB Keyboard and Mouse" option (or words to that effect) set as that may prevent the ports from working as normal USB ports.

Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top