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USB ports stopped working, please help!
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 8:44 pm
by Bluesky
My sister wanted to use a Motorola picture/ringtone software but found out it the software doesn't work with SP2. She then tried to uninstall SP2 and the machine wouldn't boot propoerly (there is a blue screen in start up saying some files are missing and the missing files must be reinstalled). Anyways, I formated the HD and installed a fresh copy of XP (sp1 then downloaded and installed sp2 ) and discovered the usb ports wouldn't work. None of them. Can anyone help? Thanks
Dell 400SC, 2.8ghz, 1g ram, 80gb Hitachi HD, Radeon 9100 video card.
Thanks
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:16 am
by ghost
When you go into Device Manager, do you see any yellow exclamation points under the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" section?
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 12:18 pm
by Bluesky
Thank you all for your advice/suggestions
I did go into device manager and on one of the usb root hub thing there was a yellow question mark beside it. I uninstalled it and re-installed the intel driver. Upon restart, the computer automatically reintalled the driver for the usb root hub, but still non of the USB device I plugged in worked. (a flash drive, webcam and a USB wifi adapter) I can see the usb ports are POWERED, so I guess its not a hardware problem?
thanks again!
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 2:25 pm
by TinyTim
Make sure you have the latest BIOS installed, if not, then download the patch and flash the BIOS. I had a similar problem one time, once I flashed the BIOS, all was good with the USB problem....
Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:29 pm
by drdoug99
sounds like possibly service pack 2 is not compatible with something?
Since both times you say you've installed SP2, the USB no longer works correcT?
does the Dell website say anything about SP2, and you're sure your using the correct drivers? try to revert back to SP1 if possible, if SP2 is the problem of course.
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:08 am
by zooner
have you considered not using sp2?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:36 pm
by Bluesky
Sorry I didn't explain the problem with more clarity. The rig was running XP Pro SP1 then upgraded to SP2. For a couple month the USB ports worked fine until my sister decided to uninstall the SP2 so she can use some cell phone software. The pc screwed up after she uninstalled SP2 and I formatted the pc and then the USB ports stopped working. (I first formated with a SP1 and the USB ports didn't work) and downloaded SP2 and the usb ports still doesn't work.
My attemps to fix it
1st. Downloaded Intel's newest Mobo driver - doesn't work
2nd. Uninstalled all the USB device in device manager - doesn't work
3rd. Flashed with newest BIOS - doesn't work
The usb ports can power the device (cuz I can see the lights blinking on my flash drive) but WinXp won't recongnize it.
Thanks a million for any suggestions
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 3:26 pm
by zooner
do the usb port works for anything else?
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:04 am
by adjha
Possibly USB controller chip on MB. You could buy a pci card and try that.
Happened to me before on an older gateway and the card worked fine.

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:48 am
by YeOldeStonecat
Had a similar issue yesterday rebuilding a Toshi laptop for a client. Some new ATI chipset they're using for thier lappy motherboards (besides video...yes, ATI motherboard chipset)...got the latest chipset installed for their motherboard, then XPp SP2 which I expected to fix it...but after that, still showed with a yellow mark. Removed it in Device Mangler, then ran a scan for new hardware, found it...settled in fine that way.
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:49 pm
by JawZ
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:57 pm
by JawZ
I'm a bit confused here because the 400SC is a server......
A Dell 400SC is a power edge server.
Is this correct?
and if it is....
NOTICE: Do not attach a USB device or a combination of USB devices that draw a maximum current of more than 500 mA per channel or +5 V. Attaching devices that exceed this threshold may cause the USB connectors to shut down. See the documentation that accompanied the USB devices for their maximum current ratings.
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 2:21 pm
by YeOldeStonecat
UOD wrote:
A Dell 400SC is a power edge server.
Is this correct?
Yup, it's a server. Or tries to be, kind of a crossover entry level model that's more of a desktop Dimension base model with a server cover.
Good find on the USB power limits.

Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:08 pm
by Bluesky
Turns out the USB controller chip on the mobo was dead. The cell phone data cable sent a current to the chip and killed it. Called dell and they RMAed me a new mobo overnight and it's working fine now
thanks for all the help
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:26 pm
by Bluesky
by the way UOD, 400SC is supposely a server. However it has the same chasis as the high end Dell 82 or 83 or 8400 (sorry I forgot). So basically you just get a cheap barebone and put the goodies you want inside
