New USB devices not acknowledged

G

Guest

Guest
Hi folks.

Sorry if this is the wrong place -- not exactly sure what category to put it in.

Desperately need help resolving this as I am partially disabled as far as typing is concerned and need my USB Bluetooth headset for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to operate (Plantronics Calisto headset & its USB adapter).

On my XP Pro SP3 PC, USB devices no longer recognized when plugged in. These devices have been successfully used in the past, but now there is no acknowledgment of the USB device at all on plugin.

USB printer, which is permanently plugged in and hasn't been removed, still works fine, but new plugins not recognized.

But it's not just my headset. No thumb drives or anything else USB either.

TIA
 

Comotose

Distinguished
Dec 23, 2009
2
0
18,510
> Check that the USB ports are enabled in the bios.

The USB printer (which is plugged into one of the two back panel ports) works, provided it is switched on when the PC is rebooted/powered up. Otherwise it is not found.

> Delete the USB entries in Device Manager and reboot to recreate the entries.

Did that fairly early in the piece, without any improvement.

> Try using a USB hub connected to the back panel ports.
> Preferable the USB hub should be a powered one.

Fortunately I have a powered 4-port hub here somewhere. I'll dig it out and plug it in before I shut down tonight.

Thanks for the suggestions -- I'll report back on the result.
 

Comotose

Distinguished
Dec 23, 2009
2
0
18,510
Well, the powered hub didn't do any good. In fact I'm now worse off than I was before -- no printer at all.

Here's what I did:
- Again deleted all USB entries from Devices
- Powered off the PC
- Unplugged the printer from its rear panel USB port (which was working)
- Plugged the hub into that same port
- Plugged printer into the hub
- Powered up again

Then I had no printer or any other USB device.

Powered off and put things back the way they were before, with printer in its original USB port, and plugged the hub into the other rear panel port which was originally a web cam.

Powered up again, but still no printer.

The following USB entries have been recreated in Device Manager:

Universal Serial Bus controllers
- Generic USB Hub
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
- Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CC
- USB Root Hub
- USB Root Hub
- USB Root Hub
- USB Root Hub
- USB Root Hub

Double-clicking any of those entries reports "This device is working properly."

We become so dependent on USB devices that something like this becomes a very serious setback.

I have no idea where to go from here, other than a Windows reinstall, and that would be catastrophic -- it would take me days to recover to a fully usable system again with all my necessary software.

Any ideas most welcome.
 

alphanode

Distinguished
Dec 22, 2009
40
0
18,530
That's quite odd. I've had problems where plugging in a device I would get "this device could not be recognized" and it wouldn't work, but rebotting seems to do the trick.

Have you tried (in device manager) removing the USB controller itself and re-installing the drivers for it? Other ideas include trying to use system restore, purchasing and installing a PCI (or if laptop, PCMCIA) USB card.

Best of luck.