USB problems. Help!!

**Yarddart152** · 04-08-2002, 02:32 PM

Ok, Im having some problems with my USB ports and im fixin to put some holes in my computer. So I thought Id see if anyone out there could help me before I end the life of my computer.

My problem is that whenever I plug anything up to my USB ports, (CH yoke and peddles, SIIG minihub) I get the USB device detected, then the Unknown device detected thing. I go to the device manager, and the unknown device with the yellow ! flag is under my universal serial bus controllers area. I assume that that is the device i plugged in, cause as soon as i unplug it, it goes away. Sometimes I get the red flag that means i have to enable the unknown device. I try that and my computer restarts and it is the yellow flag now. Ive tried installing the driver for the generic USB hub by doing it manually. IT comes back still with the yellow flag. So my question is, how do i get my stupid USB ports to detect the device as it should?

Another weird thing is that one of my ports seemed to do it all the time. so i went and got that hub and plugged it into the port that seemed to work. IT worked for about 3 days, then one day i started up my computer and there was the yellow flag in the device manager, and i havent been able to make it work since.

Silverblade · 04-08-2002, 02:41 PM

I'm no expert, but with what experience I do have (35 years worth), I'd say you have a flaky UART/USB chip, which means taking it to a GOOD computer technician who can trouble shoot it down to the chip level, or you might have to get a new motherboard. That is, assuming you don't have pinched and broken cables on all of your USB devices.

Sorry I can't help you more!

Silverblade

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**Yarddart152** · 04-08-2002, 02:47 PM

Crap, that sucks. The cables are all brand new, so that doesnt look good. So there is nothing I can do to remedy this problem?

Silverblade · 04-08-2002, 02:50 PM

Give this post a while to work. Perhaps someone else will have an idea.

Silverblade

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**Yarddart152** · 04-08-2002, 03:08 PM

I think i have a VIA Tech USB chip or something like that. Thats whats under my USB controllers section in my device manager. VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB universal host controller. If that is indeed my chip, does it have a bad or good reputation, does anyone know? im gonna look at there website if they have one, maybe there is some patch of driver or something i need to upgrade.

**fbass** · 04-08-2002, 04:53 PM

I'm not an expert on USB either but I can tell you how mine works.

My USB hub is an internally powered card with 4 USB ports. A USB cable goes out the back of my computer through a face plate to one of the standard USB ports on the computer. There is no separate driver for this hub. It is plugged into a standard USB port so the driver is already "in there."

In the Device Manager, under Universal Serial Bus Controller, should be at least 4 statements. They are:

1. Generic USB Hub (or something similar)
2. Intel 82371 AF/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller. On my computer, I believe this is a PCI card that provides management of the USB functions.
3. USB Composite Device
4. USB Root Hub

I believe numbers 3 and 4 are associated with your yoke and pedals and/or the separate hub (not sure).

When I first plugged in my yoke and pedals, Win98 detected both USB devices and loaded a generic game-type driver for each one. Both devices were identified at bootup and away we went. There was no software loaded for these to devices.

The hub did not need an external driver since it is just another USB device plugged into a standard port. The hub was recognized and away we went.

Now for some caveats on CH Products yoke and pedal hardware. You didn't mention how your USB hub was powered. If it is NOT an internally powered hub, you are probably going to have trouble with the yoke/pedals. CH Products has a posting on their Web site about this. Static electricity plays h**l with both devices when you use an externally powered hub

Second caveat - You can't plug anything else into the hub while you are using your yoke/pedal. (Both MS and CH Products have a posting on this one) If you do plug something else into it, most likely you will loose your yoke/pedals as the other device interrupts comm with the USB ports. Interruption does not cause too many problems with most things you plug into USB hubs but it does with this yoke/pedal combo.

Thats the way it worked on mine. I don't guess this really helps but it may point out where you can start looking for problems - especially if yours is an externally powered hub.

**wsieffert** · 04-08-2002, 04:57 PM

What operating system are you using, i.e., Win98, WinXP? If you have VIA chips in your computer, you need to visit www.viatech.com and download the 4-in-1 file for your computer. If Win98, try downloading and installing the USB filter from this site.

Other than controller chip drivers, hardware failure could be your problem as stated above.

W. Sieffert

**Yarddart152** · 04-08-2002, 05:06 PM

By externally powered, do u mean, that it has a cord with a power supply that plugs into the wall? If so then that is what mine is. It was a cheap 29 buck hub. But even if i plug my yoke or whatever into my USB port alone. IT still sees it as an unknown device. The hub is the same way. Maybe the hub fried something in my system or something? but the yoke did it on my one port before i got the hub so i dont know. in my device manager under universal serial bus controllers it reads:

unknown device
USB root hub
USB root hub
VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal host controller
VIA Tech 3038 PCI to USB Universal host controller

**Yarddart152** · 04-08-2002, 05:07 PM

Win98 SE. I installed the USB filter, but it didnt do anything. I havent checked out the 4-in-1 file yet. I'll give that a go

sonic33 · 04-08-2002, 05:28 PM

I am no expert either but I had a similar problem a while back and I read somewhere that I needed to add a human interface device . I did and had no problems since.
If my memory serves me well You need to go to add new human interface device (HID)
Go to control panel and Add new hardware and select from a list then select usb devices and you should get the USB HID there add it and see if that fixes your problem . It did mine.

I am using XP so I'm not sure if it will work on 98SE but hey give it a try!

Incidentally in the picture you se another HID for my game controller. I added that and it fixed my Sidewinder Force feed back joystick problem..........which is a common problem in XP.

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/Use...06013caed0.jpg

Hope it works for you

Have fun!!

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