USB port not working.. USB drivers are installed, BIOS setting is enabled... Not getting what the problem is??

Question

I m a s/w engineer and to my knowledge I verified everything in the system and found that all the drivers of USB port are installed. I went into BIOS and found tat the poprts are enabled.
Whenever I plug any USB device there's a red-light blink for half sec. and then goes off and the drive remains undetected.
If anyone can answer then please I'll be glad......My system is "Compaq Presario SR1320IL", XP Proff wit SP-2 installed.
If you require any further info. then please ask.....as I m frustrated as problem is not getting solved since 5 months.
If I go to HP's service center tey will charge a lot.
Thanks in advance,.............Plz answer............

Answer 1

Maybe the USB ports have a broken pin or

Try to uninstall the USB drivers then reinstall them by clicking
Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager

then click the USB drivers then uninstalled them by clicking the computer w/ X icon.
If the Confirm Device Removal widow opens, click Ok
The USB drivers will be uninstalled.
Then click the computer with the magnifying glass and the Found New Hardware window opens.
When it says if it want to connect to Windows Update, click No.
Just follow the steps and you may need to restart the computer.
After the computer has restarted, the USB ports are ready to use.
If this still doesn't work, try reformatting the harddisk then install the necessary software for your computer.
(Remember to back up your files)

If this still doesn't work, you have no choice but to spend big bucks of getting your computer fixed.

Answer 2

Since I build all of my own systems and have on occasion run into this problem, I might be able to give you some guidance here about your USB port / ports problem.
When a motherboard is installed into a computer is not that different from installing a new video card, or new modem. It just a part of the computer system and you have to realize that even the motherboard needs drivers. (Lots of drivers) so with that information in hand let’s get to your problem. When you bought your computer you should have got a cdrom disk that has all these drivers on it. But for the moment lets assume that you bought the machine used and there are no drivers included. The fist thing you need to do is open the case / cabinet and look on the motherboard for a few things. The first thing you need to know is the name of the motherboard and the version number of the motherboard this is stamped on the board and sometimes is a little difficult to find, but keep looking and you’ll see it. Secondly, you need to look at the chips that are installed on that motherboard, these can be Via, Intel, Etc… Forget about the processor just look at the chipset, if the Motherboard is Intel version 1.2.5 and the chipset is Via then you need to find what is called a (5 in 1) driver for that motherboard. So you can get on the net and start your search there for your (chipset driver) for that motherboard which will include IRQ Steering, AGP drivers, and your (USB Ports along with the necessary root hubs).
So let’s say you find that file on the net, the (Five and one driver set for your motherboard), you download it and run it and everything seems fine, that is until you want to use your USB ports and Root Hubs for your Printer, Web-cam, or Video editing attachment. You have to realize that most always that USB Ports will take the easier softer way of grabbing software so it will install what is called an (unsupported USB driver, and may or may not install a root hub for it. (SO !!!) you assume that your USB ports should work but this is not the case.
Now what?.
Here’s how you do it go to your control panel, then to systems then to the device tab, once the list has been populated scroll down to (Universal Serial Bus Controller) and open it up delete all the USB Ports there in that section, then back out of that dialog box all the way to the control panel.
Once you are at the control panel click on add new hardware and it should automatically find that there are two USB Ports missing and will try to find them, when it does find them it will try to install the generic or unsupported drivers again. Don’t let it do that, on the dialog box tell it that you have a disk for these drivers and let it scan the disk for the real supported drivers. That is if you copied them to disk, if not, select browse button and show the machine what directory the drivers are in. If your machine tries to install the unsupported drivers at this point then click on select driver from list then choose the drivers that you downloaded or that are on the cdrom. After all that the machine will want to reboot. (Let it do that). Once it’s back up and running go back to the device manager and verify that you not only have a USB Port by also that you have an associated root hub with it. Lastly, be sure that you know what version of USB that you are installing if it a Version 1.0 USB Port it will not run Attachments that need USB 2.0 so have some fun and happy hunting on the (5 in 1) driver.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

That's a tough one, Anil. I can only offer a few suggestions to try to isolate the problem.

1. Try another USB port to see if you get results there. That would indicate a bad USB port if it works on another port.

2. Try plugging in your device and rebooting with the device plugged in.

Hope some of this helps. Good Luck

Answer 4

Most 1320's experience a major problem within the discretionary nH78-y shared hyperdrive. This will require a professional fix, so bring a big sack of $$$$$, and get the job done or don't use any of the USB ports.