USB problems

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Two problems, related. I recently lost all my USB ports, all 7 of them, 4 on the mobo, 2 on top of the cabinet and 1 at the front. Done all the usual checks without success. Each has power enough to make a flash drive glow but none are seen by Explorer altho reported as’ working normally’ by Device Manager. The fault has taken out my cordless keyboard and mouse – problem 1.
Fortunately I have a USB 2 card in place to which I’ve attached a USB hub and therefore all USB devices can continue to work – except the keyboard and mouse. I attach a PS/2 keyboard and mouse and the system boots normally after which the cordless keyboard and mouse take over. If I boot without the PS/2 k&m I get an immediate error ‘cannot find keyboard’.
So, how can I tweak the boot procedure either to avoid seeking a keyboard or to recognize the USB 2 card at the early stage? The active port lights on the USB hub don’t appear until after the Windows XP (SP3) splash screen.

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In the past when that happened to my PC. I had to reset the USB ports. From memory, here is what I did…
Turn off PC
Unplug electric power to PC
Press the PC power button for about 10-20 seconds.
Put power plug back in.
Boot up.

Hope that works for you.

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You can also try to go into device manager and uninstall all your usb controllers and once they are all gone, have windows rescan for hardware changes.

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For the keyboard not found halt error there should be a screen in the BIOS, usually the first one that has an entry for Hallt on or don’t halt on any errors except keyboard, or somehing like that. All you have to do is disable that, or enable, whichever is the logical choice based on the words. Most systems only have the error or warning displayed and then continue on but if your’s is dead-stopping, it probably has that setting.
Not all systems were engineered with great foresight however…I have one system that halts on not having a case fan attached to the secondary fan connector cuz it thinks its in a state of failure and has to warm me of the dire consequences that may occur…so the only solution is to keep something attached.

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Tim – Tried that but no joy.
Rui – I’ll try that at leisure. The PC manufacturer has emailed me to say it’s probably the USB controller that’s fried – means a new mobo.
Byron – Spot on with that tip! I found the wherewithall on the BIOS Boot screen which I’ve now set ‘Halt’ to ‘Errors not keyboard’. I can now boot up normally and use the cordless keyboard and mouse.

Many thanks for your help guys.

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Byron – Spot on with that tip! I found the wherewithall on the BIOS Boot screen which I’ve now set ‘Halt’ to ‘Errors not keyboard’. I can now boot up normally and use the cordless keyboard and mouse.

We have a winner! 1 Thumbs Up!

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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