USB Horrors on XP Home

The VP of the company I work for has asked me to look at a USB problem on his home PC.

I've been to his house (from the size of it, he must be doing SOMETHING right) to look at it, and its the damnedest thing I've ever seen.

There are duplicate entries for the host controller and the root hub. Not usually a problem, I've encountered it before and solved it by booting into safe mode, removing the devices and then letting XP detect them when it boots up normally. Only on this occasion, no matter how many times I try it, or what order I remove the entries in, when it boots again XP detects two entries for both the hub and the host controller again.

Does anyone have any explanation as to why this is, and what I can do about it? I might add that USB is completely dead - no response from any of the ports.

The PC is an Emachine 900, the host controller is a SiS if that helps

Thanks is advance

ZBLB

 

Hi

Thanks Halo, but I'm still stuck.

Yes, there are two front USB ports, so this might account for the duplicate entries.

However, with USB not functioning at all, I am at a loss. The CPU definitely has enough juice (its a 2 Ghz P4).

None of the 'traditional' devices are USB (monitor, mouse, keyboard etc) and USB is definitely enabled in the BIOS.

I've put a screenshot up of device manager so that anybody who has any ideas might be able to get a better understanding.

Cheers!

PS: The 'other device' entry isn't anything to worry about, just a Samsung printer that needs a driver update

 

Incompatibility ...?

You might have some (an) incompatibility issues. SiS USB (and chipsets) in the earlier days was NOTORIOUS for incompatibility. Check with the mobo manufacturer and find out if something needs to be enabled or drivers need to be updated.

Starkman

 

Try here http://www.usbman.com/winxpusbguide.htm

There is a mention of the SiS registry patch needed, and is available at the site.

 

You know, I'm an information gatherer, so I just loooove it when I see a link, and I think, "Hmm, sounds good. Think I'll save that." AND I ALREADY DID TWO YEARS AGO!

Yeah, I love to gather information. Now, if only I can remember what I gathered!

Sheesh!

Starkman

 

By your last post I could not tell if you have fixed it.
If not, check the BIOS for a setting to let USB be controlled by the OS or by the BIOS.
If it is there: Boot into XP without changing it. Grab what drivers you think you need. Put them on a disk. Delete all the USB stuff in the Device manager. Reboot and change the BIOS setting. Let XP recognize everything. This can easily take five minutes after you reach the desktop. Do nothing until it stops finding and installing.
My friend's system does not care which setting is used (BIOS or OS), but has to be changed and recognized periodicallly. He is a high risk user. Hopefully this will not be needed again in your case.

 

....also, Halo was referring to an underpowered PSU not CPU