HP laptop no likey da USB any more...

cmsamo

I have a 2 month old HP DV2000 entertainment laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium.

I was using it today, and the MS optical mouse stopped working while i was browsing windows. I got a dialog box saying "The USB device has malfunctioned. Windows does not recognise" so I unplugged it. I plugged it back in, and it started working again. A short time later, it stopped working again (with the same errors) and didn't work again.

I tried a different mouse, same result. I tried a USB hard drive, same result. I tried my ipod. Same result. The laptop no longer registers something being connected to any of the USB ports. I tried powering down, and restarting, with no joy. I tried removing the USB Root Hubs and letting Vista re-install the drivers, and still, USB devices are not seen... I checked the HP website and googled various phrases based around "vista usb not working" and didn't get far...

Anyone got any ideas at all? TIA

AtomBomb

Sounds to me like the ports might be physically broken. Did the ipod even try to charge when you plugged it in? If not, I would say that the ports are hosed. You could maybe try to disable the ports in bios, boot up, restart, re-enable the ports in bios and hope for the best. I think you're going to end up RMA'ing the laptop. Also, DO NOT plug that mouse into anything else. Good luck.

cmsamo

Well, the Ipod charges when it's plugged into each of the three USB ports.. but iTunes doesn't recognise it, and it doesn't toggle into the "do not unplug" mode that they usually do. Therefore i think the ports are physically ok - there is just some reason why Vista is ignoring anything that is connected to them...

Additional - when I plug the USB hard drive into the USB ports, it's light comes on (as if it's drawing power) but again, Vista does not see it.

AtomBomb

Well, that's a good sign anyway. I've seen defective devices that will blow up the power circuit on whatever they're plugged into, so I'm glad it's not that. I would still try the disable/re-enable thru bios. Maybe also try running PC Wizard to see if it tells you anything useful about the ports.

cmsamo

I'll give PC Wizard a try, thanks. As for BIOS, I had a look see and it was one of the most basic bios screens I've ever seen. No options pertaining to USB at all.. v-strange.

ok - so PC Wizard says there is a USB bus that is OK.

robotbebop

Do a system restore to a day before the issue started if you can, otherwise re-image. Or better yet, go out and buy an non-OEM copy of Vista and download drivers so you don't have to deal with all the OEM garbage that's on the image.

RFX

So I've just had this problem, and fixing it is a pain. First thing you can do:


Open up the Registry (Start -> Run -> Regedit). Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Services -> USB. Make a new key called "DisableSelectiveSuspend" and set the value to 1. Restart everything, etc. etc., and try it again. This worked for me.... for a few weeks.

The problem came back. This time, open the registry, and scroll to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Enum -> USB. There should be a few things you see there called Vid_#####. Delete all of them (You may need to change permissions to do so - right click, go to Permissions, and just give Full Control to everyone). Restart, problem solved... maybe. This last for me for a week or two as well.



Eventually I was unable to find any other solution. Since it's a laptop, I assume you have a PCMCIA slot, so I suggest buying a USB card to just go in there. I bought one similar to this (Mine has 4 ports, which J&R doesn't seem to have online) and it works fine. All in all, this is probably the easiest solution, and $20 isn't much. It sticks out a bit so it's kind of annoying, but it gets the job done.

blincoln

If it's two months old, I would hope it's still under warranty and can be sent back to HP rather than buying an add-on card for it. Those add-on cards are handy (I use one in a laptop too old to have built-in USB 2.0), but having proper ports on the laptop itself is better.
The other suggestions offered are a good place to start before RMAing it.

cmsamo

Thanks for the suggestions guys... much appreciated. I've emailed HP tech support so I await their response. I'll post it here in case anyone else finds it useful

In the meantime, looks like it's time to go diving around in the registry...

edit - b***ocks - it seems this laptop has expresscard interface... not the old style Cardbus.... The only product I can find that is available in the UK is a Belkin docking station with all the bells and whistles for $50+