Member Avatar for Devonalper

My USB ports were working on my new PC (3.0 P4 256MB geforce6600 Xp home) until about three days ago, when they suddenly quit. I have uninstalled and reinstalled them but they still wont aknowledge anything a plug in. The computer itself does find them though. They are still powered becase the lights on my joystick still light up.

If anyone has any clue about this help would be greatly appreciated!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by R.nader

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Short summary: the system supplies power to USB ports (devices light up) but Windows stops enumerating any device on the onboard rear ports, front-panel, and even a PCI USB card. That combination strongly narrows the fault to either an OS/driver problem that prevents enumeration system-wide, or a host-controller/southbridge-level failure. Earlier suggestions from (driver/patch install), (chipset/front-panel checks) and (selective-suspend tweak) are sensible starting points, but the next steps should systematically prove whether this is Windows or hardware.

Quick, ordered checks that will save time:

  • Boot from a Linux live CD/USB (or WinPE). If USB devices work there, Windows is at fault; if they fail in the live environment too, suspect hardware.
  • In Windows, open Device Manager while plugging a device and watch for any new entry/errors. To expose ghost devices, run from a command prompt: set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 then start devmgmt.msc, choose View -> Show hidden devices and uninstall any grayed-out USB entries before rebooting.
  • Check Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) and msinfo32 for USB-related errors during plug-in attempts (these logs show enumeration failures and driver load errors).
  • Disable USB power management on every "USB Root Hub" (Power Management tab) to rule out selective suspend problems; back up the registry before making registry edits suggested earlier.

Hardware-focused checks if software steps fail:

  • Reseat front-panel header cables, try rear ports only, and move the PCI USB card to a different slot and/or machine to verify the card itself.
  • Update (or carefully roll back) the Intel/MSI chipset INF and, if available, a motherboard BIOS update from MSI — only after backing up important data.
  • If nothing external works and the PCI card also fails on another PC, suspect motherboard controller/southbridge failure and contact MSI support or consider RMA.

Start with the live-USB test and Device Manager/hidden-device cleanup; those two often reveal whether to keep chasing drivers or start hardware repair/replacement.

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Member Avatar for McReagant

U need to install USB patches. They're store in CD driver of your mainboard. Let's try it ;)

Member Avatar for Devonalper

I tried that but still not working. Any other ideas???

Member Avatar for McReagant

Oh, now show me how do "they suddenly quit"? What model of motherboard did you have? Plz show me more detail about your problem that I able to help you :)

Member Avatar for Devonalper

I have an MSI 915P series mobo. The ports were working on one startup; joystick would work and everything. Next time i booted up the joystick lights would come on, but the ports would not actually recognize the device. I tried a usb memory stick, steering wheel, ipod, and none of them worked. The weird part is that i have a PCI usb card and even that doesn't work.

Member Avatar for Catweazle

Reinstall the motherboard chipset drivers, check to ensure that Windows updates are loaded, then reinstall any necessary USB 2.0 drivers or patches from the motherboard website.

It sounds like a problem which relates to their installation withing Windows rather than a hardware problem.

If they are front panel connectors, however, it would be well to ensure the cables are firmly connected to the motherboard header, and haven't worked loose.

Member Avatar for Devonalper

Tried all that and no luck. It is all of the ports, the front ones the main and the PCI card ones.

Member Avatar for R.nader

Tried all that and no luck. It is all of the ports, the front ones the main and the PCI card ones.

Firstly, it's recommended that you make sure every one of your motherboard drivers are completely up-to-date, but you probably already knew that.

In XP, after a USB port isn't used for a long while the USB driver built into the OS sets the OHCI controller to suspend. When you plug a device back in, it can sometimes fail to 'wake up' properly. This problem was supposedly fixed in SP1 but there is a related registry hack that may still be able to help.

Run regedit and navigate to;

HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Usb

Create the Usb key if it doesn't already exist. Under this key, create a new DWORD value called DisableSelectiveSuspend and give it a value of 1. Then restart the PC.

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