I'm running Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 3), and my computer
is frequently losing contact with USB storage devices.

Keyboard and mouse work OK in the same slot, but if I plug in a USB
flash drive or external hard drive, or even a printer it often doesn\t
work, and reports that the storage device is not found, or that the
printer is offline.

Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
motherboard?

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

On 7/11/2022 8:43 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
> I'm running Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 3), and my computer
> is frequently losing contact with USB storage devices.
>
> Keyboard and mouse work OK in the same slot, but if I plug in a USB
> flash drive or external hard drive, or even a printer it often doesn\t
> work, and reports that the storage device is not found, or that the
> printer is offline.
>
> Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
> motherboard?

The motherboard may have expansion slots.

You can get various kinds of plugin cards, to
take the place of blown motherboard ports.

On WinXP, a plugin USB2 card needs no driver.
There are class drivers for USB2.

For USB3, I would recommend a card with a
NEC/Renesas chip on it, as it's one of the few
to have WinXP drivers. The XHCI driver must be
on the CD in the box, for a USB3 to work there.
Some Asmedia products, may mention Win7 minimum.

Paul

On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:43:07 +0200, Steve Hayes
<hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:

>I'm running Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 3), and my computer
>is frequently losing contact with USB storage devices.
>
>Keyboard and mouse work OK in the same slot, but if I plug in a USB
>flash drive or external hard drive, or even a printer it often doesn\t
>work, and reports that the storage device is not found, or that the
>printer is offline.
>
>Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
>motherboard?

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I have the same setup with the same
recurring problem.

On 7/11/2022 2:57 PM, Carl@WhoCares.net wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:43:07 +0200, Steve Hayes
> <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm running Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 3), and my computer
>> is frequently losing contact with USB storage devices.
>>
>> Keyboard and mouse work OK in the same slot, but if I plug in a USB
>> flash drive or external hard drive, or even a printer it often doesn\t
>> work, and reports that the storage device is not found, or that the
>> printer is offline.
>>
>> Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
>> motherboard?
>
> Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I have the same setup with the same
> recurring problem.
>

You should check your RAM, every year to year and a half,
for correct operation. I had two sets of RAM go bad on
the WinXP machine.

(Standalone test media, current OS is not a factor)

https://memtest.org/

There was one motherboard, which accepted 0 to 8192MB of
RAM, and if you installed exactly 4096MB (2x2GB), the
"USB Overcurrent" would put a notification on the screen,
even though LEDs on the USB devices remained properly lit.
This was an address map bug in the BIOS.

Check google for the history of your motherboard/chipset,
to see if that may be a factor.

The ICH5 seemed to have a USB latchup problem. If the
USB Power contacts on the ICH5 were involved, it would
burn a hole right in the chip (system = dead). But
other failure modes would give lesser USB symptoms.
The ICH5 should be heatsink-free, so the label can be read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_Controller_Hub#ICH5

82801EB (ICH5) Base
82801ER (ICH5R) RAID

I had a board with ICH5R, and it's dead. It died between
one interval of usage, and a couple years later, attempting
to boot it. PSU was OK. Mobo was not. Not an overclocked system.
USB port behavior was "normal". It seemed to be a Southbridge
issue, but... no burn mark.

Paul

On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 16:39:46 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>On 7/11/2022 2:57 PM, Carl@WhoCares.net wrote:
>> On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:43:07 +0200, Steve Hayes
>> <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm running Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 3), and my computer
>>> is frequently losing contact with USB storage devices.
>>>
>>> Keyboard and mouse work OK in the same slot, but if I plug in a USB
>>> flash drive or external hard drive, or even a printer it often doesn\t
>>> work, and reports that the storage device is not found, or that the
>>> printer is offline.
>>>
>>> Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
>>> motherboard?
>>
>> Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I have the same setup with the same
>> recurring problem.
>>
>
>You should check your RAM, every year to year and a half,
>for correct operation. I had two sets of RAM go bad on
>the WinXP machine.
>
>(Standalone test media, current OS is not a factor)
>
>https://memtest.org/
>
>There was one motherboard, which accepted 0 to 8192MB of
>RAM, and if you installed exactly 4096MB (2x2GB), the
>"USB Overcurrent" would put a notification on the screen,
>even though LEDs on the USB devices remained properly lit.
>This was an address map bug in the BIOS.
>
>Check google for the history of your motherboard/chipset,
>to see if that may be a factor.
>
>The ICH5 seemed to have a USB latchup problem. If the
>USB Power contacts on the ICH5 were involved, it would
>burn a hole right in the chip (system = dead). But
>other failure modes would give lesser USB symptoms.
>The ICH5 should be heatsink-free, so the label can be read.
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_Controller_Hub#ICH5
>
>82801EB (ICH5) Base
>82801ER (ICH5R) RAID
>
>I had a board with ICH5R, and it's dead. It died between
>one interval of usage, and a couple years later, attempting
>to boot it. PSU was OK. Mobo was not. Not an overclocked system.
>USB port behavior was "normal". It seemed to be a Southbridge
>issue, but... no burn mark.
>
> Paul

I'm a comp "user", not a comp "fixer". I don't much give a hoot
what's causing a problem. If I can't work around it - or live with
it, I take it to my local comp shop a few blocks down. A day or two
and a C-Note or two later and the comp works again.

"Machines" were made for users. "Fixers" fix 'em for users. The two
are separate worlds as far as I'm concerned.

On Mon, 11 Jul 2022 10:12:07 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>> Is there any way of remedying this, short of getting a new
>> motherboard?
>
>The motherboard may have expansion slots.
>
>You can get various kinds of plugin cards, to
>take the place of blown motherboard ports.
>
>On WinXP, a plugin USB2 card needs no driver.
>There are class drivers for USB2.

Thanks very much -- will look into that.

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk