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USB devices intermittently don't work when computer starts

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[U]ber|Noob

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
Messages
427
I am having a problem with my mini pc.

When you start the computer, every so often at least one usb device fails to work (the device is powered but the computer fails to detect the device).

It is fixed by either restarting the computer or unplugging the device that didn't come on and plugging it in again.

This has become a very annoying problem. I have a powered usb hub connected (just a fairly cheap ebay one) but this issue also effects devices connected directly to the computer's usb ports not going through the hub at all.

It is common when you turn on the computer that there is no sound (due to usb sound device not connecting), another time there will be sound but the usb remote control won't work. A lot of times everything works, but then it doesn't the next day when nothing has changed.

The motherboard is
Intel dh67cf
With Windows 8.1 (with latest updates).


This has been on ongoing problem for ages.
Any suggestions about what I can try to fix this would be greatly appreciated.
Should I replace the hub (even though it effects devices not connected to the hub)? or something else? Could one device cause problems with all the other devices?

It wasn't a cheap mini pc (about $500).
 
Link to the mini pc?

BIOS up to date?

Does it still happen if you only have 1-2 things plugged in?
 
Thanks.

Yes it has the latest bios from 2012.

There are about 8 things plugged in, some to a hub, some directly.
Most are low bandwidth devices (keyboard,mouse,ir remote, etc.) and printers and a scanner but where only one is used at a time (though all plugged in).
There are no usb hdd's etc. The highest bandwidth device is the usb 2 usb to coax audio converter. Again this is likely to have the most current draw but I wouldn't imagine it would be much, at the moment it is powered by the computer's usb power supply but it can be powered by a separate power supply which I would have to buy or find.


Is it possible this small form factor pc is just unable to handle 8 devices, despite whether there is a hub or not?

Because it is intermittent, to test with just 2 things (would have to be just keyboard and mouse) it might take a few days until the problem occurred and the computer needs to be used a lot in that time :(
 
Last edited:
Is it possible for a low quality usb hub to cause devices not connected to it to not work properly?
 
Boot Linux off a USB flash drive. If USB works then problem is Windows software, if not it's defective hardware.
 
I tried connecting the devices that seem to go offline most to the usb 3 ports, even though they are not usb 3 devices, I assume the usb 3 controller is different (and it has no hubs connected to it). So I'll have to see in a few days if it has happened again.

Should also show if it's a problem with the usb controller or windows, I assume.

If it works, I could just get a good quality usb 3 hub and connect everything there.

But I did read someone saying you shouldn't connect externally powered devices to a usb 3 hub, is that right?
 
It's funny - I have a DH77DF and I get this. I also had It with my DH57JG before that.

I chalked it up to some stupid bug that Intel never got around to purging from it's boards/BIOS software. When I had a P8Z77-I for a few weeks the problem went away.

Sorry I can't give better news.
 
Just to confirm. Are you cold booting when you have the usb failures or resuming from suspend/sleep? Sometimes different sleepstates for USB controllers can cause issues.
 
With regards to your question they often fail to work when cold booting, but also often fail to work after waking from sleep mode.

So far the usb devices that were failing to come on are working every time when they are connected to usb 3 ports (even though they are usb 1 and 2 devices).

@Tute
Did you also find that the problem was only on the usb 2 ports?

So I am ordering a tp-link (expensive brand) usb 3 hub and I am going to try connecting every usb device that fails to come on at any time to that instead, I'm not running any external hdds etc. So the bandwidth should be ok.
 
Hello, I think installing drivers from there was one of the first things I did.

Even so there doesn't appear to be a usb driver for window 8.1
 
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