Problem with home-made USB cable

[lrc34]

I recently made a usb extension cord using a usb male plug, a usb female plug from an old hub, and some extra 4 wire cable i had. The problem with it is that it will not recognize my usb memory stick. My usb mouse and a usb gamepad work on my computer using the extension cord but my usb memory doesnt. It does work when plugged directly into the port. Windows tells me that the device failed and is unknown, and both IDs are 0000 (failed enumeration). The continuity on the wire is fine i checked it. Im wondering if there is something i am missing or some secret that i do not know with usb cables.

Also: the light on my usb drive that shows when it is being accessed flashes for about 2 seconds when i plug it straight into my usb port, when i use the extension cord the light stays solid for 2 seconds.

 

[atomic tofu]

check your bios settings and see if there is a legacy usb option...how old is the drive?

I actually bought a flash drive and haven't even tested it...over half a year now...I think I should

 

[QuaziBee]

You may be experiencing power loss along the lines somewhere. You can volt test the connectors after you plug it in and see if they read low.

 

[dbphiladelphia]

You may be experiencing power loss along the lines somewhere. You can volt test the connectors after you plug it in and see if they read low.

I'd suggest the same. Also, look up the schematics for the involved devices to find the required voltages. With a power loss, you might still be moving enough volts to power some, but not all devices.

"The USB specification provides a 5 V (volts) supply on a single wire from which connected USB devices may draw power. The specification provides for no more than 5.25 V and no less than 4.75 V (5 V±5%) between the positive and negative bus power lines.[11] Initially, a device is only allowed to draw 100 mA. It may request more current from the upstream device in units of 2 mA up to a maximum of 500 mA.

If a bus-powered hub is used, the devices downstream may only use a total of four units — 400 mA (i.e. 2 watts) — of current. This limits compliant bus-powered hubs to 4 ports. The host operating system typically keeps track of the power requirements of the USB network and may warn the computer's operator when a given segment requires more power than is available."

 

[peterhuang913]

What kind of cable did you use? You can't just use any cable.