PC Won't Boot Up With USB Hub Plugged In

[madhouse]

I've just purchased a 4 Port USB hub cause I got fed up having to keep swap peripherals between the 2 USB ports I have on my PC. I plugged the USB hub into one of the USB ports on the front of my PC but when I switched the PC on it wouldn't boot up. So I unplugged the USB hub, switched the PC on and it booted up fine. Does anyone know why this is - why the PC won't boot with the USB hub plugged in?

Just to give you some background info, I'm running Windows XP Pro on a HP Pavilion 9720 PC. The ports at the front of the PC are I believe version 1.1, whereas the USB hub is version 2.0. I'm gonna guess that there's some sort of issue here with the USB port versions!!?? If this is the case, is there anything I can do to resolve the problem?

 

[smileygladhands]

Check the manufacturer of the USB hub's website to see if there are Win XP drivers. Also, HP might have the drivers on their website. Or even Microsoft might have USB 2.0 drivers.

 

[Alvin.C]

Re:

Hello,

Does your computer boot properly if your plug the USB hub to a USB port on the back of your PC?

Also...where does the USB port draw its power from? Does it require an additional power source from a power adaptor? It may be drawing too much power from the system if it's passively consuming power from the motherboard.

If your computer halts before the Operating System loads, then it's certainly a hardware issue, not driver related.

 

[madhouse]

smileygladhands - the USB hub is just a generic hub and didn't come with any software/drivers. I checked the HP support website but for my PC (Pavilion 9720) but there were no updates for USB drivers available. Searched and searched on the MS website and found many articles/updates/solutions for where a USB device isn't working, but none seem to apply to my situation.

Alvin - the PC does not boot properly if the USB hub is plugged into the USB port on the back of my PC. The USB hub has it's own separate power supply directly from the mains.

 

[hkfnstang]

just wondering, did your system boot the USB (removable device) first instead of your hard disk (assume that is what you want it to boot)

and btw, USB 2.0 is backward compatible with 1.0 and 1.1

 

[Hacp]

There is a way to work around that problem. Hibernate your computer instead of turning it on. I have an external Network adaptor on my computer and it keeps restarting for some reason when I turn my computer on. But, when I left it at hibernate, then unhibernated, the computer did not restart. I don't know if my problem was similar to yours, but try it. It can't hurt.

 

[madhouse]

hkfnstang - I did wonder myself if the PC was trying to boot from the USB hub for some reason!!??

Hacp - I can try your idea of hibernating the PC instead of switching it off...though the wife is a stickler for me leaving the PC on all the time!!

 

[madhouse]

I just did some digging around in the Device Manager and found the following listed under Universal Serial Bus Controllers:

Generic USB Hub
Maxtor One Touch
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller

Ok, now the funny thing....when I double-click on the first USB Root Hub entry and select the Power tab is says the following two devices are attached:

Hewlett Packard Scanner
Maxtor One Touch

When I do the same for the second USB Root Hub entry it says the following devices are attached:

Generic USB Hub (4 ports)
1 port(s) available

Now, as to what I have plugged in to the USB ports is as follows:

Maxtor One Touch - plugged into one of the USB ports on back of PC.
Hewlett Packard Scanner - plugged into the second USB port on back of PC.
USB Hub - plugged into one of the USB ports on the front of the PC.

The other USB port on the front of the PC is currently unused.

Does all this seem normal??

 

[hkfnstang]

sounds alright to me... from what I know, there are 3 chips on the motherboard that responsible for USB 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0, not sure if that is related to what you see though. I look forward for other comments too.

 

[SHAWN]

what service pack are you running with XP?

My computer doesn't boot with my scanner connected so i just connect it when I am in if I need it.