USB... My Worst Nightmare... Some Questions.

[demonblade]

Ok, So lets start from the top. My old rig I retired had USB hub issues, and when I used a USB hub expander all heck broke loose and devices would continuely fail. So After much fustration I declared this PC dead.

I got a new one, not even a month old in my hands, but it was built around oh I say 4 or 3 years ago, and yet again every freaking USB port fails, but get this, if its a External HDD or "Microsoft based" product, the device will work.

Well this just isn't going to work, so I put my old PC back to work as an over sized printer server.

Ok so now for the real question. Is USB really that bad? Or am I plugging in so many devices that I'm unintentionally shorting out hubs?

And am I better off buying myself a good USB PCI Card verses trying to fight with those external USB hub expanders?

Thanks

 

[patonb]

Is it a powered hub?

Could be putting to much load on the hub.

 

[KSoD]

Exactly what Paton said. You cant go plugging in 6 devices into a USB Hub that require power from the Hub itself. Even more so if hte Hub isnt powered. If the Hub itself is drawing power from the PC and then trying to power your devices you will see exactly what you are getting. You need a Powered Hub. One that gets power directly from a wall outlet and can power other devices itself.

 

[demonblade]

The funny thing is... All the external hubs I've used all use the wall to get their power.

So, my motive is still the hub itself is now damaged... But it shouldn't be since I can still run a limited number of devices as stated above.

Here's a list of things that I use and must use for tasks on my computer:
Flight Stick (does have a "light" on it)
4 Flash Sticks
My MP3 Player (Essentially a flash drive since it has no branded software or drivers)
And all 3 of my printers. (Don't ask)

Ok, so tons of devices... The more and more I look at it, I'm still at square one when my first rig broke... It's time for a new motherboard. Sad really... It's just so odd for all the hubs to break all at once tho.

Anyway, so where do we stand? New Motherboard or 2 PCs to handle all my USB demands?

 

[KSoD]

Well how do you do this? I mean do you have 1 Hub that has like 10 ports or do you have multiple hubs hooked up to each other? Having 9 devices connected via a Hub is a lot. have you tried reducing the number of items in use? I mean do you have to constantly have all 4 Flash Drives and the MP3 Player plugged in and operational at all times?

I would look into splitting the devices onto 2 USB Hubs. Both of which connected directly to a USB port on the PC. Not a Usb Hub connected to another Hub.

 

[Harper]

Ok so now for the real question. Is USB really that bad?

In all seriousness, you don't want to hear me comment about what i think about most USB to RS232 Serial Port Emulation that seems to be creeping up with a lot of people watching to run MYOB Retail Manager from a laptop or a new computer with no 9 Pin Serial Ports.

Or am I plugging in so many devices that I'm unintentionally shorting out hubs?

They tell me that I can plug in 127 USB Devices into a USB port. However who ever sead that orginally failed to put in account that the amount of power that can be drawn from 1 USB Host.

And am I better off buying myself a good USB PCI Card verses trying to fight with those external USB hub expanders?

USB Hubs are more trouble than they are worth. You are better off with a good quality PCI USB Card. However i will stay clear of the VIA chipset USB Cards

 

[demonblade]

Ahh Lots of replies... Ok...

@ Mak - 1 powered hub; 7 ports. Motherboard, 4 I/O and 2 front panel and you counted what? 9 devices? Ok so, yes all for Flash drives are plugged in near 90% of the time, the Player as needed. I would reduce the number of items plugged in if I had that option, but quite simply it cannot be done with the way I run my system. (and my lazyness)

@ Keyboard Cowboy - That External is a wall powered USB device and mine is a 3.5" HDD (so we're clear).
I've never heard of someone needing some 100 devices... But ok...


-- Tho the question still remains. Do I need a new motherboard? (I have a few in mind that meet my USB demands)


PS. @ Mak - What gave you the idea I was stringing Hubs together? I only have one hub...

 

[KSoD]

I have seen people piggy back hubs before. It all depends on the amount of devices you can hook up to your specific hub. My Hub can only have 4 devices. I didnt know for sure how many you could hook up as you never mentioned how many ports it had.

Yes i counted 9.

Flight Stick - 1
4 USB Drives - 4
MP3 Player - 1
Printers - 3

1+4+1+3 = 9



I highly doubt that a new mobo will be totally necessary. It could also be the fact that you have some high end devices hooked up with lower end devices. What i mean by that is that a USB Flash Drive and a Flight Stick do not need the same amount of speed to transfer data as a printer does. If i remember correctly you shouldnt mix devices such as printers with those that dont use the same amount of transfer speed.

I would try hooking up the Printers directly to 3 of the USB ports on the PC and use the rest on the hub. Including a mouse and keyboard you should have plenty of ports available.

Mouse, keyboard, hub, printer on back ports
2 printers on front ports

Try a setup like that and see if it helps the situation. My memory of USB is a bit fuzzy as i havent done much research on it lately.