USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized (XP)

[NooNoo]

Welcome to Windrivers binkar

How long is the extension cable? USB extensions are problematic and there are restrictions on how long a cable may be.

[gozo311]

I had the same problem as Spaztastic, the first guy who posted. I read this entire forum, tried all the fixes - even the foolish ones - and nothing worked. I think it's must more of a hardware problem then most think (Like Spaz, I have the Aopen ak89 max motherboard). Today I backed up and reformatted all my hard drives and reinstalled Windows XP. The same USB issues occurred as soon as I was finished - only some devices work, if and ONLY if I reboot the PC with the USB device plugged in. As soon as they are unplugged, the "USB device not recognized" error pops up, and plugging back in does nothing.

Unless someone posts a miraculous fix, I would advise that anyone with this problem on the ak89 max to simply replace your motherboard. It sucks to have a PC that struggles to read USB's.

[NooNoo]

Welcome to Windrivers gozo311

did you try a bios update?

[gozo311]

That was the first thing I tried. I flashed and updated.

[NooNoo]

Well the easy fix would be to get a pci usb card.

[gozo311]

True, true. I didn't have the space for one though - but obviously that's a much better idea.

[NooNoo]

so what pci cards do you have... can you then replace them with usb devices when you have working usb?

[gozo311]

Actually, soon after your post, I decided one of my sound cards (I use the PC for music recording) doesn't need to be there anymore as I haven't used it for years. There are other typical things in there, like a LAN card, wireless card, and a couple of sound cards. But thanks for your advice, I think I'll get along just fine with the USB card I just ordered of newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815104216
Thanks again.

[littleminx56]

Hey Noo Noo,
I've got the same problem.
My usb memory stick jus stopped working on all three computers. What can I do. Everything else is working fine I think.
It says that there are no drivers for this so it isn't recognized and has malfunctioned or summat. I really need it because all of my work is on it!!!!
Please help

[jofesh]

Hey NooNoo, if I have a USB card and still have this problem; does that rule out the possibility of a faulty motherboard?

Back story: I had the same problem others have talked about: USB mass storage device working fine for a time then all of a sudden drivers not recognized. I plugged in an old USB hub PCI card I had lying around and XP recognized it once or twice but mostly it doesn't. I still need to try the BIOS update that you suggested and the Registry check suggested over on that german site you posted in another thread.

It would seem like there are two possibilities here:
1- XP bug which somehow has escaped detection and remedy since the SP1 days (unlikely)
2- Common motherboard failure (perhaps due to failure to properly unmount drives)

So long story short: would having the same problem with a USB card rule out my 2nd possibility too?

[VB2]

Jofesh and littleminx56, I would highly recommend checking the registry permissions. Since December I have had the same problem with other devices and been able to fix them as described earlier in the thread by granting registry permissions. Of course, it could be other problems (motherboard, etc.), too, but I would not jump to that conclusion until I had checked out the registry permissions issue - it's apparently fairly common - and the fix, though it looks daunting at first, is really not hard.

[jofesh]

I tried the registry permission thing -- no dice
I tried to update the bios -- no dice (error in flash process)
I think my motherboard is in a bad way I have seen some complaints about this board (ECS 760GX-M) in various message boards. I bought a $20 board from newegg to test my theory.

[NooNoo]

Jofesh, how did the test go?

[jofesh]

sorry, meant to keep updated but forgot so . . . about a week after I was having this problem, the problem only got worse. I tried to update my bios on my old board and there was an error, and my board died that day. However, in terms of this specific problem it may be the whole chicken or egg thing because after my mb died I tested my usb hd on some other computers and it wasn't being recognized on pc's or mac's. So at this point I am not sure, but I think the bad mb caused problems with my usb hd. Or maybe the problems are unrelated and I just have really bad luck. Anyways, WD is replacing the drive.

[NooNoo]

Oh dear... it could have been coincidental or as you said, chicken or egg. Look on the bright side, you now get some shiny new data storage and an excuse to buy a new motherboard