USB- doing my head in!

[jon h]

Can anyone help:

Using a PC running XP. If I plug a USB drive in such as a data key fob thingy, or a digi camera, the PC seems to kmow it is there, but does not display the drive and so I cannot access it.

I can see it via device manager, but cannot access the device. Any ideas?

Oh-I am running XP service pack 2, but it did this pre-upgrade too.

Thanks in advance

Jon H

[simpo two]

Cameras usually need their software to be installed first. Not sure about USB thingies.

[roop]

Shouldn't need any software to access these. I didn't with my Victorinox one, nor do I with my Fuji FinePix Digital Camera. I've had this problem before but can't for the life of me remember how I fixed it.

I'd try unplugging all non-essential USB devices (ie everything bar your mouse and kepboard if they are USB) and then restart. Then plug your device into a different socket than you normally use and see what happens.

I think my problem stemmed from having inaccessible network drives (drives mapped to other computers on the WiFi network that were switched off).

Roop

[jon h]

Ah ah! Fixed it... It seems that for whatever reason, it was determined to mount the drive as drive "F" I have a network drive mapped to F. Re-mapped this to another letter and viola, the removable device monnts as F.

Thanks for the replys, guys.

Jon H

[miniman]

Interestingly, later versions of Windows seem to default new mapped drives at Z and working backwards, rather than F and working forwards. Perhaps this is to get around this problem.

[annodomini2]

most usb flash sticks generally want to be e, d or f drives, you can change this using Computer Management in windows to change the drive letters if its conflicting with something.

[Whoozit]

jon h said:

Ah ah! Fixed it... It seems that for whatever reason, it was determined to mount the drive as drive "F" I have a network drive mapped to F. Re-mapped this to another letter and viola, the removable device monnts as F. Thanks for the replys, guys. Jon H

That's a known problem. I think it was covered in PC Pro a couple of months ago.

[pdV6]

Isn't it that Windoze just sees the USB storage as another "hard disk" and therefore tries to assign it the next letter in alphabetical order?

For reasons such as this, I've always had optical drives set to Z:, Y: etc so that their letters don't change when I'm fiddling with other kit...

With network drives I try to go for the middle of the alphabet, again to prevent clashes.

[jj.]

OK anyone know why my Windows XP (pro) service pack 2 – only recognises my USB devices as USB 1 (ie. Not USB 2).

When they’re plugged in, (printer, usb drive, etc) – the PC says, ‘you have plugged a high speed device into a non hi speed port’.

So the PC knows it’s had a USB 2 device plugged into it, but can’t or wont, read/write at USB 2.0.

Is there a simple fix…
jj

[arcturus]

Are you sure your motherboard USB ports are USB2 standard?

[pdV6]

jj. said:

‘you have plugged a high speed device into a non hi speed port’.

This means your USB sockets aren't USB2.

Often the case that motherboards have 4 USB headers (2x1 and 2x2) and the ones wired to the back of the case are the slower ones. Is it a self-build or a pre-built PC?

If self-built, did you get a blanking plate with 2 more USB sockets & a flying lead? If so, plug it in to the m/b and try those sockets instead.

[jj.]

It was a self build (which my mate did for me – and he has no idea why it doesn’t work).

The MoBo is a ASUS A7N8X-E – which is quoted as having ‘USB2 Dual Chan.’. It’s got 4 USB on the MoBo then a further 2 via a blanking plate. I would have assumed the ones on the MoBo would have been the proper ones (i.e USB2) as they are on the board, as opposed to the ones via a cable and a blanking plate.

I’ll swap some bits around later to see what happens…?!
jj

[Plotloss]

There may be a jumper on the mobo to select which USB standard...