USB problems

My USB (2.0) ports seem to be a little problematic at times....

I had an USB 1.1 memory stick once that would occasionally hang the computer (no bluescreen either, just lock up) when I plugged it in.

I now have an USB 2.0 stick with which this doesn't seem to happen.

So I thought...problem solved. well...not entirely.

- I have a wireless USB device; fortunately I don't nescesarily HAVE to use it on this computer because it will make the computer lock at random times. It's USB 2.0

- I have a portable HD with card reader. If the card reader's switched on when the PC boots it will hang up at the memory check. If I turn it on after windows started it works fine. So it doesn't seem to be a driver problem.

- Force feedback with my gamepad will cause stutter in games, some games will simply quit (back to desktop) with force feedback enabled and some even without. I also used some other pads which crashed the games and sometimes the pc (lockup).

Now, the problem, allthough it might seem so, isn't too alarming since so far I've managed to find a sort of workaround every time. e.g. not use the USB wireless device, don't use force feedback, turn the card reader on when the PC's in windows, etc....
however, I'd like to fix this, if it's possible, and without getting another mobo (it's fine otherwise, Albatron one btw.)
The only reason I could think of is that perhaps something in the bios must be changed. But what?

[WEXP]

Have you tried to update drivers?

yeah sure, several times, but what driver fixes a problem that occurs when the PC boots up?

[eternal11]

hushy told me that having usb devices uses up your system resources, so maybe you have too many devices? or will getting more ram solve the problem? i've never run into this problem before, so dont bash me if this information is crap.

[Mad]

Whats your MOBO??

Albatron KX400-8XV Pro ...not OC'ed.
http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/i....asp?pro_id=30

[hushypushy]

there's a chance that your actual USB ports are simply fux0red---dead hardware.

dead? It's not like they aren't working at all...
I have a portable HD and it never failed me so far, but its card reader (it's on the same device with a separate switch) won't get me past the pc's memory check. I know it's not the device's fault since I had to replace it once (warranty) because the on/off switch of the HD was broken. The new one has the exact same behaviour, and on top of that it works fine on my laptop, same for the wireless lan usb stick....
So there is a non-driver related problem with the USB that's really unique to that particular computer, but it's not like they're totally dead either.
Still, it might not be possible to fix it. In that case, it's too bad and I'll just have to live with it (as long as it doesn't hinder me too much I won't replace the mobo, since it works fine otherwise) ..however, I figured someone here might have run into the same problem and found a solution....

[cooliscool]

Odd. Only problems I've had with USB like that are using external ports and forgot to plug in the ground wire for them.

Other than that, my ports work great on my Albatron mobo.

http://www.albatron.com.tw/english/i....asp?pro_id=82

[WEXP]

I guess it's something wrong in the circuits in the mobo, but not so wrong that they don't work.

[D.D.]

have u tried disalbing usb support (i know it sounds wierd, but this is for usb support of usb mice and kb in the bios or any other non-usb supporting place) in your bios? it shud be something like USB mouse/support or smthn

I tried all kinds of things, and that too...but it doesn't help. it only helps if I completely disable USB. ;p

*update*

well, today I bought an USB2.0 PCI card and put that in my pc; disabled the internal USB. First indication is that the problem seems to be solved now.

I didn't feel like replacing an otherwise well working mobo. Besides, this was cheaper too.