My USB 2.0 Card isn't working--why?

About a year ago I installed a D-Link 5-port USB 2.0 adapter (A DU-520) on the PC my wife usually uses. It was a little difficult, since it's a Dell Dimension XPS-T500, but it went OK. I then went and loaded Windows XP on it–another hassle, but it turned out fine. Everything was working smoothly–a little slow sometimes, but steady and with no signs of trouble. This week my wife told me that something "happened" to the PC that "locked it up". She tried rebooting it, but it stayed "locked up". Finally she went away for several hours, and when she came back it was working again. I tried to get a better description of what actually happened, but to no avail. Now the USB 2.0 adapter isn't even being recognized by the PC. I go to the Hardware Manger, and it isn't even listed there. I have several devices hooked up to this card, but now they're useless. Has the card failed? Do I need to reload the drivers? Is it something else? I can't tell. What can I do to find out? Thanks in advance–Tom vonHatten

Hello Tom. It might be a bug in Windows XP. In that case, you might find the following article useful.

A USB device that is connected to a USB 2.0 hub is not detected in Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2003 x64 versions

It might be that the drivers might have gone corrupted. A System Restore might resolve the problem too.

How to restore Windows XP to a previous state

Below, is another possibility that might be applicable to you but only if you are running Service Pack 1.

How to obtain and to install USB 2.0 drivers in Windows XP Service Pack 1

Hope that helps.

– Mohit

I ran the hotfix, and was told by the installer program that I was running Service Pack 3, and didn't need the hotfix. My wife and I are also having trouble with logins on sites where we asked the site to "remember" our user names and passwords. I'm confused on this. –Tom vonHatten

Hi Tom,

I am guessing you are running IE 6.0 browser for your surfing of the internet with your Windows XP/SP3 OS. I would strongly advise you to do the following for security reasons:

• Open your browser
• Tools (at the top near Help)
• Internet Options
• Content
• Auto Complete (Clear Forms, Clear Passwords)
• Untick (take the tick out) of Web Addresses > Forms > User Names and Passwords
• Apply > Ok

It is not wise to enable Auto Complete in any browser in my opinion.

I hope this post help you to decide to follow safe computing.

kind regards,

Tallin: Thanks for the tip–but I'm using Firefox 3.0 as a browser. I can't speak for my wife and daughters, however. Firefox isn't remembering passwords, either. That. however, is second on my list to figuring out what's up with my USB 2.0 card, unless the two are related. –Tom vonHatten

Hi tvhevh Have you tried remove and then re-install your USB controllers in the device manager? It might be a controller gone corrupt. It can happens during MS updates for example. Regards Abydos

I did that yesterday evening, then tried a reboot. It wouldn't even get to the memory check after 10 minutes. I had to try rebooting several times before it would finally come up. When it came up, the Device Manager indicated I had the USB 2.0 drivers back in–so I plugged a couple of devices into the ports–and the system gave a BSOD indicating a NMI parity error(?) and that the machine had been stopped. I went through another 10 minutes plus of reboot attempts before it finally came back up–and when I checked the Device Manager, the there was no indication that the USB 2.0 driveras were active–just the legacy stuff. –Tom vonHatten

Your reported error NMI parity error points to a probably faulty Hardware. Physically removing, inspecting and reseating the USP PCI card may resolve the issue if the various driver repair options cited above do not help. Remove your USB PCI card and reboot your machine without it installed. Use your machine for a period of time to determine whether or not it is functioning well without the USB PCI card. If it is functioning without errors with the USB PCI card removed, attempt reinstalling the USB PCI card and then run the machine (without any USB devices plugged into the card) Then gradually add one then two and more USB devices attached to the USB PCI card. It is quite possible that the devices you have attached are drawing primary power for operation from the USB PCI card. If excessive power is being drawn from that single PCI slot, the attached devices can fail, and/or the machine may report hardware failure such as your NMI Error. Dell provides a PSU that barely handles the original configuration of installed devices when brand new. Adding devices such as a Video Card, PCI cards, additional Hard Drives, can cause the wattage requirements to exceed the capacity of your Dell PSU. Dell PSU's are proprietary (you can generally only get them from Dell and they are not interchangeable with generic PSU's) Replacement can be expensive. It may be necessary to decide on limiting the number of additional devices you have installed. PSU's do wear out. Yours might be in the process. What other added pieces of hardware may you have already installed as upgrades to that machine? Hopefully one of the driver reinstallation procedures cited above will have fixed things up for you. Best Regards

Doug: I removed the PCI card and have had no real problems with the machine since removing it. I tried reinstalling the card and got the same problems with resource conflict notices during boot up and , ultimately, the NMI Parity Error/System Halt BSOD. It IS an aging machine, and my wife and I have decided to look for a replacement. We're uncertain if it will be a notebook-sized machine with external drives for additional storage or another "non-portable" machine. I'm doing a backup once a week to an external hard drive. Thanks for the advice. –Tom vonHatten

Hello you two (tvhevh)

It is delightful to hear when a member is doing regular backups.
Sadly so many others neglect that important routine and then may pay the cost of lost data in the case of catastrophic failure.

Having conducted the procedures as outlined in the previous instructions, it seems most likely that you are experiencing a hardware failure.

However, the failure of the PCI USB 2.0 card may be due to driver corruption or failure.
When you first purchased the PCI USB 2.0 card, you would have received a Driver CD to install the Driver for the PCI USB 2.0 card.

Take a look in your Device manager for any yellow or red warnings.
(Right-click on My Computer - Select Properties - Select Hardware(tab) - click on Device Manager)
Your PCI USB 2.0 card is probably listed at the bottom of the list with Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
Double-click that item to expand the topic.
Your card should be listed.

(I have one manufactured by VIA. There are three entries for it under Universal Serial Bus Controllers)
You can double-click on each of the entry items related to your card.
Check the Tabs —- General - Advanced - Driver - Resources
(Most of the information will be relatively meaningless to the average user)
Any "failure" or "warning" or "conflict" messages will help narrow down what might be going wrong.

Most importantly look down at the bottom of the "General" (tab) where it should read "use this device (enable)"
Next, check the "Driver" (tab) where you will be able to click for Driver Details, Uninstall, Update Driver.

I think it is probably worth an attempt to Uninstall and Reinstall the Driver from the CD you received or from the manufacturer's website.

However, with the Error NMI Parity Error/ that you have received it is most likely a hardware issue.
It is "possible" and not very expensive, that you could simply replace the USB PCI card. I think mine cost under $20
Here are some options: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/ca…c.asp?CatId=511

It is also possible that your USB PCI card is just fine, but that the PSU or some unknown fault of the module or motherboard is failing.
It may be worth the $20 dollar experiment for you to try a new USB PCI card. That's your choice.

Other more aggressive attempts to repair the system may not be cost effective, especially in light of your consideration of a replacement unit.

Please keep in mind that almost all machines presently available in retail shops are running Vista operating system.
Vista does not run well with less than 2 gigabytes of RAM.
I see machines offered all the time at relatively low price, but they only come equiped with 1 gigabyte of RAM.
Therefore the new owner is often faced with additional expense to upgrade the amount of RAM in their new machine just to make it function up to levels expected from their old machine.

Vista is a strong and now stable operating system and you will likely find it satisfactory if your new machine has sufficient power.

Let us know what you decide to do.

Best Regards