[Denisejm]

Hi,

I just bought a Compaq CPQUSBFW 7-Port USB 2.0 & Firewire Combo HUB. I also have two 4-port 2.0 hubs. I had 11 external hard drives and I purchased another one today. When I connected it to one of the empty 2.0 ports in the Compaq, nothing happened. I got out another 2.0 cable and nothing happened again. I plugged the cable into my tower and it was recognized by My Computer. I formatted it and then got out another 2.0 4-port hub because I had no more 2.0 ports left that worked (it seemed). I plugged the 2.0 4-port hub into my tower and plugged two external hard drives into it. One ran like a 2.0 and the other ran like a 1.0. The hdds are identical. I got out another 2.0 cable (they have 2.0 written on them), hooked it up but it still ran like 1.0. I switched cables with another hard drive that's been running at 2.0 and now the hdd doesn't appear in My Computer. This hdd has been working excellently until I installed the other hub, so I removed the hub, thinking that it may be defective, and connected it to a different hub and it still isn't working.

I also keep getting messages about my connections. The title is "HI-SPEED USB Device Attached to non-HI-SPEED Hub":

(Yellow Triangle with an Exclamation Point inside of it) The USB Mass Storage Device is a HI-SPEED USB device and will function at reduced speed when plugged into a non-HI-SPEED port.

The hubs shown in bold type have free ports that can support the HI-SPEED USB device.

- E VIA SUB Enhanced Host Controller
---E USB Root Hub (4 ports)
-----E USB Mass Storage Device
-----E Generic USB Hub (4 ports)
-------E Unused Port
-------E Unused Port
-------E Unused Port
-------E Unused Port
-----E Unused Port
-----E Unused Port

Recommendation
Disconnect the USB Mass Storage Device from its current port and then connect it to one of the ports on a hub shown in bold type.

Well, the hdd was connected to one of the ports that is shown in bold type. Is my compuer confused or are the hubs that I have my external hdds connected to damaged? It seems odd that I would have 3 defective hubs and 3 defective 2.0 cables (2 of which worked with no problems for other hdds).

Any ideas about what's going on? It has me stumped.

Denise

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If it's any help at all, some USB devices don't work properly (if at all) unless they are connected directly to USB ports on the PC (ie not using a wired hub). I've had that problem myself with an external drive I use.
The external drive's instructions confirmed that it should not be connected via a remote hub, but only to use the local USB ports.

[pip22]

If it's any help at all, some USB devices don't work properly (if at all) unless they are connected directly to USB ports on the PC (ie not using a wired hub). I've had that problem myself with an external drive I use.
The external drive's instructions confirmed that it should not be connected via a remote hub, but only to use the local USB ports.

[Denisejm]

Hi pip . . . thanks for responding.

I worked all day yesterday swapping cords, hubs and ports and it finally came down to this. All of my external hdds work when they're connected either by a hub or into my tower. I tried connecting the problematic hdd to a port in my tower but it didn't help. The hdd is a twin to another external hdd that I purchased at the same time. When both of these external hdds are turned on, only one is recognized by My Computer. Both will work but one has to be turned off. I wrote to the company that I purchased them from and was told:

The problem sounds like a IRQ resource conflict. Since the drives are similar the computer may have assigned them the same IRQ resource number OR the same drive number.

I had already reformatted and reassigned them new drive letters. I also searched Microsoft about an IRQ resource conflict at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/182604 and it appears that IRQ steering doesn't apply to Windows XP Pro. I did check PCI bus in Device Manager and attempted to update the driver but the message said that I already have the most up-to-date driver. Also, under the Resources tab, it says that there are no conflicts. I understand that to mean that my machine/My Computer has no conficts with PCI bus. Since that is true, the conflict is between the two hdds, not between the hdds and my computer/My Computer.

I may be full of hot air on this but I can find no other valid explanation. When I first received the hdd, it had a problem and I sent it back to the company with an RMA number. They returned it to me as "repaired" but it wasn't repaired. I think that now that the 30-day warranty has expired, I'm going to receive no help from the company. I'll have to work with the hdds one at a time and hope that the problem doesn't get worse.

Again, thanks for responding. I hope that this post will help other people as well.

Edited by Denisejm, 04 November 2006 - 01:11 PM.