USB port problem. Please help.

[Delphic Reason]

Ok, I recently purchased a new PC. Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.8ghz. I installed Windows Vista Home Premium. Then I went through the process of downloading drivers to get everything to work..hahaha. I had to download drivers for my graphics card so I could get the right screen resolution for my widescreen LCD monitor (52" Sharp Aquos). This is just an example of the type of thing I have had to do to get this thing working right.

Anyway, everything seems to be running fine now...... Everything but the USB ports. I have 6 USB ports on my PC and none of them are listed in my "device manager". Not even listed with an exclamation point by them stating they are not enabled. They just aren't there at all. Now, I've looked in my case, and I can't see where anything is unplugged.

Can someone post a pic of what I should be looking for?

Is this a common problem with Vista?

Does anyone have any advice on where to look for drivers, or whatever I might need or check for to get these working?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Eric.]

Maybe the ports got jealous of you putting your dongle in other comp...Okay I won't hijack your thread with another one of those.

Is this a custom machine or a pre-built (Dell, HP, etc) one? If the latter (or you aren't the builder) call up whoever screwed it together to see if they have any ideas.

So the rear USB ports and the ones built into the case aren't working? If the rear ones aren't working then its something regarding the motherboard. I've never heard of such a thing, but does the BIOS allow you to disable the USB or anything?

Do you have any Linux Live CDs that you could boot to to verify whether its a software or hardware issue?

 

[TB]

Okay I won't hijack your thread with another one of those.

Please don't. If I had only known what that one little innocent comment would turn in to, I never would have said it.

Who am I kidding. Yes I would have.

I think you might be on to something with the BIOS setting, but wouldn't you think that the default setting would be to have the USB ports on?

 

[Eric.]

Please don't. If I had only known what that one little innocent comment would turn in to, I never would have said it.

Who am I kidding. Yes I would have.

I think you might be on to something with the BIOS setting, but wouldn't you think that the default setting would be to have the USB ports on?

I don't know why that option would even be included, but yeah I'd supposed a default would be for them to work.

I'm placing my bets on a faulty motherboard. Having six USB ports makes me think there are 2 remote ones somewhere on the case and four rears, probably with the ethernet attached, so its likely just one controller.

 

[Greycap]

I might just know this after going through a similar thing myself with a similar sounding rig with the exception of Windows XP. Or then not... but I'll give it a shot anyway. Certain motherboard drivers tend to "break" the USB ports. You'll have to delete any USB port related things in the device manager, be it the root hub or whatever. Then reboot the computer. If it's the same thing I had the machine finds the root hub and all the ports, installs them with the default Windows USB drivers and everything works after that.

I'm not promising anything but it's probably worth trying out.

 

[Delphic Reason]

Maybe the ports got jealous of you putting your dongle in other comp...Okay I won't hijack your thread with another one of those.

You know, I'm getting to the point where I might start entertaining such notions.

Is this a custom machine or a pre-built (Dell, HP, etc) one? If the latter (or you aren't the builder) call up whoever screwed it together to see if they have any ideas.

It's a Vision PC. I bought it with everything but an operating system. Then installed Windows Vista Home Premium.

So the rear USB ports and the ones built into the case aren't working? If the rear ones aren't working then its something regarding the motherboard. I've never heard of such a thing, but does the BIOS allow you to disable the USB or anything?

The USB ports on the motherboard aren't working. Neither are the front case ports. The USB ports aren't listed in the Device Manager. Where would I locate the BIOS? Sorry for my ignorance, in advance....Hahahaha

Do you have any Linux Live CDs that you could boot to to verify whether its a software or hardware issue?

I do not. Just the Vista disc.

You'll have to delete any USB port related things in the device manager, be it the root hub or whatever. Then reboot the computer. If it's the same thing I had the machine finds the root hub and all the ports, installs them with the default Windows USB drivers and everything works after that.

Nothing showing up in the device manager. It's like the computer just doesn't know it has USB ports. Weird.

I'll give Vision PC a call, and see what they say. If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know. I was thinking it could be a Vista driver problem (as in, Vista just doesn't have the driver). Does that sound likely?

Thank you for your responses thus far. I always know I can count on GTP.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Where would I locate the BIOS? Sorry for my ignorance, in advance....Hahahaha

When you start the computer at some time it might say to press Del or some other button to enter Setup. Usually I think it's listed at the bottom of the screen along with other options.

 

[Eric.]

If you can figure out what motherboard it is (I don't know if Vision PC just puts together custom machines or has their own branded/factory stuff) it may just be that it needs some particular motherboard drivers installed. Usually networking is included in that so I doubt that really is the problem, but would be easy to fix.

 

[Delphic Reason]

When you start the computer at some time it might say to press Del or some other button to enter Setup. Usually I think it's listed at the bottom of the screen along with other options.

Ahhh, I see. Ok, I just didn't know the proper term for it. Thanks, mate.

If you can figure out what motherboard it is (I don't know if Vision PC just puts together custom machines or has their own branded/factory stuff) it may just be that it needs some particular motherboard drivers installed. Usually networking is included in that so I doubt that really is the problem, but would be easy to fix.

Interesting. Well, I'm going to give Vision PC a call on Monday and see what they have to say about it. I'm guessing I'll probably have to send it in for them to deal with. I'll let you guys know what I find out. Thanks again!