USB Mouse turned off with external USB HD

[Peter G]

Hi everyone,

this PC here:

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ @1,92 GHz

1 GB RAM

Windows XP Professional SP3 v.3264

...has a problem with it's USB Ports. Normally it's using a USB Mouse and PS2 Keyboard and everything is fine, but as soon as I connect my WD Passport external HD through USB the Mouse stops working. When re-plug the Mouse it works again, although it doesn't react very well.

Does anybody know why? I checked the System Properties but no conflicts or whatsoever, everything seems fine.

Many thanks in advance!

Peter

[DreamsCentral]

Wonder my answer go...

I guess you are using a USB Hub. Sometimes, things do not just work out with the USB extensions or Hub. If you have a free USB port, I recommend you plug in the mouse directly into the port. Else, go for a compatible, HI SPEED Hub.

You may also try out the troubleshooting steps in my article at Bright Hub

If you still have problems, please let me know so that we can fix the issue.

--

Best Regards,

DreamsCentral

Twitter: @DreamsCentral

Signed: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 9:21:13 PM IST

[Peter G]

Wonder my answer go...

I guess you are using a USB Hub. Sometimes, things do not just work out with the USB extensions or Hub. If you have a free USB port, I recommend you plug in the mouse directly into the port. Else, go for a compatible, HI SPEED Hub.

You may also try out the troubleshooting steps in my article at Bright Hub

If you still have problems, please let me know so that we can fix the issue.

--

Best Regards,

DreamsCentral

Twitter: @DreamsCentral

Signed: Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 9:21:13 PM IST

No I do not use a USB Hub...

[jaclaz]

Does anybody know why? I checked the System Properties but no conflicts or whatsoever, everything seems fine.

Is it a self powered external drive or one of those 2.5" ones that draw power from the port?

If the latter, sometimes disks simply draw too much power.

How many USB ports does the PC have?

How many internal USB buses?

Sometimes there are two (or more) internal USB buses, one connected to USB ports in the back and one connected to the ports in the front of the case.

Try connecting the two devices on separate hubs.

Or try with a Y USB cable (examples):

http://www.bixnet.com/5vps2powercord.html

http://www.bixnet.com/usbcawibuba.html

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/adet.to?poid=438342

jaclaz

Edited November 24, 2009 by jaclaz

[Peter G]

External HD which draws it's power from the USB.

6 USB ports, 2 USB busses. Problem ist that the HD is only working at the back. At the front (second USB bus) the HD is not recognized by Windows.

[jaclaz]

External HD which draws it's power from the USB.

6 USB ports, 2 USB busses. Problem ist that the HD is only working at the back. At the front (second USB bus) the HD is not recognized by Windows.

Then try (temporarily) to connect the Mouse to the front USB port, it will cost you nothing.

Then you may try the Y cable, alone or together with a USB power supply.

jaclaz

Edited November 24, 2009 by jaclaz

[Peter G]

Ok, if I connect the USB Mouse to the front USB-Bus and the external HD to the rear it works just fine!

But how come??

[jaclaz]

Ok, if I connect the USB Mouse to the front USB-Bus and the external HD to the rear it works just fine!

But how come??

There are three possible reasons:

1. as said, HD (or mouse - but improbable) drawing too much power
   
2. the above AND a problematic motherboard/USB bus
   
3. "botched" something in the Registry
   

Since #1 is easier to test/troubleshoot, I would exclude it before "delving deeper" in #3 (for this you might need to buy or borrow a PS/2 mouse).

The general idea for #3 is to uninstall ANYTHING "USB related" from the system, clean the Registry, and try re-detecting the devices.

For #2 you will need some hardware and test equipment, like a number of resistors, a USB cable and a multimeter, I would leave this as last attempt.

However, just for the record, something along the line of this:

http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/usb_stuff.html

jaclaz