Flaky USB problems @ W98SE

[Spinman]

Playing around with a recently acquired laptop - circa 2000 production. It came loaded with a fresh install of W98SE. I've checked device manager - no ghost devices - all devices have loaded drivers.

My problem is in the realm of USB...

When I connect an optical usb mouse - the computer recognizes it and works perfection.

When I attach a Sandisk Mini Cruzer (1g) it recognizes the device, searches and installs the drivers - shows up in device manager - but does not show up in my computer - there is no drive letter assigned and I can not access the drive.

The same thing happens when I attach an external dvd drive mounted in an ADS 2.0 USB external drive kit - it recognizes the devices, searches and installs the driver - but does not show up in my computer as a usable drive.

Out of curosity - I installed a PCMCIA card reader in the laptop and fwiw - the device was recognized, drivers loaded and device loaded properly. A drive letter was assigned and I can access the memory card.

So, at this point, I'm at a loss. Is there some reason why USB 2.0 storage devices will not load properly into this system (they work fine on my XP desktop)? I understand that the laptop only has support for usb 1 (1.0 or 1.1 I'm not sure) - but both the ADS and the Sandisk should be backwards compatable.

Is there a KB I'm missing?

Appreciate any thoughts!

Thanks -

[Andromeda43]

Does your laptop have a USB 2 port.....or is it just a USB 1 port?

Windows 98/SE doesn't have enough USB support for a Flash Drive. You must, in most cases, download the special drivers for 98/SE from the Drives web site.

I had to do this for my SanDisk Micro Cruiser 512 meg flash drive.

The drivers fit nicely on a Floppy Disk.

I've found very few computers running win 98/SE that would not recognize my Cruiser Micro after I'd installed the drivers and rebooted the system.

Try it after loading the drivers and rebooting your laptop.

Good Luck,

Andromeda43 B)

[Spinman]

As mentioned -

The laptop only has USB 1.0 support (1 port). Which does work when using a usb mouse.

I did install the required w98se drivers for the sandisk cruizer and the ads usb external box. The drivers were loaded when the device was initially installed - and then nothing. Have rebooted and reinstaleld the drivers manually with no luck. The ADS box has its own power supply, so I can't be overtaxing the usb port.

Wondering if this was normal or abnormal behavior on a 6 year old laptop.

I may have to try a PCMCIA usb 2.0 card and see if that solves the problem...

[soporific]

You've tried this already?

[jaclaz]

How is the sandisk mini formatted?

I hope NOT NTFS, is it?

jaclaz

[Spinman]

Finally got the Sandisk flash drive to work thanks to info posted on another board.

I had to go into device manager and manually assign it a drive letter on the settings tab - it would not automatically assign a drive letter. Once I did that, it worked.

Still having problem with the ADS USB 2.0 drive box - it won't properly load the driver set. Now getting a yellow exclamation. Have removed and reinstalled the device - manually installed the drivers... What's the possibility of an irq conflict? It's been so long since I've done any heavy lifting in W98SE - there is a MS utility that would let you see assignments and conflicts - can anyone promt me with the name?

Thanks -

[MDGx]

there is a MS utility that would let you see assignments and conflicts - can anyone promt me with the name?

You're probably talking about MSINFO32 or HWINFO:

http://www.mdgx.com/98-4.htm#HAIN

More info here:

http://www.mdgx.com/me2.htm#WWWBF

and here:

http://www.mdgx.com/me1.htm#REMI

To see hardware assignments for all AGP, PCI, USB, ISA etc devices attached to your computer, u can also use PCI List [freeware]:

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/files/pcilist.exe

More info here:

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/util/legacy.shtm

More diagnostics tools [free(ware)]:

http://www.mdgx.com/speed.htm#SPE

To try to fix your USB problems, install also [if you haven't already]:

98SE SP2:

http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

98SE2ME [installs most USB files from WinME setup CD + web updates]:

http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=46349

NUSB:

http://www.msfn.org/board/?showtopic=43605

Current drivers [if any] for your USB devices from their vendors.

Hope this helps.

Edited August 30, 2005 by MDGx

[Spinman]

MDGx - thanks for the info - I'll give it a try when I get home tonight.

Another thought - the external drive box specifications says it only works with usb 1.1 and 2.0

How can I check my system - perhaps I'm only running usb 1.0 (it's old enough)?

Can I check via the drivers loaded for the usb hub in device manager or is there a utility that could scan my system and report back?

That could easily explain the driver mounting problems...

[MDGx]

In normal conditions USB drivers [most recent ones anyway] should properly detect the USB port version u have [1.0, 1.1, 2.0] and work ok, but that's just in theory. ;(

[jaclaz]

You could also try a go with SIW:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html

I find it a very detailed info program (FREEWARE).

On windows 98 you might need to download and install WMI, see FAQ here:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/siw_faq.html

jaclaz