Laptop USB ports issue?

[FrankCastle]

I've got a Fujitsu Siemens running Windows XP with USB ports that don't work.Whenever I plug in the mouse it says:

"One of the USB devices attached to your computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it"

For any other USB device like wifi dongle, modem, ext HDD the PC just freezes and I have to to do a hard reset to correct it.Even ctrl.alt.del doesn't work.

I uninstalled the USB drivers, did a battery pull and plugged in a self powered USB device but nothing works.

What could be the problem?

 

[kilobits]

Hmmm... I would try booting a live OS cd and see if the same issues persist, just to rule out Windows driver borking. If they also occur within the live OS then you might have motherboard fault. A few years ago my HP did the same thing and eventually needed a motherboard replacement to fix.

 

[FrankCastle]

Hmmm... I would try booting a live OS cd and see if the same issues persist, just to rule out Windows driver borking. If they also occur within the live OS then you might have motherboard fault. A few years ago my HP did the same thing and eventually needed a motherboard replacement to fix.

I also reintalled the OS disk to update any missing software to no avail.My last option would be to run the chipset driver if i can find the CD.Otherwise format and reload.
I'm also thinking motherboard.

Thanks.

 

[|tera|]

I also reintalled the OS disk to update any missing software to no avail.My last option would be to run the chipset driver if i can find the CD.Otherwise format and reload.
I'm also thinking motherboard.

Thanks.

It's your Laptop battery. Remove the battery, start the Laptop only with it's Charger/PSU and you will see the error disappears. Shut down and reinsert the battery and see if it's still fixed, otherwise you need a replacement battery (or use it with power only).

 

[kilobits]

Pop in an Ubuntu live CD, or similar, and just see... remove windows from the variables. Also try the above ^^

My old HP nx7010 did exactly the same thing, needed a new motherboard to fix it.

 

[FrankCastle]

It's your Laptop battery. Remove the battery, start the Laptop only with it's Charger/PSU and you will see the error disappears. Shut down and reinsert the battery and see if it's still fixed, otherwise you need a replacement battery (or use it with power only).

I've got another laptop that uses the same battery and did a swap with the other one.
Problem persists.

Ill try the no battery option and see if it works

 

[|tera|]

I've got another laptop that uses the same battery and did a swap with the other one.
Problem persists.

Ill try the no battery option and see if it works

I had this exact same issue on 2 different laptops the past 3 years, usually is sorted with no battery in

When you remove the battery, with the power unplugged press the Laptop power a few times as well to cycle the remaining power on the motherboard.

 

[FrankCastle]

I had this exact same issue on 2 different laptops the past 3 years, usually is sorted with no battery in

When you remove the battery, with the power unplugged press the Laptop power a few times as well to cycle the remaining power on the motherboard.

The no battery option seems to have done the trick.
Thanks mate.you saved me a ton of unnecessary work.

Any idea whats causing this?

 

[|tera|]

The no battery option seems to have done the trick.
Thanks mate.you saved me a ton of unnecessary work.

Any idea whats causing this?

Pleasure bro.
Most likely Eskom and their dirty power

No, it's most likely an overflow of current/electricity to the motherboard/usb ports. I have had the same issue with a standard Desktop as well, where I will unplug it, press the power button to cycle remaining power and plug back in (had an inactive NIC work once after this).

So I won't know 100% what the cause is, but this occurs all over the world, believe it or not.

 

[kilobits]

Well done! Learn something here every day.

 

[biometrics]

Great tip, thanks!

 

[bekdik]

Pleasure bro.
Most likely Eskom and their dirty power

No, it's most likely an overflow of current/electricity to the motherboard/usb ports. I have had the same issue with a standard Desktop as well, where I will unplug it, press the power button to cycle remaining power and plug back in (had an inactive NIC work once after this).

So I won't know 100% what the cause is, but this occurs all over the world, believe it or not.

That sounds like faulty caps. Were any blown?

 

[|tera|]

That sounds like faulty caps. Were any blown?

None as far as I saw. The system was quite old however. It worked for more than a year afterwards, I have no idea if it's actively used today.