USB Dies?

Stigura

Daily now. Sometimes more than once, this happens:

Wireless mouse cursor freezes. ESC does nothing. (Usb wired KB) Have to hit the big button and then power her up again, when everything's back to normal. K?

Last night, I got a brand new wireless mouse out. That moved the cursor. (And it was working off the Other mouses little usb 'antenna' thing. I never touched that) But, Clicking didn't work. (WTF?!) Big button :(

Today, freeze. But, I got sneaky. I have a desk top mike. I plugged that's usb in. Decorative light came on. Hit its power button? Nothing! Deep consternation.

I actually tried a couple of usb led peripherals. Different USB holes. Nothing. But, they all work fine when I've rebooted out of the freeze. (Lights come on. Machine makes its 'I detect a usb plugged in' noise. The usual)

Never, in twenty odd years of computers ...

Any idea, please?

(Of course, I'll happily list the usual stuff, about make and model, if asked. Just trying not to write a book here) Thanks.

Spear

Is it a recent AMD chipset?

Stigura

A What??? :D Sorry, I have absolutely no idea.

Bought it Dec 2020. Refurb. Amazon said this:

Lenovo ThinkCentre M91P SFF Desktop PC (Black) - (Intel Quad Core i5-2400 3.10 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, Windows 10 Pro) (Renewed)

It's been a cracking little machine, in truth. Still is. Only niggles are msn constantly trying to make me look. And now this (Increasing) incidence of the freezy, USB thing.

If there's anywhere I can go look, for further insights? That's grand. Only, ye'll have to guide me on where to look. This thing's a complete mystery to me. I liked the last os better :(

Thanks.

Spear

There was a bug in AMD chipsets for motherboards recently, which had pretty much the same symptoms. But in this case it doesn't apply to your machine.

Stigura

Bugger! So ... What? I'm doomed?

Incidentally, not entirely off topic, seeing as you're a Help Mod anyway; I no longer get emails when you respond. I've checked my profile and have it set for that. But, nope. Have to keep popping in to look at the bell, top right.

Doubly doomed?

Thanks.

Back presently, to look for replies :|

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120203416#Comment_120203416

On the USB issue, it doesn't mean anything good or bad, it just means my initial suspicion doesn't apply.

Do the USB devices only work after you do a full power reset? Or do they work after a warm reset, i.e. hit the reset button the case, so power isn't fully removed?

In terms of the emails, make sure in the profile you have the email notification ticket for "notify me when people comment on my discussions". This is a discussion type thread, not a question type thread.

Stigura

Got an email! :D I believe you're dead right. I think that's what I did earlier: Ticked the Discussions box. Thanks for clarifying that bit.

" warm reset, i.e. hit the reset button the case, so power isn't fully removed? "

Okay. Fast getting out of my depth now. Sorry. Ummm ..... I press the on / off button, on the machine. (I'm told we're really not mean't to do that. But, it simply leaves me no choice, see?) Can't do Anything with the key board ~ not that I know what I could do, except Escape ~ because the KB's USB and so is as locked as anything else.

Now, exactly what my button pressing does, I'm not sure. But, it Does present me with this machines version of the start up screen. ('To mess with Start Up, press .....' Can't remember what, as I never wanted to interfere with a perfectly good start up) I wish it was something I could engineer to happen now. Then I could memorise and report the order of things.

I'll be up and at it for another couple of hours yet. Every chance it'll happen again, tonight. If so, I'll make notes and leave then here for ye :)

Stigura

Hang on! Let's not lose sight ~ as I'd started to there ~ of the weird fact that, last night, the mouse would Move the cursor. But couldn't 'Click' on anything. That's got to be strange.

Spear

A warm reboot/restart is when power is maintained, but the PC restarts, e.g. by pressing the reset button the PC, or by choosing restart from within Windows.

A cold boot is when power is cut, e.g. by powering it off via the power button, or shutdown in Windows.

The reason I'm asking, is that if the USB isn't responding after a warm reboot, it suggest the USB controller on the chipset is becoming flaky. But if it does work after a warm reboot, then it makes Windows seem a more likely culprit. Neither is guaranteed though.

Stigura

" pressing the reset button the PC "

Okay. I'm assuming that was a slip of the finger and ye meant ON the pc? (Good 'word' that. " pc ". I'd genuinely forgotten it as I talk to so few people and then seldom mention this machine / pc! LOL! Seriously!) But, yeah. That's the button I press.

Speaking of which; I Think this model has like a short and long press? Quick stab shuts my screen down. Think a sustained press makes the pc go 'Pop!' and I go to bed.

If ye think it might help in any way? I'm, obviously, more than willing to sit here and try Both those possible presses. Make a note of what happens and report back.

But, of course; That'd show us only what happens with the button, under normal conditions. What we Really need is for this damn thing to do it again, so I can note Exactly what pressing at least one way causes. What's the bets I'll be sitting here, red eyed, at 04:30, cursing the bloody thing for Not locking up! LOL!

Chip set or windows though; Not looking fantastic, is it? :(

Spear

The short press triggers the OS to shut down itself, gracefully.

The long press of 4 seconds, triggers the PSU to shut itself off forcefully, so try to avoid that where possible.

My suspicion is that the USB controller on the chipset has gone flaky with age. There's no real fix beyond replacing the board though.

Stigura

Oh?! Well, I'm for ever in ye debt for That little snippet then! Never knew that! Short presses it shall be then ..... When I buy another pc! 😭

Damn. Sounds like ye've cracked it then. Poor old thing's terminal, eh? All I bloody need 🙄 What was that guys name? " Tennessee " something Ford? " New pc don't ye call me cos I can't afford ~ I owe my pension to the 'tricity board! "

Sigh! Hum. Boo bloody hoo. Gutted! 🙁

Okay. Really can't thank ye enough, for ye time, knowledge and understanding. If we could hand out awards here, I'd certainly give ye one.

I'll let ye go now then, Spear. At least I have an idea what's happening now. And what little I can do. I foresee me squinting at my bloody phone, before long. Small mercies, eh?

Thanks, mate. 'Night.

Spear

There's a few things you may want to check first before giving up on it. Have a look in the logs in Event Viewer, usually under the application or setup sections, and see if there's anything mentioned about USB events at the time the lockup happened.

smuggler.ie

Perhaps worth to look into logs. While you have your keyboard working ...

WIN + R key simultaneously, in RUN window type perfmon /rel and hit Enter .

Also,

1..Observe if this "freeze" happens after prolonged non-use of peripherals (say you read the article without moving mouse or touching keyboard) - potentially power settings put USB to "sleep" and fail to wake-up

2..Remove all USB peripherals but keyboard and mouse

3..Did new mouse came with its own adapter - use it. If possible, get wired mouse to test .

Igotadose

Not sure if you've tried this, but I've seen individual USB ports go flaky. Try a different port?

If you're using a USB hub, try not using it?

If it's the USB controller on the motherboard, well, that's not really fixable without a new motherboard, which can be done but is huge work and might want a new computer at that point. Of course, replacing a motherboard isn't actually all that horrible a job, I've done it, plenty o vids about it.

Sounds it could be hardware/motherboard issue, but go through steps below before addressing the hardware in case there’s a software fix…

https://www.easeus.com/storage-media-recovery/usb-device-not-recognized.html

Stigura

Thanks, guys. Just to let everyone know I'm seeing this and I'm willing to try it all.

Only bug bear, just yet, is I've been on for exactly four hours now. and not a bloody thing's gone wrong! 😏

Incidentally; I normally tend to be 'constantly' moving the mouse, clicking and typing. I'm all over the place, 'chatting' on various fora. I mean " * " It could have happened right there, see? Mid sentence! That's how it goes.

I'm about to go and do some things now. Take me about half an hour. I'll see if anything happens while I'm AFK. But, I sort of doubt it. 'Why should it?'. But, equally; 'Why in hell Does it?' No rhyme or reason, see? It's not even as if I'm possibly touching a wire, or tapping my foot against the pc.

🤔 Now, when I come back; Should I start working my way through ye ideas? Or, should I 'hope for' it to happen, and try to learn something from that? 😬 Dunno!

Gentlemen; We are facing a Complex situation! 😄

Stigura

F* my skin, lads! 03:30. My red eyeballs are hanging out on their stalks. This damned infernal machine hasn't so much as Blinked, all night!

Keep ye powder dry. It'll do it. And I'll be ready for it! Tries it again and I'm starting those tests ye telling me 👍️

We'll see what 'tomorrow' brings.

🛌 << Yeah. I've found these now. And I like them 😂

Stigura

It's just happened, again, lads!!! Nothing, yesterday. Been on since noon, today. Seven 'n half hours and Bang! She hits!

And, all I can say, this time, is that: Yes. I was in a forum. Reading a long thread. So, yes; I Was scrolling down as I read ~ obviously. I Was using the (Anker) mouse and it was working.

There. So, have we not now established it's Not the mouse? (I mentioned Anker, by the way, as that's my normal mouse. Spare one I keep in the drawer is a 'T', should I ever have to swap again)

Not the mouse? Has to be the pc. Obviously. Right, so I'm about to go do the things I do, this time of night. Then, I'll be back and shall begin to work my way through the above suggestions.

Frankly? I'll be doing that because it would be unimaginably rude not to. Even though I'm now pretty well convinced I'm in the market for a new pc, regardless 😭 Gods willing, this poor thing Might manage to keep me going till I can bloody Afford one. It's a wonder we can afford to Run the bloody things, these days, eh?

Stigura

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120204213#Comment_120204213

Here we go, Smugs. First part of the process. It gave me this ~ I didn't touch anything. If I should, please let me know what.

I'll leave this here now, for you to find / comment. Then, I'll do what ever else ye said there. Thanks!

Oh! Yes! I see now that I have a red x Today (It happened, look) Nothing Yesterday (Nothing Happened, yesterday!) And so on. And I don't Know; But, it's a fair to middling chance that the earlier x's refer to earlier incidents!

Well, that's Something, I'd hope? 😐️

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120213222#Comment_120213222

The red Xs appear to be when the machine was powered off by holding down the power button, as mentioned previously.

smuggler.ie

As per above, the red X you got for power-cycle of PC, but can be other reasons as well, you can click into each day there to read the message statement

Nothing obvious here , but kind of odd - wonder what is happening with informational notes, updates every day for last two weeks?

Expand source and summary tabs, go through all days - anything pointing to USB controller, keyboard/mouse or "USB device" ?

Do you remember when issues started first - You should be able to go before 19Jan

Stigura

Bummer.

Once again, lads; Sorry if my come backs seem tardy. Just been spinning plates. I assure ye, I'm actually fully focused on this and am doing my best within a system that, frankly, I don't even recognise! What Have they done to windows?!)

Anyway, is This any use, please?

I've scrolled that down a bit too. No USB mentions. I've looked at it back to June. Still nothing.

When did this start? Mmm. I'd Guesstimate this year? I've been thinking how I need to buy a Lot, lately. New pc's never come into it though. If ~ as it seems from memory ~ it's been happening virtually dailyish? I'd reckon I'd have blown my stack about it in reasonably short order. So ..... Yeppers: Definitely within the last month or so. This year. Practically this Month.

smuggler.ie

This is "view all problems ..." in alphabetical by "source" order

Was looking to see Informational events logs - to me is just too many of them, unless have new device plugged-in everyday and drivers installed or same device installing over and over again, e.g short/disconnect on the port, damaged/failing mouse dongle - these might not show as errors - it could be considered as you just unplugged adapter. You said you have another mouse - does it have its own adapter? Try it.

To see the entries before 19th - use "scroll left" ◄ button, you should have 30d overview there

Esel

Do you have a wired mouse? Try that if you have one.

Stigura

Ok. Just ripped out the Anker 'adapter' from a back port. Then put it in one of two front ports. Fine.

Took Anker adap' out and put the lot to one side.

Got the 'T' mouse out and put Its adap' in the same, front port. Works too.

What I'm wondering is; Might all that now come up as anything on these reports?

New devices? No. I may pop in the occasional usb stick. But, that's only to store stuff from my desk top. Or to grab a photo, eg. already on a stick, to show someone. All my sticks were bought brand new and used only by me. I store really only my own pictures, pdf's, nothing edgy that might in any way compromise the pc.

Usb stuff? Mouse. KB. Modem. That's it, actually! I have a mike here. But, that's unplugged and deep under dust. I can see its usb under my desk. (Wracking my brain, trying to think of anything else I might tell ye 😕 ) Oh, yeah; Camera. I have a normal, Olympus little camera. I probably offload snaps from that every week or three. Usb. Oh, and I always use the two front usb holes for day to day plug ins, obviously.

Left Scroll? There isn't any, on this "Problem Reports " page I've shown ye. Maybe because I have my 'screen' jacked up to 80% Poor eyesight.

Can scroll down though. Tons of stuff. Dates seem strangely a bit jumbled. But, I see June 2021 on there!

Really appreciate the patience and effort of you guys. I'm up late. But, if ye get tired of this and want a break? Of course! We can pick up tomorrow. If there's anything else I can do from here? (Or have omitted to do from above?) Just say it 👍️

Thanks.

smuggler.ie

My assumption to what is installing was just assumption, but the events have description to what it is and there seem to be a lot. Perhaps all them have perfect reason, but lets find out and rule this out.

By using "T" mouse adapter you ruling out the other one as the cause of problem, so use "T" until either issue prove to remain or gone, don't just swap for a minute.

"Modem" - is this MiFi device you use for internet - so another, permanently plugged-in, suspect USB user.

Expand "source" and "summary"

Left scroll " ◄ " button

I am not discarding any other possible causes to this issue you have.

lawred2

A lot of applications going unresponsive there! 4GB ram would be generally considered tight enough for a Windows machine. Maybe it's memory contention you're having.

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120214152#Comment_120214152

Yes, good point. Along with HDD....

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120214181#Comment_120214181

Especially if there's been a recent Windows update on that box. Looks like it's Windows 10, updates can make things worse.

4GB... that's really small these days. Might want to run Linux :)

Stigura

MODEM: Yeah. It's a 3 device. Little, flat box with two green lights. Says " Mobile Wifi " on the back. USB

Here's the expanded thing.I see it only goes back to 9/1. Two red x's on the 10th? 10-1 on the 10/1 then. Heh.

Windows 10? Yep. Vile!

Memory and HDD? Here's a thing; I've always (Twenty odd years) been able to check that stuff. 'Disc Clean Up', 'Defrag' etc. For all the Real good that stuff ever did? Now? On this 10? Haven't got a clue! Couldn't find my left, with my right, on this thing.

It's like a factory job. I press that button. Pull that lever. It goes 'Kerchink'. But, I have no idea how or why. Marx' Theory of Worker Alienation in practice. Only, they never had pc's back then.

But, yeah. " Updates "? I understand Bill's business model. He over loads our machines till they break. MSN Engineer once told me; 'Those 'Updates' are saw dust. Useless. They just clog ye machine till it can't function. Makes ye buy a new one ~ with Doze 47 on it. "

So, I've likely reached sawdust saturation? Time to rush out and buy an 11 pc? (Just in time for That, now 'old' system to blow up? God, I love you, Billy Boy! ****!)

Linux? How I Wish! Scared to death of it. Thought it was for geeks and cody folk. Someone, on here, kindly took my hand and guided me into it. It was great! Fine! Until the least little glitch happened. That's when some woman, on Their forum, sneered; " You'll Really have to learn basic coding! ". Yeah. Goodbye, Linux! ". And here we are.

Are we flogging a dead horse here, peeps? I'm all grown up. Been here before. If I have to play that game? So be it. I certainly don't want to waste you good peoples generously offered time, for nothing.