Windows 8.1 consistently disconnecting USB devices

conti · 26-11-2014 10:46AM #1

Does anyone else with Windows 8.1 have this issue where some devices, in my case mostly Android phones and tablets, refuse to stay connected?

My Galaxy S4 disconnects and reconnects extremely rapidly, like every second! There USB connect/unplug sound is just played repeatedly! Sometimes it may last 20 to 30 seconds but when I got to interact with the phone in any way it starts the rapid disconnecting/reconnecting again.

I've been Google the issue for a few weeks and have found no solution, except that W8 works better with short USB leads! So I got an 8 inch micro USB lead which does the same thing only not as frequently, maybe once every 5 minutes which at least makes my USB devices usable.

I've tried disabling the power management, re-installing drivers (with and without Kies), different leads, Operating Systems (even forwarding the USB connection to an OS in VMWare works which means it's 100% a Windows 8.1 software issue!)

Anyone else have any similar issues? It seems fine with hard drives, peripherals, USB keys etc. It just doesn't seem to like Android devices.

srsly78 · 26-11-2014 10:47AM

Sounds like a loose connection or dodgy usb port. I have win 8.1 and don't have this problem.

Try connecting a different android device, if that works then you know your S4 has a dodgy port.

conti · 26-11-2014 10:55AM

Kudos on the quick reply!

No it's 100% not a hardware issue, tried 2 Samsung Galaxy phones, a HTC phone and a Galaxy tablet, tried all the USB ports, all with official Samsung micro USB leads, all work fine with Windows 7 laptop but act the exact same way with W8.

I have Ubuntu running in VMWare on my Windows 8 machine, and when I forward the USB connection to Ubuntu they stay connected, meaning it's not hardware related. I can narrow it down to Windows 8 power cycling them really fast unless a short lead is used, when the power cycling still happens but at a slower rate.

From my weeks of trawling through forums I see that I'm not alone with the issue, but nobody has found a proper fix for it.

I've tried this fix:
Windows 8.1, USB device constantly being disconnected and reconnected. - Microsoft Community

Tried this, buy my Regedit does not have the EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled option.
Help! After installing Windows 8.1, my USB device doesn't charge or it disconnects and reconnects frequently... - Microsoft Windows USB Core Team Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Fysh · 26-11-2014 11:52AM

conti wrote: »

Tried this, buy my Regedit does not have the EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled option:
Help! After installing Windows 8.1, my USB device doesn't charge or it disconnects and reconnects frequently... - Microsoft Windows USB Core Team Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Have you tried creating the key and setting its value to 0 anyway? It's worth trying.

Windows 8.1 consistently disconnecting USB devices

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