Ok, I’m trying to figure out why I can’t get win98SE to recognize USB components and I’m at wits end.
I have followed knowledge base articles from the Microsoft site where I’ve re installed USB files from the installation discs, I have downloaded and installed all drivers offered at the manufacturer’s page, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why the bloody OS won’t let me install the things.
Specifically the two items in question is 1) an external CD burner and 2) a USB Key
I have tried in two different computers, and I keep getting the “finding new hardware” dialogue boxes which cycles through the options where to find the “drivers” for the USB hardware, but it never finds anything.
The burner had some drivers for Win 98 which I installed, but still nothing.
The computers Ive tried both USB items on are 1) a Dell cpi laptop (this is an old 266) and 2) a Compaq evo (this is a relatively new computer, a P4)
Both items work on my home computers (both running Win2000) so I know the items work, and I can’t upgrade either of the other computers because one is too old, and the other is a work comp.
I assume you’ve run Windows Update on them and they’re both up to date. As far as upgrading the ‘old’ one, unless its really old I would go ahead and up it to Windows 2000. I’ve run it on an AMD 300MHz and its as fast (or faster) than 98SE.
If you have the install disc definitely use that. That is, when Windows says its found new hardware etc. just cancel out of that. Then run the install disc’s setup.exe.
If by ‘USB Key’ you mean a USB keyboard, why bother? Using the USB port rather than the PS/2 port for a keyboard adds nothing (and takes away a USB port).
When you install USB devices (and other devices as well) you often have to point the system to the specific sub-directory on the CD, floppy or hard drive where the drivers are located. If it’s not “finding” the drivers, it’s not going to install the devices without being pointed directly to the driver location.
Another thing that sometime happens is that some piece of installed hardware is stepping on the USB IRQs and the BIOS and/or 98SE isn’t smart enough to re-allocate resources on the fly. In those situations I will delete the entire USB listing on the hardware device chain and let the system re-discover and re-install the USB hardware.
Is there the option to turn on USB “legacy mode” in the BIOS? If so turn it on.
the laptop is a 266 running 64 megs of ram, so I’m not sure about upgrading to 2000, besides this would still leave the work computers out, since I can’t upgrade them (due to support issues).
By USB key I of course meant USB drive. :smack: (sorry, for some reason I alwasy call it a key. Maybe cause its a key chain. I dunno). But its a small doohickey that you plug into the USB port and it acts like an external drive/floppy what have you.
I’ve directed the hardware wizard to the folder/discs with the drivers and it insists the files are not there. Ive run the driver instal programs (and been told the drivers are installed) yet it still wont show up on explorer, and still “finds” new hardware when I reboot.
I honestly don’t know what else to do.
I’ve heard this from other PC techs but never had the opportunity to check it out myself. Apparantly, the CD burner should not be on the same ribbon cable as the hard drive, even if it is a slave.
Have you checked Device Manager to see if the USB Root Hub is working and if there is an IRQ conflict? If not right click on My Computer>Properties>Device Manager. Then scroll through the installed devices until you find USB Root Hub. Double click to see if it is enabled and working properly. Let us know if there is a problem. USB will not work if there is a conflict here.
From MS Knowldge Base:
“Check Device Manager to be certain that the root hub is functioning correctly. If the root hub is displayed with an exclamation point in a yellow circle, verify that the BIOS is assigning an interrupt request (IRQ) to the root USB controller. This is required for the device driver to be loaded. For additional information about how to use Device Manager to troubleshoot hardware issues, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base” Link
chuckster there are no ribbon cables needed for USB.
What is the exact model of the USB drive? Are the drivers you are applying specified exactly for that drive.
As a sidenote, it’s unlikely to be your situation, but I have seen this behavior once before where a Win 98 machine was upgraded to 98SE, but when a USB device was installed for the first time and the system asked for system drivers from the Win install CD, the owner used the Win98 non-SE update disk instead of the 98SE CD. The non-SE drivers are applied and USB recognition got all munged up. I had to re-format the drive and do a clean install off a floppy with the 98SE disk. It worked perfectly after that.
Thanks for the replies, I’ve been away from home so I’ve not had a chance to read up on them earlier. To continue…
Yes, both devices are USB2.0 (they’re frairly new), but I had them running on my Win2000 box which had USB1.1 ports with no problem. As a matter of fact at one point I was dual booting the home machine with Win 98SE and Win2000 and I had a similar problem when in Win 98 (worked fine on 2000). One of the reasons I said heck with it and just went all the way to 2000 at home.
The office machines are all newer than the home comp, so I’m positive it’s not a hardware issue.
USB controller? Is there any way to replace that? I mean, is there any way to get a generic version or something that I can test with?
Your USB controller is a hardware device that is either integrated into the motherboard or an expansion card. The laptop USB certainly is intergrated and most motherboards have them built in as well. The drivers to run them are included in the motherboard setup utilities. Is that Compaq evo a laptop too? If it is maybe you could try re-installing the Compaq drivers that came with the machine. What did Device Manager indicate? It should tell you what make of controller is installed on the computer.
IS the motherboard BIOS version of your machine the latest available from Compaq? If not update it. Early USB implementations (usually in 166 to 300 mhz generation machines) often had kinks that BIOS revisions were necessary ito iron out.
the laptop is a Dell, and I updated the BIOS to the latest version, didn’t help.
The Compaq are new computers (well, relatively new anyway), running P4s so I doubt that the BIOS should be a problem. Not laptops.
I checked the work computers and the USB Host Controller is an Intel (82801) if that means anything.
Every one of the USB “drives” (fit on your keychain type) that I’ve seen require drivers to work with Win98. No drivers required in XP or 2000. Drivers can be downloaded from the “drive” manufacturers’ site.
Are you sure you have Windows 98SE and not a patched version of plain Windows 98?
And don’t even think about putting Windows 2000, much less XP, on a system with only 64 MB. 256 MB is a realistic usable minimum.
You say it’s a Dell Latitude CPi, but which one? CPi, CPi A, CPi D, or CPi R? According to Crucial, the A and the R models can take 128 MB SODIMMs which are US$62 a pop. According to Dell’s website the Latitude CPi D266XT can take 2x 128 MB but they’re insanely expensive - US$472
Windows 2000 is perfectly usable at 266 MHz, given the memory.
However, the question about the USB root hub is very valid: you may need to install the Dell System Utilities.
Perfectly sure about the windows versions. The Compaqs are straight from the factory along with all the compaq bloatware. The dell is the plain CPi. and its using my old Win98SE so I know its good. (Used it for years before upgrading my personal comp to 2000).
Dell Utilities? (THe laptop was bought used, so I don’t have any of the original software).
If you have no knowledge about how the existing Win 98se was installed and it just came to you the way you currently have it, it would be worthwhile to do a fresh 98se install off a boot floppy using a Win 98se update disk if you have Win98SE update install CD and key. The Win98se update install process will ask for a win98 or win 95 CD for verification (ie put 98/95 CD in drive then remove) at beginning of install. If you have a copy of WinME hanging around that would be even better USB functionality wise.
one thing about older machines that may be important here is that many had two different types of usb connections. basically one would be a single peripheral port and the other was intended to be connected to a usb hub for multiple connections.
you likely either need a hub or you need to switch ports.
astro: thanks for the link. Will be installing it asap, see if anything comes of it. As for the Win98, it’s a clean install. The computer used to belong to my friends sister for work, got it off her when she upgraded, so I did a clean format and reinstall. The copy of windows is good and I’ve done all updates inlcuding bios. (Well, all updates I could think of. Didn’t know about this dell utility, so we’ll see what’s up).
Don’t see this as being a case of needing a Hub. I mean, it wouldn’t make sense for a laptop would it? And the work computers are too new for that I would think. Will def. look into the port situation.
