I just got a brand new, but relatively stripped down, laptop. It has two USB 2.0 ports and no legacy ports, so of course I got a USB hub for it. I later found out the hub is USB 1.1.
Currently the only thing I have plugged into the hub is a scanner, which works fine. When I plug a memory stick into the hub, I get a warning that I’ve plugged a high-sepeed device into a low-speed port, but it still works.
But when I plug a USB mouse in there (just a plain, cheap, mouse with a USB connection), nothing happens. Not only does the computer not recognize it, but the little green light on the hub (which I assume means the hub is active) blinks off. The mouse (mouses actually – I’ve tried this with several) works fine when I plug it directly into the computer.
What’s my solution? Get a powered hub? A 2.0 hub? A powered 2.0 hub? Always plug the mouse directly into the computer? If I have to do that, what will I do when I want to add a printer?
Can’t help with the USB problem, but the USB mice I have bought come with a green adapter. It plugs onto the mouse’s usb connector and converts to a regular psaux connection (circular connection) This can be connected to the mouse port on the computer or the keyboard, depending on your setup.
Did you get one of these connectors with your mouse?
There is no PS2 or serial port on the computer. Like I said, it’s pretty stripped. Any device I connect will have to be through one of the two USB connectors, or via a card.
the mouse still needs software to work. If you have an install disk use it, if not go to “add new hardware” and select “USB human interface devices” to install a generic driver.
When the mouse is connected to the hub (and not working), is there a yellow exclamation mark icon in the Device Manager*, where you might expect the mouse to be? (Under human interfaces or USB or something like that) If so, have you tried deleting it and rebooting it that way?
*Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager, I think
I don’t think a USB 2.0 hub is going to help you (The mouse is most likely not USB 2.0), but a self powered hub might help. And if you’re getting a self powered hub, you may as well make sure it’s USB 2.0 compatible.
USB provides power over the connector, which means that the more things you have hooked up to it the less power there is for everything else. USB devices are supposed to take this into consideration and not expect full power, but sometimes some devices don’t play by the rules. Those devices will usually work fine when plugged directly into the computer, but when plugged into unpowered hubs they just can’t get the juice they’re looking for. If it gets really bad you get a warning message saying something like “USB low power header” or something nice and arcane like that.
Though I’ve never seen a mouse with this problem. Mostly it’s been USB video cameras and other, more power hungry devices that behave that way. Perhaps returning that mouse for a different one might be a good idea.
Anyway, a self powered hub will boost the amount of power available to devices, making them more likely to work properly.
When the mouse is plugged directly into the computer, everything is fine. When I plug it into the hub, it is simply not recognized. There’s no indication that a device is plugged in, no message that Windows has found a new device blah, blah, no question mark or exclamation point in the taskbar – nothing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the only device plugged into the hub or another device is also plugged in.
It seems to me there is some sort of problem between the mouse and the hub that doesn’t exist with other equipment. Will swapping another hub take care of it, or am I doomed to always using one of my two available ports for the mouse?
You said it is a cheap mouse - I’d be inclined to suspect that first - maybe it has some fault that only manifests when it isn’t getting the full and undivided attention/power from one of the USB roots, or some other, more exotic fault (I’ve seen some really bizarre faults with USB mice, including one that periodically rebooted the system)
Can you borrow a different mouse from someone else, just to test the setup?
considering the usb version your computer supports, it could be that you need to switch which of the two usb ports you are attaching the hub to.
In earlier boards one usb port was made to accept only a single connection while the other was designed to be used with a hub to give multiple connections.
Do other peripherals work with your hub when connected with something else?