OK, maybe I don’t know as much about USB ports are I thought I did.
At work we have a laptop that has 3 USB ports on the side of the case.
We have a communication tool that uses a serial port connection, which this laptop does not have. So we have been using a serial to USB port adapter.
Anyway, for some reason the computer will only recognize this adapter and connected hardware when plugged into the first USB port. due to the weight of the USB to serial port adapter, the first USB port is worn out and does not make a good connections any longer.
It was my understanding that inside the case all three USB ports went to the same place, and if a device worked in one USB port it would work in any USB port, but that isn’t the case here.
What am I missing? Any cluse or suggestions?
I have found similar idiosyncrasies with my desktop computer that has six USB ports on the rear and two on the front. I have resorted to a four-port hub for some devices. - which might be a solution for you, to take the weight off the port.
We have gone to a USB extension cable that now takes the weight off the port, but the pins are basically toast.
Rather than sending in the computer for a new USB port, I would love to be able to use on of the other ports.
I can’t see why that wouldn’t work but unfortunately with some devices is seems that they only ‘like’ one particular port. I have absolutely no idea why but sometimes a powered hub will overcome that problem.
That’s actually not the case. Each USB device installs separately on each port. Plug in your device, and go to device manager,. You’ll probably see an unknown icon with a yellow exclamation point. Right-click and update driver.
I found this advice on another board:
This page shows how to determine if it’s a driver issue.
When I look at device manager with it plugged into a different port, I don’t see a yellow exclamation point. Scaning for changes makes no difference.
Looking at the device manger I have two USB host controllers which makes sense, but I have three root hubs for the three USB ports. According to x-ray vision’s link I should only have two.
I had a similar problem to this with a wireless adaptor - it would only work on one USB port. I fixed it by going to device manager, uninstalling all of the USB ports and root hubs, then letting Windows find and install them all over again.