USB hub

[John Farley]

I am having laptop trouble where some peripherals will only run from a USB on the laptop and not from a (cheap) simple USB multi outlet adaptor. There must be kit out there to overcome this - any advice chaps?

[Bushfiva]

Do you mean the hub is unpowered? if so, try using a powered hub. The USB standard requires devices to tell the host how much power they require. If you plug a high-power device into an unpowered hub, the port may choose not to power the device up if it's asking for too much power (up to 500 mA) or if the cheapo hub is reporting the power requirement incorrectly.

Somewhat generalizing, devices make their power requirements known in either an intelligent manner or stupid manner. Hubs likewise, handle the requirements in either an intelligent manner or stupid manner. There are also some devices that simply won't connect through a hub of any kind. They're the the stupid kind. Any kind of "stupid" in the loop is going to mess things up.

Finally, even if all the power requirements are OK, there are issues with how some hubs handle cascading.

The short answer is, try another hub which can use a power adapter. If both hubs don't work with the device, give up because there is either no solution or there is an arcane solution.

[Saab Dastard]

As Bushfiva says, try with a powered hub.

Alternatively, can you provide power directly to the peripherals in question?

For example, I have a USB hard disk that can be given extra power via a PS/2 mouse / keyboard port.

SD

[John Farley]

Thanks

As it happens the hub is powered but for example a wireless mouse won't work via the hub

[batninth]

John,

Apologies that I can't offer a simple fix here but USB tends to be a bit of a black art mainly due to the software drivers used. I had a recent USB problem which was due to the order the devices powered up in for example.

If the laptop is using Windows, I'd tend to try the add hardware wizard (from the control panel) to see if Windows spots anything missing & asks you to reinstall the drivers.

I'd also suggest trying the hub & mouse on another PC if that is at all possible, just to rule out the laptop USB driver software

BTW - is the wireless mouse one of the Microsoft branded devices? It would be useful to know what devices you're trying to configure

[Bruce Wayne]

you may want to check BIOS settings for that.. alternatively get a ps/2-usb adapter and plug the mouse in the ps/2 port

[batninth]

Having thought a bit more about this whilst walking the dog, I'd suggest a "build & test" approach if possible.

I'd look for two USB devices that work when plugged directly into your laptop, the mouse being one

Then I'd plug in the powered hub, and test each device in turn through the hub. If neither works, it's most likely the hub. If one works but not the other then it's more likely to be the device/hub combination

This way you get to identify where the problem lies. If it turns out to be the hub, then as Bruce says you may want to try the BIOS to see if it is set up incorrectly

That is assuming you have two USB devices - digital camera? memory stick given away free? USB powered Christmas lights?

[John Farley]

Thanks chaps all very helpful.

[cats_five]

Is the USB hub USB1 or USB2? A USB2 device won't run from a USB1 hub. Otherwise, I go with the lack of power that others have suggested.

[Saab Dastard]

A USB2 device won't run from a USB1 hub

Not universally true.

USB2 devices may work electrically in USB1 ports, but are obviously limited to USB1 data transfer speeds.

Sd

[cats_five]

Originally Posted by Saab Dastard

Not universally true.

USB2 devices may work electrically in USB1 ports, but are obviously limited to USB1 data transfer speeds.

Of course you are right - some will but slowly, but some will not and I guess I've had some of the ones that won't. We didn't ever know what the peripherals that won't run from the hub are.

[Keef]

Coming late to this, but echo what the others have said.

I've found that "cheap" powered hubs don't work with some peripherals, whereas a decent quality one is fine. My laptop drops onto two docking stations, one in each house, and there is a powered hub on each with keyboard, mouse, backup hard drive, camera connector, iPhone connector, and a couple of spare slots.

I started out with 7-port flashing-lights Hong Kong cheapo hubs, and had all sorts of problems. I ditched those for PlusCom 7-port and all works well.

The only device that objects to the hubs is the Vodafone dongle: that connects direct to the laptop via a USB extension lead.

[John Farley]

Keef

PlusCom 7-port

That is just the advice wot I was after. Bless you. Out

[Bushfiva]

If it has exactly 7 ports, then internally it may be two older and cheaper 4-port chipsets cascaded. So your device may work in the first 3 ports but not others. USB's a bugger past the computer sockets. Even with computers, some of which cascade ports for internal peripherals.

[journeychen]

I would plug the keyboard / mouse into the inbuilt USB 1 ports

Leave anything that requires more bandwidth to the USB 2 PCI card.

I never had any problems with the generic USB 2 card that I put in my old G4, despite the fact it never claimed to be OS X compatible
from sourcingmap

[OVERTALK]

But Steer Clear of Logitech USB devices

Whatever you do, don't buy a Logitech headset, plug it into a Win XP or Vista USB port and expect it to work.

One look at the manuals will tell you why. All Logitech stuff is now made in mainland China - and you won't get your warranty honored.

[green granite]

Steer Clear of Logitech USB devices, don't buy a Logitech headset,

Their 'mices' are rubbish nowadays as well

[seacue]

IIRC, Logitech's Chinese factory builds a lot of mice under contract. Some months ago they announced that they had shipped their one billionth mouse.

[PPRuNe Pop]

FWIW. Mouse into the mouse socket = no probs.

Power hub into MB socket = no probs with 4,6 or 7 and I have two 5 port power hubs plugged into the mb. Printers don't normally like hubs but if it comes via the MB it always serves me well.

[batninth]

Whatever you do, don't buy a Logitech headset, plug it into a Win XP or Vista USB port and expect it to work.

We use Logitech USB headsets where I work with Win XP & have very few problems over quite a big user base. OK, so they're pretty utilitarian and some folks buy their own higher quality sets, but they're robust & the audio quality is always acceptable.