USB device causes PC to freeze. Please help!

Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks

Poppe wrote:
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks


If you hold down the shift key while plugging the device in,
does it freeze then ?

This device, for example, has some flash memory in CDFS format,
which apparently autoruns when plugged in. If the contents of
that CDFS were corrupted, perhaps holding down the shift key
would prevent the software from loading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei_E220

That is just the first step.

Maybe you could name the make and model number of the device.
That makes it easier to search for a match.

Paul

Poppe wrote:
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks


If you hold down the shift key while plugging the device in,
does it freeze then ?

This device, for example, has some flash memory in CDFS format,
which apparently autoruns when plugged in. If the contents of
that CDFS were corrupted, perhaps holding down the shift key
would prevent the software from loading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei_E220

That is just the first step.

Maybe you could name the make and model number of the device.
That makes it easier to search for a match.

Paul

I need to add this information:

Under "Universal serial bus controllers" in Device Manager:

I do not have "USB 2.0 Root Hub", only "USB Root Hub".
But there is two "Intel ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced host controller"

Does this mean the PC does has USB 2.0 compatibility or not?

Thanks

I need to add this information:

Under "Universal serial bus controllers" in Device Manager:

I do not have "USB 2.0 Root Hub", only "USB Root Hub".
But there is two "Intel ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced host controller"

Does this mean the PC does has USB 2.0 compatibility or not?

Thanks

Poppe wrote:
I need to add this information:

Under "Universal serial bus controllers" in Device Manager:

I do not have "USB 2.0 Root Hub", only "USB Root Hub".
But there is two "Intel ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced host controller"

Does this mean the PC does has USB 2.0 compatibility or not?

Thanks


Two "Enhanced" (=USB2) entries is what you'd expect for an ICH9. You can
download an ICH9 datasheet from Intel, if you want to check
what devices are inside the Southbridge. My recollection is
there are two USB2 "Enhanced" ones.

This could be a picture of an ICH9 in Device Manager. here. There
are six USB Universal Host Controller entries (USB 1.1 speed,
each controls two ports, for up to 12 USB connectors off the
Southbridge). There are two Enhanced entries (each controlling six ports,
if they're split evenly). What is shown in Device Manager
is logic blocks and not ports. To find out the number of
ports controlled by a logic block, I look that up in a data
sheet to be absolutely sure.

http://mky.goliath.pseudorational.co...estore/usb.jpg

A port can be "bound" to a USB 1.1 or a USB 2.0 logic block,
so the choice is either/or for the port when a device is plugged
in. I think the Root Hubs are hiding further down the display,
and the person taking the screenshot should have stretched
the window a bit taller before taking the picture.

The four items at the bottom of that display, are artifacts
from things that have been plugged in. A Composite device,
means a USB peripheral has more than one hardware thing inside.
For example, my Webcam is Composite, as well as having UVC video
and USB audio. The Composite tells the OS to look underneath for
multiple things. USB Mass Storage is some kind of storage device,
and what that picture suggests is a printer with flash memory inside
it has been connected to the Southbridge.

If you want another utility to play with, there is UVCView.
This is my standard blurb for it. You start the program, and
then watch what happens when a "good" and "working" USB is
plugged in. You should be seeing the config info being read
from the device. For your broken USB item, I don't expect you'll
get any intelligence out of the program, before things freeze.
This program was originally by Microsoft, but they've been
careful to remove it from the face of the earth. They managed
to delete the copies stored on archive.org, and now we're down
to two download sites. This seems to monitor the ports
directly on the motherboard. If you built a chain of hubs,
it likely wouldn't show things at the end of the chain.
When testing, try to plug right into the computer itself
while using this.

*******
ftp://ftp.efo.ru/pub/ftdichip/Utilities/UVCView.x86.exe
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/USB...VCView.x86.exe

File size is 167,232 bytes.
MD5sum is 93244d84d79314898e62d21cecc4ca5e

This is a picture of what the UVCView info looks like.

http://www.die.de/blog/content/binary/usbview.png

Some information on the parameters seen in UVCView.

http://www.beyondlogic.org/usbnutshell/usb5.htm
*******

HTH,
Paul

Poppe wrote:
I need to add this information:

Under "Universal serial bus controllers" in Device Manager:

I do not have "USB 2.0 Root Hub", only "USB Root Hub".
But there is two "Intel ICH9 Family USB2 Enhanced host controller"

Does this mean the PC does has USB 2.0 compatibility or not?

Thanks


Two "Enhanced" (=USB2) entries is what you'd expect for an ICH9. You can
download an ICH9 datasheet from Intel, if you want to check
what devices are inside the Southbridge. My recollection is
there are two USB2 "Enhanced" ones.

This could be a picture of an ICH9 in Device Manager. here. There
are six USB Universal Host Controller entries (USB 1.1 speed,
each controls two ports, for up to 12 USB connectors off the
Southbridge). There are two Enhanced entries (each controlling six ports,
if they're split evenly). What is shown in Device Manager
is logic blocks and not ports. To find out the number of
ports controlled by a logic block, I look that up in a data
sheet to be absolutely sure.

http://mky.goliath.pseudorational.co...estore/usb.jpg

A port can be "bound" to a USB 1.1 or a USB 2.0 logic block,
so the choice is either/or for the port when a device is plugged
in. I think the Root Hubs are hiding further down the display,
and the person taking the screenshot should have stretched
the window a bit taller before taking the picture.

The four items at the bottom of that display, are artifacts
from things that have been plugged in. A Composite device,
means a USB peripheral has more than one hardware thing inside.
For example, my Webcam is Composite, as well as having UVC video
and USB audio. The Composite tells the OS to look underneath for
multiple things. USB Mass Storage is some kind of storage device,
and what that picture suggests is a printer with flash memory inside
it has been connected to the Southbridge.

If you want another utility to play with, there is UVCView.
This is my standard blurb for it. You start the program, and
then watch what happens when a "good" and "working" USB is
plugged in. You should be seeing the config info being read
from the device. For your broken USB item, I don't expect you'll
get any intelligence out of the program, before things freeze.
This program was originally by Microsoft, but they've been
careful to remove it from the face of the earth. They managed
to delete the copies stored on archive.org, and now we're down
to two download sites. This seems to monitor the ports
directly on the motherboard. If you built a chain of hubs,
it likely wouldn't show things at the end of the chain.
When testing, try to plug right into the computer itself
while using this.

*******
ftp://ftp.efo.ru/pub/ftdichip/Utilities/UVCView.x86.exe
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/USB...VCView.x86.exe

File size is 167,232 bytes.
MD5sum is 93244d84d79314898e62d21cecc4ca5e

This is a picture of what the UVCView info looks like.

http://www.die.de/blog/content/binary/usbview.png

Some information on the parameters seen in UVCView.

http://www.beyondlogic.org/usbnutshell/usb5.htm
*******

HTH,
Paul

"Poppe" wrote in message
news
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if
they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home
and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks

"Poppe" wrote in message
news
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if
they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home
and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks

Poppe wrote:
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the
computer freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything
works fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up
instantly. As if they were waiting me to close the connection or
remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp
home and pro.

what is causing the problem?

Install the latest motherboard chipset drivers.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Poppe wrote:
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the
computer freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything
works fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up
instantly. As if they were waiting me to close the connection or
remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp
home and pro.

what is causing the problem?

Install the latest motherboard chipset drivers.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Poppe" wrote in message
news
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if
they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home
and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks


If you don't already have it, download Process Explorer from
he
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

Have it running as Always on top, then insert your modem and
start the connection. Process Explorer will show what process
is hogging the CPU cycles. One item to check is hardware
interrupts. It is possible the dongle could be generating constant
hardware interrupt requests when it starts the connection process,
due to faulty drivers. Hardware interrupts have priority over all
software processes.

"Poppe" wrote in message
news
Hello

When i use a USB 3G-modem dongle and start the connection, the computer
freezes. I'm unable to open start menu or programs.

If i disconnect the connection or remove the USB dongle, everything works
fine. And the programs i tried to open before, pop-up instantly. As if
they
were waiting me to close the connection or remove the USB device.

The machine has USB 2.0 compatibility, and i tried with windows xp home
and
pro.

what is causing the problem?
Thanks


If you don't already have it, download Process Explorer from
he
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

Have it running as Always on top, then insert your modem and
start the connection. Process Explorer will show what process
is hogging the CPU cycles. One item to check is hardware
interrupts. It is possible the dongle could be generating constant
hardware interrupt requests when it starts the connection process,
due to faulty drivers. Hardware interrupts have priority over all
software processes.

Hi

I ran the process explorer. When the freezing occurs, the CPU is 100% idle,
and i'm still unable to open windows. Even the Start-menu jams up.

Only thing that uses processor while jamming is the process explorer
software, and it used it a very little.

When i disconnect or remove the USB-dongle, everything works again.

It's like putting the PC to deep freeze when using the USB device.

Hi

I ran the process explorer. When the freezing occurs, the CPU is 100% idle,
and i'm still unable to open windows. Even the Start-menu jams up.

Only thing that uses processor while jamming is the process explorer
software, and it used it a very little.

When i disconnect or remove the USB-dongle, everything works again.

It's like putting the PC to deep freeze when using the USB device.