Member Avatar for Oeggy

Could use some help or troubleshooting ideas for a problem with using my computer's USB 2.0 ports. I'm using a few month's old Pentium 4 3.2 GHz machine with WinXP Professional.

I had had my previous monitor plugged into the USB port on the computer, as it acted as my USB hub. The ports on the monitor were USB 1.0. Everything had worked fine; no problems whatsoever. Since I recently got a new monitor and could no longer use the monitor hub, I purchased a USB 2.0 hub. When I plug it into the computer, it works perfectly. Every device connected to the hub works perfectly. But when the computer is rebooted, it absolutely, positively will not load up winXP. The screen stays black. I have my speakers on loud and there is no windows greeting music. It hangs up before loading winXP. If I unplug the USB and then reboot, it boots into WinXP just fine.

Other things I've tried:
1. I disconnected the hub and just plugged in my camera card reader (2.0). Just as with the hub, it works perfectly when I just plug it in. But when I reboot, the screen stays black and the computer will not load windows.
2. I have an older camera card reader that uses USB 1.0. I plugged that into the computer. When I reboot, it was able to load WinXP just fine.

Conclusion:
USB 2.0 doesn't seem to work correctly (i.e. can't boot WinXP). USB 1.0 works. The computer is fairly new and does come with USB 2.0.

So, the Question:
The hub I bought (Belkin High-speed 7 port 2.0) says it supports 2.0 as well as 1.0. When it's plugged in, USB 2.0 devices do work. But the computer simply won't boot up into windows with that device (or any 2.0 USB device)
plugged in.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'd like to keep my USB hub plugged in without unplugging it before rebooting.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by zenlikestate

Dani AI

Generated

Short diagnosis and why USB‑2 devices can stop POST: older BIOS/firmware will either try to enumerate or even try to boot from any attached mass‑storage device (card readers, camera readers, some hubs) and/or hand control of USB 2.0 controllers (EHCI/XHCI) to the OS only after POST. That combination explains the symptom reported by : USB‑1.1 devices work (BIOS presents them as legacy devices) while USB‑2 devices appear OK once Windows is running but prevent the machine from continuing through POST. (dell.com)

Practical first steps (fast, reversible):

  • Enter BIOS/Setup with the hub/card plugged in (DEL/F2/F10 depending on board) and look for Boot → Boot Order or “USB Boot” / “USB Storage” options; disable USB boot or move any “USB HDD/USB Storage Device” entries below the internal hard drive.
  • In Advanced → USB Configuration, look for “USB Mass Storage Driver Support”, “USB Mass Storage Reset Delay”, “Emulation Type” or similar; try disabling USB mass‑storage emulation or increase/reset the delay if available. Those items are common on AMI/Aptio/other BIOSes. (dell.com)

If that doesn’t help:

  • Toggle any EHCI/XHCI or “EHCI hand‑off / XHCI hand‑off” options (if present) and test — some boards need the hand‑off setting changed so the firmware doesn’t get stuck while waiting for an OS driver.
  • Try the hub on a different (rear, root‑controller) port and use a self‑powered (wall‑adapter) hub rather than a bus‑powered one — power negotiation problems can also stall enumeration.
  • Update the motherboard BIOS and install the chipset/USB drivers under Windows XP (install Microsoft’s XP-era USB 2.0 driver / chipset INF if needed). (manualzilla.com)

This mirrors ’s BIOS‑change suggestion (disable USB emulation/USB boot) and the follow‑up from that it fixed their system; if BIOS options are missing, a firmware update or adding a powered PCI USB‑2 card are reliable fallbacks. (h30434.www3.hp.com)

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Member Avatar for alc6379

What type of system do you have?

Certain system BIOSes are set such that they try and boot from USB devices. Your digital camera card reader is considered a Mass Storage Device, and the system could be trying to boot from it. Disable USB emulation in the BIOS, and see if that doesn't help.

Member Avatar for zenlikestate

Did the trick for me. Kudos.

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