VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Dave

All of a sudden I now have a dialog box on my computer (Windows XP SP2) telling me about a "Power Surge On Hub Port" ...

"a USB device has exceeded the power limits of it hub port. You should disconnect this device."

When I click on the box, another window opens which tells me...

The location of the device is shown in bold type. Which is...

"Unknown USB Device"

and the instruction is to "disconnect the hardware and click Reset. If you click Close, the port will no longer function."

Well, the only thing plugged into any USB port is the keyboard and a battery backup. I've unplugged both of them and clicked reset but the warning just pops back again.

Does anyone know how to deal with this? How do I correct it? And, is something serious going on and/or about to happen?
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. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

bobsouer · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:55 am Post subject:

Dave,

Two things that come to mind:

1. Does your keyboard have a built-in USB hub (in other words, other USB ports you can plug into?)

2. Your computer's motherboard may be failing, at least the USB port section of it. My daughter's computer had this problem a year ago. I solved it by buying and installing a USB port add-in card and only using those ports.

I hope these thoughts help.
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Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
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Dave · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:24 am Post subject:

Hi Bob,

No USB Hubs on the computer keyboard... its wireless.

On the box itself, just the regular ones that came with it. Two on the front which have nothing plugged in... and four on the back. One used for the connection for the wireless KB/mouse and the other has the battery back-up plugged into it. The other two are unused.

You mentioned a failure on the mother board. That doesn't sound good... but apparently if I understand what you are saying (bing seriously challenged technically) its only a portion and getting a USB pci card and using it will be a safe workaround?
_________________
. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

bobbinbeamo · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:47 am Post subject:

Hi. A mouse doesn't draw much power from a USB port. Strange. I'd type that error message right into google, and see if you get some results that'll tell you what that means. I have found fairly good luck in resolving cryptic error messages that occasionally pop up.
May the (power) force be with you. Hope it's not the motherboard. In any event, backup!!!!!
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www.bobbinbeam.com
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Dave · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:16 am Post subject:

Thanks Bobbin,

As a matter of fact, must have been your vibes, I did goggle the error message and I found TONS of people experiencing the same problem... unfortunately they were all looking for answers as well. I would have though Microsoft would have something on this but I haven't found it so far.
_________________
. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

TheVoiceOfBob · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:32 am Post subject:

My first stab would be to go into Device Manager and delete the USB devices, including the generic USB hub, etc... Delete it all. Then reboot and allow Windows to re-find everything. Sometimes a corrupt driver can cause a problem.

Before the reboot, unplug everything USB related unless you need it to operate the computer.

If you have an external hub, is it powered? You can chain USB devices as long as every other is powered. Meaning, you can't have an unpowered hub connected to an unpowered hub. The devices off of that second hub would not work properly.
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The Voice of Bob

sdelgo · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:47 am Post subject:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934644/en-us

Steve
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Dave · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

Bob,

I tried deleting the usb devices in the device manager but in the process I manage to kill my mouse before I can finish deleting all of them Cry

And, no, I do not have an external hub... powered or otherwise.

Steve,

Thanks for the Microsoft link. Apparently this is a known issue. I do think its curious that the only solution is to disable USB 2.0 functionality. I would have thought that would be a last resort rather than first action.

Ahh computers. Can't live with them... can't live without them Angry

_________________
. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

Dave · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject:

What a day...

Well, I finally discovered a patch to eliminate the error from appearing. Can't say that it stopped whatever the actual problem is/was... but at least I don't have to look at the warning anymore. Here's the link for the patch I used:

http://tinyurl.com/2r7acq

It's on Dells support site but I can't see why it wouldn't work on any machine running XP SP2 (which I am). Anyway it did the trick so unless something blows up in the next few days I'm going to assume I don't need to worry about this pain the side any more.

Dave
_________________
. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

bobsouer · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:40 pm Post subject:

Dave,

I hope your results continue to go well.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch