Digsy Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I own an MS ARC wireless keyboard and mouse. The recievers for these are plugged into a 2-port USB2 hub which in turn is plugged via a 1m extention cable into my PC. The hub has two LEDs on it that show when the device attached to each port is active. The problem is that when I turn on the PC, if the keyobard and mouse are not swithed on by the time the USB ports become active, then they will not be recognised unless I "restart" the devices by unplugging and re-inserting the hub. Also, even if the mouse and keyboard are recognised, during the time between when the desktop first shows and when the system, becomes available (i.e. while the program icons are loading into the system tray) the mouse and keyboard sometimes stop responding. Again, this can only be fixed by unplugging and re-inserting the hub to manually restart the attached devices. I have tried using different USB ports in my PC (I have 6) and not using the hub or extension cable at all. When I change ports it usually works better for a few days and then starts acting up again. It doesn't seem to be related to the condition of the batteries in the keyboard or mouse because once I get them working they stay working until I shut off the PC. I can even switch them off for over an hour and when I switch on agai they are instantly recognised. Its almost like I need a way to stop the keyboard and mouse USB drivers from starting until after everything else has started up. Has anyone else had anyting similar to this or found a fix for it? This is Windows XP SP2 in case its relevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Do you have any other USB devices that you plug in? Do they behave themselves? USB can be a right pain in the butt when it wants to be and can have all sorts of quirks. The USB on your PC can hold a charge that needs to be dissipated at times. I would delete all the USB hubs from your PC (assuming you have a ps2 keyboard or remote desktopas options) and then turn the PC off. Disconnect the power from the PC and leave it dead in the water from 5 minutes. Reconnect and power on. Have you updated the drivers/software for the keyboard and mouse? Why are you not running SP3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Do you have any other USB devices that you plug in? Do they behave themselves? USB can be a right pain in the butt when it wants to be and can have all sorts of quirks. None usually connected at power on, but I do have a USB data / charging cradle for my phone which, if I put the phone in the cradle before I boot up, my machine hangs at the "Windows" black splash screen (before the desktop even appears). Likewise if I turn on legacy USB support in the BIOS the machine also hangs in the same place. Its never caused me any real issues, appart from as you point out I cannot use anything other than a PS2 keyboard for starting in safe mode, etc. with I can live with. Usually all other USB devices work fine. The USB on your PC can hold a charge that needs to be dissipated at times. I would delete all the USB hubs from your PC (assuming you have a ps2 keyboard or remote desktopas options) and then turn the PC off. Disconnect the power from the PC and leave it dead in the water from 5 minutes. Reconnect and power on. Not tried that. Will give it a go. Have you updated the drivers/software for the keyboard and mouse? Yep. Why are you not running SP3? I'm not what you would call an "early adpoter" by any means when it comes to my PC It took me ages to go to SP2 after all the hoo-hah when it first came out. I do have SP3 on CD so I can do this. Anyway... As often happens after I posted on here I did another websearch and may have come up with a solution. Its not a standard part of Windows but you can download a tool from the MS website called "devcon.exe". This is essentially a command-line version of Device Manager. Using it, I have created a script which disables and then immediately enables my mouse and keyboard just after I log in. It works on a logout/login (mouse and keyboard freeze for a few seconds and then come back). Not tried it on a proper cold boot yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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