USB hub problem

bromberg · 03 Jan 2018

KBird:
I installed USB Treeview 3.12 as you suggested but am unclear what to do with the report it produces (right column).
Thanks,
Dan

Kbird · 03 Jan 2018

The Right hand pane will show you the device info for whatever device or hub you have clicked / selected in the LH pane eg the HUB or the Flash Drive or the Intel Root HUB even

It may show whether the HUB and or Flash Drive both support Wake on Resume etc ie D0,D2,D3 etc
Device Low-Power States | Microsoft Docs

USB Device Power States (Windows Drivers)

KB

spunk · 06 Jan 2018

USB Devices get power from the USB port. But many require a separate power adapter in addition. USB Hubs should always have a power adapter attached, and plugged directly into the wall, not a power strip. And the hub should be plugged into the Back USB port of the computer and not the front which has weaker ports.
That being said, USB Mass Storage Devices (ie) USB HDD's, Flash Drives, etc, especially those without power adapters, should be plugged directly into the Back USB port of the computer. USB Mice, Keyboards, Printers, Scanners, Cameras can all plug into the Hub and get recognized.

bromberg · 08 Jan 2018

spunk said:

USB Devices get power from the USB port. But many require a separate power adapter in addition. USB Hubs should always have a power adapter attached, and plugged directly into the wall, not a power strip. And the hub should be plugged into the Back USB port of the computer and not the front which has weaker ports.
That being said, USB Mass Storage Devices (ie) USB HDD's, Flash Drives, etc, especially those without power adapters, should be plugged directly into the Back USB port of the computer. USB Mice, Keyboards, Printers, Scanners, Cameras can all plug into the Hub and get recognized.

Spunk,
Thanks for the info. This is the first I've heard that there is a difference where to connect (back of PC & wall outlet) - I wonder why?
Dan

bromberg · 08 Jan 2018

Kbird said:

The Right hand pane will show you the device info for whatever device or hub you have clicked / selected in the LH pane eg the HUB or the Flash Drive or the Intel Root HUB even

It may show whether the HUB and or Flash Drive both support Wake on Resume etc ie D0,D2,D3 etc
Device Low-Power States | Microsoft Docs

USB Device Power States (Windows Drivers)

KB

KBird,
There certainly is a ton of info but none that clearly addresses potential problems I should address. I think this utility was meant more for a power user but that motivates me to come up to speed with the report it issues, so thanks.
Dan

Kbird · 08 Jan 2018

bromberg said:

Spunk,
Thanks for the info. This is the first I've heard that there is a difference where to connect (back of PC & wall outlet) - I wonder why?
Dan

The Front Ports don't/can't usually provide as much Power as the rear Ports eg 100ma at the front vs 500ma at the rear ( just a guess, you would need to check your MB Specs) , sometimes this info shows in Device Manager and it programs like USB TreeView or USB Deview too.

Kbird · 08 Jan 2018

bromberg said:

KBird,
There certainly is a ton of info but none that clearly addresses potential problems I should address. I think this utility was meant more for a power user but that motivates me to come up to speed with the report it issues, so thanks.
Dan

I thought it may help show what in the chain of connections maybe causing the HUB or Flash Drive not to wake up , on my last MB it was the ASMedia Hub causing the sleep issue and updating it's Firmware fixed the Sleep issue.

KB

spunk · 08 Jan 2018

bromberg said:

Spunk,
Thanks for the info. This is the first I've heard that there is a difference where to connect (back of PC & wall outlet) - I wonder why?
Dan

The Rear USB Ports are soldered to the motherboard. The Front USB ports connect thru a cable from the front port to the motherboard., Because the USB ports are not directly connected to the board, these ports will loose a little power transferring thru the cable.
Same for a Wall port vs a Power Strip, because the strip is going thru a cable to the wall, it will slightly have less power then plugging a device directly into the wall socket. Hubs are very limiting in power, since what should power one device is now plugged into a Hub which wants to power several devices and it has to split the power between all of them. The power loss is minor and most devices won't know the difference, but USB Mass Storage devices are much more sensitive and require as much external power as possible to get recognized, especially with weaker USB ports, like Laptop USB ports which are notoriously underpowered, depending on the manufacturer. Most low powered devices won't have a problem, but if you are having problems with your device, plug it in directly.

bromberg · 09 Jan 2018

Kbird said:

I thought it may help show what in the chain of connections maybe causing the HUB or Flash Drive not to wake up , on my last MB it was the ASMedia Hub causing the sleep issue and updating it's Firmware fixed the Sleep issue.

KB

Did you know updating the firmware would resolve your issue? I don't think I would have realized that unless the report suggested doing so.
Dan

Kbird · 09 Jan 2018

bromberg said:

Did you know updating the firmware would resolve your issue? I don't think I would have realized that unless the report suggested doing so.
Dan

I contacted the usb hub manufacturer 1st as I thought it may help and they did have a newer Firmware , which actually didn't help immediately but upon finding out that , they helped me found a firmware update for the built in hub on my motherboard which did get everything working together.

In my search for info I came across the Plugable website , they sell all things USB , so had alot of information on HUBS, as many use the same Chipsets inside so their information is applicable to other manufacturers too.

Plugable USB 3.0 Hub Firmware History Updates - Plugable

KB