A very strange USB problem.

Windows 10 Pro x64 22H2 build 199045.2846. Ryzen 5 3600 with 32gig DDR4

I have an very odd USB issue where a Kobo WiFi model N647 ereader, a Garmin Nuvi 1300 GPS, the USB writer tool from Virtual Console Inc, and Alexander Beug's USB Image Tool are not properly detected (the Kobo and Garmin) or cannot see USB devices.

The Kobo and Garmin are supposed to have internal storage that shows up as a FAT32 volume but only shows as Unallocated in Disk Management. The two programs are for writing disk images to USB connected storage devices but neither can see anything connected to USB.

I've tried different ports, which are on different controller chips, which are different brands. Tried many different cables. The Kobo and Garmin both use Mini B USB.

However ALL my USB mass storage devices, USB 2.0 and 3.x, flash drives, hard drives, SD cards, Memory Stick, xD Picture card work fine. Rufus works. Win32 Disk Imager works. MiniTool Partition Wizard, Easeus, AOMEI *it all works*. All the drive/storage software except those two programs can see all the devices, except for the Kobo and the Garmin.

Something is somehow blocking only those two devices and two programs and I have no idea what or how.

With the storage in the Kobo being kept hidden, the Kobo Desktop software and Calibre can't access it. With the storage in the Garmin being kept hidden, its internal maps can't be updated.

On my Dell laptop, with the same Windows version, the Kobo and Garmin are working as they should.

On the desktop I've uninstalled all manufacturer USB drivers, allowing Windows to switch to Microsoft's drivers. No change.

The Kobo and Garmin are supposed to have internal storage that shows up as a FAT32 volume but only shows as Unallocated in Disk Management...On my Dell laptop, with the same Windows version, the Kobo and Garmin are working as they should.

what do they show as in winpe diskpart ?
admin cmd prompt:
reagentc /boottore
restart pc

Nothing there gets to an environment where I can plug in a USB device and see if it's properly recognized and accessible.

What I do have is an old clone of the system drive on a hard drive. So sloooowwwww compared to the SSD despite being a really fast drive.

But booted to that I was able to connect the Kobo ereader and its internal storage showed up as a drive accessible in Explorer.

I wonder if there's a way to just clone over everything to do with USB? Drivers, Registry settings etc?

you could have a look with dism++ and see if there is anything in the old working system that is not in the current one.

https://github.com/Chuyu-Team/Dism-M....1.1002.1B.zip

click the os at the top. if it is not the currently booted os click "open session".



click Drivers in the left pane

Are both devices,Kobo and Garmin self powered ?
If so is it battery or mains power ?

I think this is the same poster, but this thread has better technical details.

The problem appears to be power supply.
Try having only mouse,keyboard and monitor connected on the pc,then whilst the pc is powered off,connect only one of the devices and restart and see if that works.
Additionally,the batteries might be causing a problem when needing power for a recharge and causing a spike in demand,which the Power Supply Unit is unable to meet.
Filling in the "My Computer" specifications would be of help.
Devices powered by usb sockets,instead of their own supply,are frequently troublesome.

joeandmarg0 said:

The problem appears to be power supply.
Try having only mouse,keyboard and monitor connected on the pc,then whilst the pc is powered off,connect only one of the devices and restart and see if that works.
Additionally,the batteries might be causing a problem when needing power for a recharge and causing a spike in demand,which the Power Supply Unit is unable to meet.
Filling in the "My Computer" specifications would be of help.
Devices powered by usb sockets,instead of their own supply,are frequently troublesome.

Power supply can't affect two programs, and only two programs, not seeing an SD card plugged into a reader and all other apps, including Windows itself, have no problem seeing and accessing the card.

Power is also not the problem when the old backup clone on a different drive on this PC, does not have this problem with these two devices and two apps.

There's something screwed up with software / drivers somewhere.

Post 1,paragraph 2,last line ---or cannot see USB devices ---.
A device is not a programme.