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    USB Ports Question

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Carbo, Jan 9, 2011.

  1. Carbo

    Carbo Notebook Consultant

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    Model XPS 15, there are 3 USB ports.
    First question is what is the difference between the one labeled eSATA, and the other two that just show the USB logo?
    Second, for some reason only the eSATA port is working. The laser mouse is plugged in and working fine. Likewise, if I insert a thumb drive in the eSATA port it also works. But if I plug either device into either of the other two ports the PC isn't picking them up. Did I accidentally shut something off? Is a driver needed? I see in Device Manager under Other Devices there are three listings for Base System Device and all three show an exclamation mark.
    Any connection to the USB issue? Thank you.
     
    Carbo, Jan 9, 2011
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  2. Carbo

    Carbo Notebook Consultant

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    Rebooted and ran Dell's quick diagnostic test. Everything reported normal. But all 3 Base System Device listings are gone in the Device Manager.
     
    Carbo, Jan 9, 2011
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  3. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Right click at the top and Scan for hardware changes.

    Base System Device could be USB or card reader.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Jan 9, 2011
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  4. gaband27

    gaband27 Notebook Guru

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    Having similar problems on my daughters XPS 15 (i5+420m), the 2 USB ports intermittently stop working while the eSATA combo port works 100% of the time. The only way to get the USB ports working again is to restart the machine. Very odd problem. Haven't had a chance to look in device manager and see if anything else is going on as a restart always fixes the problem.
     
    gaband27, Jan 10, 2011
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  5. Carbo

    Carbo Notebook Consultant

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    Identical machine and problem. Out of desperation I downloaded and installed the Renesas Driver-USB 3.0 Host Controller from Dell's Driver and Downloads page. Rebooted and all the USB ports were working again. What I don't understand is why this was necessary, because previously all the ports were working fine. :confused:
     
    Carbo, Jan 10, 2011
    #5
  6. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Reinstall the Intel chipset driver, might be a settings issue.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Jan 10, 2011
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  7. fungied.cheese

    fungied.cheese Notebook Enthusiast

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    Since the USB 3.0 ports aren't controlled by Intels bridge, you should actually reinstall the USB 3.0 drivers @ Drivers and Downloads
     
    fungied.cheese, Jan 10, 2011
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  8. WhosTheBosch

    WhosTheBosch Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which ports are the USB 3.0 ones?
     
    WhosTheBosch, Jan 11, 2011
    #8