USB is garbage

[kakarot27]

this is a help/rant on everything that uses usb. but ill do help first for those of you who only care about that.
HeLP: looking for a new keyboard in thel -100 dollar range that preferably also uses an outlet.
RANT: usb preferals have caused me several problems over the years. at first it was just a a kingston usb flashdrive but it has gotten worse
about a year ago my logietech g15 keyboard broke and i ended up buying a new one only to find the g15 works after a month....it just fixed itself. PROBLEM: usb device not recognized. it was alright because i ended up giving the old one to my brother.
last last week my steelseries xai (100 dollar product) just broke. lcd went all blue with no letters and i wasnt able to move my cursor so i ended up downgrading to the famous deathadder.
TODAY: today my brothers g15 broke again, for the same reason.
normally i would consider "well things break all the time" but it has costed me about 200 dollars so far. i would expect such products to be built far better, or is it just my luck? i have noticed that all these products only use a usb cord making me think the problem is with usb. id love to see if anyone else has stories like these.
i appreciate all help and thank you in advance

 

[Benny26]

Main problem here is...Almost all PC hardware is USB, and it don't look like changing soon matey.

I do agree with you on some things like the 'not recognized' thing...Sometimes my plug and play USB hub goes unrecognized on me just out of the blue, and for the life of me don't know why. It comes back after a while though.

My mouse (which i love) went unrecognized the other day, again for no reason and ironically i had to get my old spare mouse out which went unrecognized on me years ago but now works (???)...I try to laugh about it though.

 

[LNCPapa]

The only time I've ever had problems with USB is when I've tried using a USB Hub - I hate those things. Other than that USB has made life a lot easier for me compared to the old days. When USB was in its infancy it was much more problematic - and having to upgrade to 98 was a chore back then too.

 

[EDO219]

heh ... I just finished doing a hard restart after all my USB ports instantly stopped working.

 

[SNGX1275]

The only time I've ever had problems with USB is when I've tried using a USB Hub - I hate those things.

I've had a ton of problems with unpowered hubs, even for devices that don't need much power because they are powered themselves from the wall (hard drives, printers). But I haven't really had any problems with powered hubs.

 

[kakarot27]

this **** is annoying, g15 started working again for now (fixed itself)

 

[Route44]

I've had a ton of problems with unpowered hubs, even for devices that don't need much power because they are powered themselves from the wall (hard drives, printers). But I haven't really had any problems with powered hubs.

Same here. I have found that even my powered one will, on occasion, not be recognized/or cease to function but a mere unplugging from the power for a few seconds and then re-powering does the trick.

 

[LookinAround]

<snip>PROBLEM: usb device not recognized

fyi...

From best i can tell whenever i've seen a "USB Device Not Recognized" message, it occurs when you connect a USB device and the USB Plug and Play (PnP) handshake with Windows fails
> Upon USB connection, there's a USB h/w handshake and then the device sends Windows its PnP ID strings so Windows can find a driver for the device
> But if the h/w handshake fails or Windows receive garbage, it reports USB Device Not Recognized

As Route44 mentioned, power cycling the device may help. Specifically, (i've sometimes seen the case for external USB drives) where you need to power the device back on AFTER you've replugged the cable. (if you simply replug the cable with device power on sometimes doesn't help - makes me think may sometimes be a firmware problem)

/* edit1 */
Of course, that still doesn't explain why a simple device like a USB mouse or keyboard might go unrecognized tho i've also found sometimes (not always) problematic devices also seem to work better if you get a powered hub that can provide a 1000mA port. (Standard USB ports only guarantee 500mA). I bought a Targus hub which has several USB ports and two of the ports are 1000mA ports. wasn't expensive

/* edit2 */
@kakarot27 Are the devices just failing on your computer?? Do they work when plugged into a different comptuer?

 

[kakarot27]

@lookingaround no i try them on several computers whenever they break...they just don't work also how can i get a 1000mA port? is there some kind of pcie card that connects to the psu i could use? i love links

 

[Leeky]

It would be an external USB 2 hub with its own dedicated power supply.

 

[LookinAround]

yes. It look like other external self-powered USB hubs but just check its info where it'll say supports "1000mA" or supports "twice the power of a standard port" (This is my Targus ACH81 - the 2 ports on the top provide 1000mA. Its other ports are standard 500mA)

High-power ports: Includes 2 high-power ports that provide twice the power (1000 mA) as standard USB ports

http://www.impulsegamer.com/hardwaredesktopusb204porthubwithaudiopassthrough.html

OR you can also find different Y-split types of cable where you plug into 2 USB ports to be able to get combined output of up to 1000mA output on USB out cable.
Cable Style Dual-Power 1000mA USB 2.0 4-Port Hub

In any case, probably best to look at a local brick-and-mortar store to be sure to get what you want.. and to sure is easy exchange or return if it doesn't help your problem