Sony Vaio USB ports only working one at a time

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510
I have a USB port problem, but it's not the typical one of a given port not working. My laptop has two USB 3.0 ports and they both work - but not at the same time.

My computer is five years old (Sony Vaio, Windows 7) and haven't had any problems in the past with the USB ports or using them both at once (but I don't do this often).

Today, I plugged into two USB 3.0 external drives and only one showed up. I switched drives and the other one showed up, so I knew it wasn't a problem with the drives themselves.

Then I figured maybe one of the ports was the problem, but it occurred to me I'd used the opposite one when switching them. Tested and sure enough both ports work, but not at the same time.

Unplugging one drive doesn't get the other to show up suddenly, Have to unplug both, then plug back the other one in. But the point is can plug either driver into either port individually and it will show up. But not both at once.

Note that I also have a third hybrid eSATA/USB 2.0 port, but it seems unaffected and works all the time as I have a USB mouse plugged into it.

Here's what I have in Device Manager under Universeal Serial Bus controllers:

Generic USB Hub
Generic USB Hub
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B3C
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B34
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Root Hub
USB Composite Device
USB Composite Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

I'm wondering if something's got missing at the software/driver level so that the physical ports are fighting for the same software slot. I'm just musing as a layman, I'm not that savvy once it comes to device manager issues.

It's very frustrating as I seem to have two working drives and two working ports, but can't use them at the same time to transfer files between them. I could use the third eSATA/USB port, but that's not 3.0 so very slow.

Any thoughts how to get my two USB 3.0 ports running simultaneously?

 
Solution
The idea of the pop up dialog would be a great way to go. There shouldn't be this problem, even if using the same model. I am guessing they didn't consider that someone might use more than one. :)
It may be a power saving option.

1. To check, go into "Control Panel" then "Power Options".

2. On this screen click the "Change plan settings" link next to the plan you are currently using. Now click "Change advanced power settings".

3. In this new window, check the settings for your ports. Make sure none are set to go to sleep or turn off when the power gets below a certain point.

You may want to check the rest of the options as well.
 

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510


Wouldn't think it would be a power-related sleep issue as my laptop is always plugged in (and, yup the battery is pooched).

The only change I've ever made to the power settings is changing the "Sleep after" setting from 30 to 120 min.

Otherwise, I'm on "Balanced" and this is what it says for USB settings:

USB selective suspend setting
On battery: Enabled
Plugged in: Enabled

Have more info on the problem, with post to follow.
 

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510
Guys, thanks for your replies, I've managed to further narrow down the incidence of this problem.

Firstly, i should specify that the two two drives I'm trying to access simultaneously are external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives.

It occurred to me to try mix in other external drives I have to see if same problem occurs.

I started with an external 2.5" USB 3.0 drive and it works! I can simultaneously access it and one of the external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives.

I then tried an external 3.5" USB 2.0 drive and again it works! I can simultaneously access it and one of the external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives.

So the only problem that remains is accessing both external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives at the same time.

I gather that the external 2.5" USB 3.0 drive works simultaneously with one of them suggests that it isn't a USB 3.0 problem.

So I'm wondering, would external 2.5" and 3.5" drives be handled differently (ie, different drivers/controllers)? I'm still wondering if the two external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives are fighting for the same software controller or something.

The only other thing I can think to mention is that the two external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives are the same - they are both LACIE Minimus 3TB. So again I wonder if they might be fighting for some shared driver or something. (If it matters, the other drives tested are also Lacie products.)

As a reminder, I've never had any problems with using these two drives before. They are both drives I've had three years and I'm 99% sure I've used them simultaneously before.

I don't have any other external 3.5" external USB 3.0 drives so I have no way to test whether the problem also occurs with a third drive and/or different brand/model.


 

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510
Oh, I noticed one other thing that might be important.

With both external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives plugged in, as I said only one appears in My Computer, Windows Explorer, etc.

But when I look at Taskbar and click on Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media, the second drive seems to be partially recognized.

Here's what I see:

Open Devices and Printers
Eject USB Mass Storage Device
- LACIE 3000 ( F: )
Eject USB Mass Storage Device

So the computer seems to know there's a second drive plugged into a port (and I can eject it), but it isn't able to do anything with it.

Note that I don't get any driver errors or anything like that when plugging both drives, which I thought there would be if there was an unrecognized drive.

So the computer seems to know the ports are being used and has the drivers for the drives (probably the same one since same type and model), when both are plugged in simultaneously something is happening at the software level to stop the second one from showing up properly.

 
Is it possible that your USB ports aren't getting enough juice, but are all still actually working? In the old days of only a couple years ago, I also recall that most portable external drives came with a cable that you had to plug into 2 usb ports to get enough juice to power the drive fully.

I really think that your usb ports are having problems providing enough current to run 2 drives at once. Whether there is a software cure for this, I don't know.

Or do the drives have their own separate power supplies? If so, that renders my theory invalid.
 

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510


In this case, they are external 3.5" drives with their own power sources, so it shouldn't be the issue.

I know what you mean though, I remember with external 2.5" drives in the past, where if they didn't have enough juice a drive would register as being there but not load up.

Since I'm able to get two external 2.5" drives to register and external 3.5" USB 2.0 & 3.0 drives as well, there wouldn't seem to be any power issue.

The unsavvy layman in me thinks there is some kind of conflict between the two external 3.5" USB 3.0 drives fighting over the same driver or USB 3.0 controller, if that makes any sense.
 

jabalong

Commendable
Sep 13, 2016
8
0
1,510
What got me going again looking for a solution is when I tried to access both drives on another computer and same problem happened.

So once it was confirmed that it wasn't a problem with my computer, I figured it must be something to do with the drives.

And I just lucked out with my Google search hitting on the above link right off the bat.

In hindsight, I ought to have gone into Disk Management earlier, as I've been in there before.

It's funny that the computer knows there are two drives plugged in and presumes from the dialog that there is a signature collision.

If so, you think it ought to be able to circumvent the problem itself or at least pop up a dialog about it and asking if you want to switch the second drive "online".

I'd be curious to know if this problem happens regularly when using two identical drive models from a manufacturer. This is the only such pair I have, so can't test that.