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?
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?