Old Dell desktop USB notification

[Velvis]

I have a Dell desktop from about 2009 and it keeps randomly popping up a notification that the last USB device plugged it has malfunctioned. Sometime it will go a week or so without doing it, sometimes it does it over and over again.

I unplugged all USB devices and it still occurs.

I was thinking the built in USB system is shot and I would disable it in BIOS and put in a USB card.

However the machine has a password on the BIOS.

The user is a 89 year old who very very likely does not have the password or the ability to find it if he has it somewhere.

I know Windows can disable the device but on every reboot it turns it back on.

Is there any way around this?

 

[Blues]

Any installed add-on cards?

 

[backwoodsman]

However the machine has a password on the BIOS.

Desktops almost always have a jumper on the motherboard that will reset the BIOS (including the password) to factory defaults.

I'd want to boot to Linux and see if the problem occurs there, to narrow down whether it's hardware or software, but that can be more difficult with an intermittent problem.

When you disabled it in Windows, did you also delete the driver so it has to install it again? That might be worth a try.

Once you're into the BIOS, if it's one of the USB controllers, you probably don't need to add a USB card, just use a hub with whatever ports work.

 

[Markverhyden]

I've seen machines where there's two types passwords for BIOS. One for just accessing BIOS and another that locks down the BIOS limiting what can be changed. I think Dell was one of them. But they were business class machines. Also it possible it could be a power supply problem. Do you have one of those USB testers which reports voltages?

 

[NviGate Systems]

Does this dell have a built in card reader? It would be plugged in to the front panel IO. Wasn't sure if by USB devices you meant external or not. Also, any damage to front USB ports will cause shorts that could cause the same error.

 

[Markverhyden]

Does this dell have a built in card reader? It would be plugged in to the front panel IO. Wasn't sure if by USB devices you meant external or not. Also, any damage to front USB ports will cause shorts that could cause the same error.

And those readers do fail. Seen that several times.

 

[timeshifter]

any damage to front USB ports will cause shorts that could cause the same error

I've seen a couple of mangled USB ports, check each one closely and make sure the pins aren't bent.

I unplugged all USB devices and it still occurs.

Including mouse and keyboard?

If it has PS2 mouse and keyboard connections a fun experiment would be to use those and know that absolutely nothing is plugged in to any USB ports. As mentioned, check for card readers, as they're USB devices too.

Do the event logs identify the actual device / port number?

 

[Velvis]

And those readers do fail. Seen that several times.

I didn't think of that, and it seems that was culprit! Thank you!

 

[Markverhyden]

I didn't think of that, and it seems that was culprit! Thank you!

That was @NviGate Systems suggestion.

 

[Velvis]

Actually, the warning keeps coming up. So it must be the motherboard USB device.

Desktops almost always have a jumper on the motherboard that will reset the BIOS (including the password) to factory defaults.

I'd want to boot to Linux and see if the problem occurs there, to narrow down whether it's hardware or software, but that can be more difficult with an intermittent problem.

When you disabled it in Windows, did you also delete the driver so it has to install it again? That might be worth a try.

Once you're into the BIOS, if it's one of the USB controllers, you probably don't need to add a USB card, just use a hub with whatever ports work.

Thanks for the BIOS reset jumper. I reset it and shut off the built in USB and added a card. So far so good. Thanks.