USB Active Extender not recognised by Laptop

[RobertM]

I works ok on both my desktop and another Laptop but not mine.  It should be recognised as a generic usb hub but all I get is the 'Found new hardware wizard' then it fails to find a suitable driver.  Been bashing my head on this for the last two nights (in between beer breaks !) so if anyone has any bright ideas ....

IBM ThinkPad T40
Windows XP service pack 2
Bios updated to latest
Have tried disconnecting power and batteries for 15 mins
Have updated to Service Pack 3 - still no joy.

Any help gratefully received.
Robert

[mickw]

Had a quick look at IBM forum, one guy got cranky USB devices to work by using a hub in between device and laptop 
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/

Or this may help
http://www.driverfiles.net/Notebooks/IBM/ThinkPad-T40,-T40p,-T41,-T41p/download/page,sh,27549,70,19,.html

Is the IBM security setup simply preventing acces to it 

You could try booting with the extender plugged in..

[RobertM]

Yep, done all that and still no joy ... bugger !

[RobertM]

Mike - many thanks for your help last Friday.  I was getting a bit desperate after that and so after trying just about every possible fix posted on the web, I reinstalled XP.  Guess what ! it works now and recognises usb hubs correctly event at SP2 with all the fixes and hardware drivers.  Now I can get on with taking some more images when I get back from Hols in a weeks time.

[Mike]

I did say it looked like some kind of system file was missing or corrupt so maybe that's what it was and the re-install has rectified it. Glad you finally got it working.

I had fun installing a new motherboard, CPU and memory last night until 1am as my old CPU went pop.

[RobertM]

Had the same thing earlier this year when I refreshed the hardware in my desktop.  Turned out to be an intermittent MB problem ... it's such a bugger to diagnose sometimes.  The new one has a POST diagnosis display so you can see exactly where it gets stuck if there's a problem - a brilliant idea.   Never had a CPU go yet, it's unusual unless you overclock agressively.

[mickw]

Guess what ! it works now and recognises usb hubs correctly event at SP2 with all the fixes and hardware drivers.

All you have to do now is install SP3 and lose it all again 

[Mike]

I've found SP3 to be pretty reliable actually (for once).

[RobertM]

I'll be taking a disk image before I do that ... it takes bloody ages to get the system back to where it was ...

[Mike]

Get a Mac you can do it in seconds

[RobertM]

Cheers Mike, don't rub it in

[Ian]

Get a Mac you can do it in seconds

And here's me thinking that in the happy-clappy rose tinted world of Apple, you never actually need to use a system restore 

[mickw]

Ian,
You should really start drinking Port 

One, Two, Three -
Swig two three -
Chill two three -

Swig - Oh sod it
swig, swig, swig 

[Ian]

as it happens, I've now had a glass of wine, and now feel that despite having a day where all the evidence suggests that the idiots of the world all made a concerted effort to make my life as difficult as possible, that I might just be able to find the motivation to let them have another go tomorrow.

Still, that's the first time I've ever heard a Mac owner admit to the existence of a system restore facility...