USB game controller only works in one usb port

[Dooglies]

So I have this USB Sega Saturn game pad that I have been using for years now. It is a USB 2.0 device. Recently it has only been working when plugged in to one particular usb port. If I plug it in to any other usb port, it says "unknown usb device" and the driver install fails. I want to get it to work in all usb ports on my computer, particularly the ones in the front, for obvious reasons.

Things I have done so far to troubleshoot:

1. Turn my computer off and then on again.
2. Unplug the controller, uninstall the drivers, and plug it in to a different port. Still get the same error.
3. I plugged it in to every single usb port on my laptop and it works flawlessly. This includes usb 2.0 and 3.0 slots.
4. I tried switching other usb devices, such as my mouse, to other usb ports, and they work flawlessly.

Both my desktop and my laptop are running windows 7 x64.

Please help me find a solution to this minor inconvenience in my life.

-ED

PS I'm not really sure if this is the best board to put it in.

 

[treefrog07]

When you plug it in, does a USB symbol appear in your Tray (it looks like a sideways trident)? If so, right click on it, and you should see a dialog box highlighting the port your game pad is in - right click on it and look for the option to reset the port.

 

[Dooglies]

The symbol appears, but it only comes along with a bubble that says unrecognized device. When I click the bubble or try to right click on the usb icon, it just disappears and pops up with a window that shows the USB root hub with an unknown device plugged in. I couldn't find any way to reset the usb port from that window.

I just tried uninstalling the root hub in device manager, then restarting my computer so that it would reinstall that root hub, and it still didn't fix it.

 

[treefrog07]

The symbol appears, but it only comes along with a bubble that says unrecognized device. When I click the bubble or try to right click on the usb icon, it just disappears and pops up with a window that shows the USB root hub with an unknown device plugged in. I couldn't find any way to reset the usb port from that window. Right-click on the bolded USB port; that should offer you an option to reset the port.

I just tried uninstalling the root hub in device manager, then restarting my computer so that it would reinstall that root hub, and it still didn't fix it.

See above.

If that still fails, unplug the system from the wall, open the case to see if you have an un-used internal USB connector - they are usually located on the bottom of the board as you face it with the side panel off. Remove the Front Panel USB cable from its existing USB connection and move it to the unused connector. Replace the side panel. Plug-in the power cord to the wall. Restart you system, and after windows loads - plug you game pad into on of the Front Panel ports.

 

[Dooglies]

I can't right click on any of the ports in that window, even the bolded one. No context menu comes up.

I doubt it's a wiring problem, because other things that I plug in to those ports work fine, and I get the same problem when I plug the controller in to any of the other ports that are hard wired into my motherboard. It only works in one specific port built in to the motherboard.

This is a really strange problem. I guess I might just have to get used to only plugging it in that one port. Haha.

 

[gamerk316]

Might be a power problem. A lot of those gamepads draw a surprising amount of current, and if on teh same port as the mouse and keyboard, you might simply be drawing too much current for the internal USB hub to handle. [I *think* the limit is 500ma, and I know the generic Microsoft USB mouse takes half of that by itself...]

 

[Dooglies]

I won't rule out that possibility. It might be some kind of weird power issue. But the weird thing is that it doesn't work in the front hub (which is only 2 ports, which are connected to auxiliary pins on the mobo), and the one port it works in is connected to my mouse and my bluetooth dongle. Note again that everything else that I have tried works in every single port, including the front two.

Here's a screenshot of the root hub where the controller works. I believe the USB composite device is my keyboard, and the HID controller is the game pad.
http://i.imgur.com/3LoXT.png

For some reason it just doesn't detect the game pad properly when it is plugged in to any other port.

 

[treefrog07]

If you don't have a free external USB port on the motherboard to try, you may be restricted to the one working port.

 

[CodeHugger]

Many (most) USB device drivers will only associate with the USB port your device was first plugged into. I cannot change this behavior but I can help you reassign your controller to one of the ports on the front of your computer.

Follow this simple procedure: http://codehugger.com/comments/ChangeUSBport.docx

If that link ever becomes broken, email me: jason@codehugger.com

 

[MarcosD2]

I had to create an account here to confirm that solution
presented above by CodeHugger was the only one that
worked for me.

I had a problem with a mouse only being recognized in a
USB 3.0 Port. Did the steps he mentioned and now I can
use it in a 2.0 USB Port.

Below are the steps mentioned in the .DOCX file by him.

*********************************************

You can associate your USB device with a different port but it will still
only function on one port. To change what port your device works
on, try this:

1. Download the free application called USBDeview.
This is a tiny app that runs from a single .exe file so
nothing is installed on your computer.

2. Run USBDeview AS ADMINISTRATOR.

3. Locate the column titled “Last Plug/Unplug Date.”
You may need to use the scroll bar at the bottom because
there are dozens of columns that you can’t see. Now sort on
this column by clicking on the column header so that the most
recent times are at the top.

4. Plug-in your USB device using the port that it currently
functions on and see what device jumps to the top of the list.
You may need to hit the refresh button in the tool bar.
It may also be helpful to wait a couple minutes if you have
plugged-in several devices recently so that there is more of a
time offset.

5. Once you identify the device, look at the columns to the right
and write down the device’s vendor ID and product ID.
You need both. For example, my Logitech sound bar vendor ID
is 046d and the device ID is 0a23.

6. Open device manager and locate your device. Uninstall the
device driver. Plug-and-play devices will reinstall the driver
automatically in step or the computer will do an online search
and download it. Don’t let this step scar you.

7. After uninstalling the device you should see it disappear from
the device manager. Now UNPLUG the device from the computer
and reboot. DO NOT plug your device back in after the reboot
completes.

8. Run USBDeview AS ADMINISTRATOR with your device
still disconnected.

9. Sort by Product ID and “Uninstall” all of the entries that have the
same vendor & product ID that you wrote down from step 5.
There may be several. For example, my Logitech sound bar had
6 entries. If BOTH the vendor and product ID match, uninstall it.

10. Now decide what USB port you want the device to function from
and plug it into that port. In some cases (like with my sound bar)
you may need to go to the control panel and reassign that device as
the “default” audio device. If your device is a printer then you will
need to use control panel to re-assign that printer as your default
printer etc...

DONE