Omar Lujan
asked on
Getting error: "USB device malfunctioned" despite nothing connected
Hi,
I have a Dell 5400 laptop that keeps sporadically throwing an error:
“ The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned ”
-despite not having anything connected. I updated windows and drivers.
How can I check if there is hardware failure?
Thanks,
Omar
I have a Dell 5400 laptop that keeps sporadically throwing an error:
“ The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned ”
-despite not having anything connected. I updated windows and drivers.
How can I check if there is hardware failure?
Thanks,
Omar
The USB Hub itself may be malfunctioning. Like what was stated above, you can run self diagnostics to see if it notices any issues, but you can also try to reinstall them from the Device Manager to see if a bad driver or windows update messed them up somehow.
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You can also visit Dell's support page to run diagnostics on your Dell computer.
Run the Dell Command Update tool (which comes by default with Dell computers) to check your system for driver updates.
Run the Dell Command Update tool (which comes by default with Dell computers) to check your system for driver updates.
could be a card reader, connected internally - test it by inserting cards
event viewer may have more info - check for errors
event viewer may have more info - check for errors
There are several internal devices typically connected to the USB bus like the touch pad, integrated webcam, memory card readers, bluetooth, fingerprint sensor, touch screen, etc. When you run the diagnostics as the other Experts have suggested, diagnose everything. Also, if you look at the error log right after restarting the computer the offending error might be easier to find.
As for bad external devices, sometimes an older USB 2.0 or USB 1.0 device will start to give you trouble when connected to a USB 3.0 port or hub, but will work OK if you plug a USB 2.0 hub into the USB 3.0 port or hub and then plug the device into the USB 2.0 hub. I, for example, had to resort to that to connect my APC UPS to my computer which otherwise has only USB 3.0 ports/hubs.
As for bad external devices, sometimes an older USB 2.0 or USB 1.0 device will start to give you trouble when connected to a USB 3.0 port or hub, but will work OK if you plug a USB 2.0 hub into the USB 3.0 port or hub and then plug the device into the USB 2.0 hub. I, for example, had to resort to that to connect my APC UPS to my computer which otherwise has only USB 3.0 ports/hubs.
"As the computer boots, press the F12 key as the Dell logo appears. On the boot menu screen, select the Diagnostics option. Click the arrow at the bottom left corner. Diagnostics front page is displayed."
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/19/latitude-14-5400-laptop/latitude_5400_servicemanual/running-the-epsa-diagnostics?guid=guid-0b893eed-efbc-4831-a9c4-7298a7a9f619&lang=en-us