New Computer Hell Or Things I Never Wanted To Know About Computers

[CaptJackG]

As most are aware I had (ya right) to get a new computer due to a lightning strike. So I order a computer from the place I bought my last machine. It was IBUYPOWER, a gaming computer builder that I had used before for my previous system. It had a lot of positive reviews and my old computer ran without a seconds trouble...ever. So I used them again for the replacement.

 

After getting some recommendations from you guys I got the configuration I wanted. I had to wait some extra time because I chose the 980 video card and they had to wait for another shipment to arrive.

I got the computer on 10/6 and took it to a computer tech I know here in town to have him set it up and install windows. He also tried to save some files from my old machine. In the meantime I had decided to change from CH hotas to Warthog hotas.

 

I get the computer home the next day and plug in everything except the warthog, mouse, keyboard, TrackIR, USB headset, & MFG Rudders. The computer hangs up on the boot up.

I plug in just the mouse and keyboard....still hands. I plug in just the mouse and it boots. After boot up I start plugging in the above items and each one shows up in the device window...no problem. I reboot...hang. Again boot on mouse. I can sometimes get it to boot with the keyboard but then it doesn't see all the memory. I have 16 and it would boot with 8, sometimes 12.

 

Now I'm wondering if the culprit might be the keyboard as it was connected to the old computer when it was hit by the lightning. This is a Sunday and I go out to try to find a wired keyboard...no luck. In the mean time I order a new Corsair keyboard. I take the computer in to my tech guy on Monday and he plugs in his mouse and keyboard and everything works fine...hmmmm. I bring it back home and it boots up fine then when I reboot it's missing ram again. If I add back the other usb items it hangs on boot up....dang.

 

Finally on Tuesday I call the IBUYPOWER tech support and the 1st person suggest that my problem is with a usb device. I keep trying different combination all to no avail. I call back the tech support and get a different person. He has me checking the bios and then suggest I update the bios. I do that...found it to be really simple with this mb. Reboot the computer with just mouse and keyboard...everything is normal...hmmmm. Start plugging usb items back and and rebooting...normal.

 

I now install the drivers for the warthog, reboot, and plug in the warthog...it works. Sweet baby Jesus. I finally shut down for the evening. Start the next day...hang. Crap on a stick. I no longer have the missing ram problems but I cannot boot with everything plugged in to the usb ports.

 

I've done a lot of research about the warthog and find that it may have issues with usb 3.0. Once I've booted I can plug them in and they work just fine. In the meantime I've picked up another problem...Unknow Device, No Driver Installed. How the hell do you find a driver for a device if you don't know what it is...double crap on a stick. After much searching and many tech forum boards I get the "parent" id and find a forum that addressed that id. Someone posted a driver. I download said driver and direct the unknown device to look in that folder and voila...it works.

 

I'm searching my mb manufacturer web for drivers for my mb. I find an intel usb controller driver. I download and run...bad move on my part. It failed during setup and everything goes dark. I'm thinking I just porked the mb. I'm able to reboot with mouse and kb. I try to restore the computer to a previous point before the driver but it won't restore. I now have a new unknown device error with a lot of new numbers.

I can get nowhere in finding the needed driver. But I find this program called Driver Agent. It will check your computer for free but you have to subscribe to be able to use the files it finds. I run it and it says it can fix the device and several other out of date drivers. I pay for the subscription and use the drivers it found. It worked, money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I reconnect everything including the warthog. I find that Windows will hand on the startup. If I reset and restart Windows starts normally and everything is working just fine. So that was the state I was in starting today.

 

I then remember in my old computer I had a usb 2.0 PCIe card. I got it and plugged it into my new computer. I then put the warthog throttle and joystick on that card and rebooted. Everything worked normally. Have tried several reboots and each time is normal...Double Sweet baby Jesus.

 

So now I've gone into areas of computing I don't ever want to have to deal with again. I'll see in the long run if this machine works as well as the last one.

 

Now I just have set up all my controls again.

 

[DD_Arthur]

See?  I told you not to retire!

 

Good luck with it Jack.

[Jabo]

Well, I'm glad you got it working Jack. USB 3.0 seems to cause a lot of problems with USB 2.0/1.0 devices and it's not always easy to find the correct drivers - Am I right in thinking that the PC you bought did not come with a set of drivers on a disc? If so that's really poor service - I've been struggling with a similar problem with a friends laptop (he specced it and had it built for him) and it has led to the occasional 'exchange of views' with their tech people. Be wary of Driver Agent, I've heard bad things about them. If you've got everything working now, I'd uninstall that application and carry on. Windows 7 should quite happily pick up new drivers once the hardware is installed correctly.

[FoolTrottel]

+1 on what Jabo said on 'Driver Agent'

 

Stuff like that is being thrown upon you if you are looking for a driver, any driver.

 

Best to just go to the website of the manufacturer, and get drivers that way...

 

What brand is that motherboard? (Me thinks 'Asus'... ) 

[BadAim]

Welcome to USB Hell, my friend. I've been having problems with USB and the various devices installed on it since my first Saitek x36. To be fair it has been more often than not crappy Saitek drivers rather than USB itself. Surfing the interwebs is fairly simple, but once you start running advanced software (like flightsims) and plugging in a dozen peripherals it can go sideways fast.

 

Methinks the Captain has earned his "Power User" merit badge!