My Ports Ain't Working No More!

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Camu Mahubah

Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
3,048
Location
the Sandhills of Nebraska
I have an HP Pavilion dv8000 laptop. A few months ago it quit recognizing anythang plugged into the USB ports. So no printer, camera or any accessory for awhile now.

I've tried everythang I could think of. The wife even had HP tech support on the phone the other day for hours. No luck.

So I am considering buying a new laptop when a buddy at work tells me the local Staples has HP trained computer techs. So I call them. They want $69.95 just to do a diagnostic with no guarantees of success. Or I could I send the dang thang to HP and who knows how much that will cost!

Should I:

A. Go to Staples

B. Buy a new laptop

C. Send it to HP

D. Run over it with the car and then throw it in a lake!
 
Download the Ubuntu live CD and see if the ports work when you run Linux.... You'll be able to tell if it's a hardware or OS problem.

Wayne
 
+1 to the above. Make yourself a live Linux CD (Ubuntu is a good one) and see if they work under Linux.

If they work under Linux, I'd back up your data, format the drive, and reinstall Windows.

later,
b
 
Isn't there a BIOS setting to enable/disable the USB ports on these? If I have time I'll take a look around my laptop to see what else it may be as I have the identical model.
 
Try this. Start->Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manager
Note any yellow exclamation marks beside/under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Crashbox
Isn't there a BIOS setting to enable/disable the USB ports on these? If I have time I'll take a look around my laptop to see what else it may be as I have the identical model.


Dude that would be awesome! I don't think we are going to Staples now. I think I ought to give this Ubuntu thang a try after I get back from the library!
cool.gif


Thanks for yall's help and suggestions! All advice is appreciated!
thankyou2.gif
 
The Ubuntu advice is indeed excellent, too, with a possible caveat that the Live CD may hang. See below.

Just a note if you ever choose to run Linux on the '8000: the only distribution I could get to install and run on mine was Fedora, currently Fedora 9. For some reason the hardware mix in the '8000 and Linux seem a bit sensitive. In no way, however, am I trying to discourage you from running the Live CD.

There may be a Fedora Live CD out there, it's been a while since I checked. If so you may have better luck in the '8000 with it.
 
I used to have a computer company and I have seen this problem before... It may have to do with a corrupt registry entry that's causing the Device Manager not to function properly... Could be fixed by a Windows Re-Install. Another thing you can try is going into the BIOS and enabling Legacy support (if it has the option) and then connect a USB Keyboard to it and boot the windows installation cd and see if you can control the screens with the USB keyboard... Just a thought...
 
So now I am a bit confused. I went to the store and bought CD's to download Ubuntu. On the way home I was wondering if I bought the right CD's. I got CD-R's. Are they the correct disc? Or do I need DVD disc?

Then I get home and I see this stuff about Fedora. Is Fedora the same thing as Ubuntu?
21.gif
A quick summary of each would be helpful.

I have to take out the trash per wife's orders so I'll be right back. If someone could help I would be most grateful!
thankyou2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Camu Mahubah
So now I am a bit confused. I went to the store and bought CD's to download Ubuntu. On the way home I was wondering if I bought the right CD's. I got CD-R's. Are they the correct disc? Or do I need DVD disc?

Then I get home and I see this stuff about Fedora. Is Fedora the same thing as Ubuntu?
21.gif
A quick summary of each would be helpful.


There are well over 400 Linux *based* operating systems (see Distrowatch to get a sense of them). Linux is actually just a tiny, tiny core (or "kernel"), upon which you can pile layers of software. Ubuntu, Fedora and *lots of others* take the freely available and freely redistributable Linux kernel and make their own operating systems by bundling OpenOffice, Firefox and many, many other free (as in freedom) programs. All have their own goals and niches, but the more widely distributed Linux based OS's (called "distributions") are all very stable, compatible and fast. Many people actually hop from distribution to distribution to test and experiment.

In short, there is no Linux OS, Linux is just the core. Technically, it is actually GNU/ Linux, but we'll leave that for another day.

As far as media is concerned, any distribution larger than a normal CD *usually* offers the option to download one DVD or several CD's. I don't know about Fedora, but I know Ubuntu comes on one CD. Both can also be booted from a USB thumb drive rather than a CD, too.

Comparing the two, in my experience:

Ubuntu is easier to use and easier to get codecs and propreitary software for (mp3's, DVD, Flash, etc.) whereas Fedora tries to stick to free software only, and it is not quite as easy to get the software required to play a lot of proprietary media.

Fedora has more cutting edge software as far as I have been aware.

From a technical standpoint, Ubuntu is based on another distribution called Debian. The Ubuntu folks take the Debian operating system, tweak it and re-brand it for the most part. Fedora is based on Red Hat and uses a different software packaging format than the Debian family of OS derivatives (of which there are many).

Together with openSUSE, Ubuntu and Fedora are probably the three most popular Linux distributions.
 
You need to use a software like Nero which can open .iso images (Which is like a zip file of CD contents) and can burn it back to a CD.

So in Nero you would choose to burn a Data CD from an image/ISO
 
Nero costs money... Look in your computer you should have some sort of CD Burning software that came with it. There are some free ISO to CD burning utilities out there.. Can't think of one at the moment but I'm sure a Google search for one will do the trick.
 
How do I look in my computer? Is there a specific way of searching for these programs? Totally lost here and getting a little tired of this machine. I wonder if Chuck Norris could chop this laptop in half with one chop?
cool.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

sloinker
Best option for CD transferring and burning....
2
Replies
24
Views
1K
Nick1994
Hermann
The new 17.3" HP laptop review.
Replies
19
Views
2K
Hermann
92saturnsl2
Hit the used laptop lotto
Replies
17
Views
1K
Hermann
D
SSD recovery
Replies
3
Views
616
Dave Sherman
ctechbob
Beelink Micro PC's (SER5 5500U)
Replies
12
Views
2K
Bottom_Feeder
Back
Top