Microsoft Windows 2000, XP Patch For USB Connectivity Issues

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;838989' target='_blank'>http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;EN-US;838989</a><br /><br /></div>Got a problem with your Pocket PC and ActiveSync on a USB 2.0 hub? It might actually not be ActiveSync's fault. Knowledgebase article 838989 describes the symptoms as the following:<br /><br /><i>"When you connect a Pocket PC handheld device to a USB 2.0 hub, or when you turn off the device and then turn it back on again while the device is still connected to the USB 2.0 hub, Microsoft Windows may not redetect the device. This problem may also occur with other USB devices that have pending transfers if the device is disconnected and then reconnected; or if the device is turned off and then turned back on while it is still connected to the USB 2.0 hub."</i><br /><br />Microsoft released updates for Windows 2000 and XP today. (It's not clear whether or not XP SP2 includes this update.) If you've been having problems that match this symptom, you might want to check this update out.<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> Looks like this update refuses to install on XP SP2, claiming it's not needed, so it seems only necessary for Win2k SP4 and XP SP1 or lower.

[joelevi]

Microsoft released updates for Windows 2000 and XP today. (It's not clear whether or not XP SP2 includes this update.)

I downloaded and attempted to install the patch this morning on my Windows XP Pro SP2 machine and was met with this message:

Setup has detected that the Service Pack version of this system is newer than the update you are applying.

There is no need to install this update.

So it would appear as if SP2 (or some other Windows Update that I've recently applied) has taken care of what this update should have done.

I wasn't having any particular problems before... and I'm still not.

[jonathanchoo]

I have been experiencing this problem on and off over the pass year on various PPC! Why has it taken MS that long to put out a fix?

[Janak Parekh]

So it would appear as if SP2 (or some other Windows Update that I've recently applied) has taken care of what this update should have done.
Yeah. What's interesting, though, is that it came out after SP2. :|

--janak

[joelevi]

So it would appear as if SP2 (or some other Windows Update that I've recently applied) has taken care of what this update should have done.
Yeah. What's interesting, though, is that it came out after SP2. :|

--janak

The only logic I can see is this update is only 432KB and SP2 is, well, a little bit bigger than that.

[Janak Parekh]

The only logic I can see is this update is only 432KB and SP2 is, well, a little bit bigger than that.
Either that, or MS first released the patch as SP2 and took some time to repackage it. I'll update my post anyway.

--janak

[EricMCarson]

The update might be packaged this way for those corporations, like mine, who have blocked SP2 from installing until testing is complete (sometime next year).

[joelevi]

The update might be packaged this way for those corporations, like mine, who have blocked SP2...

There ya go! That answer is better than mine! Pocket PCs are intended for the enterprise.

[gorkon280]

Activesync still sucks. Case in point, I still have this issue with my 4350....on a Mac. Missing Sync still launches active sync and I still get disconnects when using USB on my Mac. Care to try somethign else Microsoft?

[Janak Parekh]

Activesync still sucks. Case in point, I still have this issue with my 4350....on a Mac. Missing Sync still launches active sync and I still get disconnects when using USB on my Mac. Care to try somethign else Microsoft?
Wait, wait, wait. How can you say it's ActiveSync and not Missing Sync it's causing the problem, then?

--janak

[gorkon280]

Pretty sure. It seems to be, that I have noticed, that it happens more with certain models then others. My e740 I had could not stay connected if my life had depended on it. It would die mid sync even. My h5555 I had was the most reliable and almost never dropped ActiveSync. My 4350 would drop it occasionally....before the ROM update earlier this week. Now it seems to be pretty good. I will give you this one, it may be the USB driver on the device and not ActiveSync causing the drops, but still, Active sync still sucks....big time. I am ready for them to dump it. If I heard that they were doing this in WM 2005, I would be a happy camper.

[gorkon280]

Oh and MissingSync has a log. They PPC would announce the disconnect then missing sync would report the device dropped the connection.

[bdeli]

I think the update was included in SP2 (Final RTM) since I stopped having reconnection issues after I installed SP2.

[eric815]

I first had this same problem on a USB connected Blackberry to a Dell GX260 several months ago. I had tried everything in the book and on all the sites but nothing seemed to fix it. That is until I did the following and it all makes sense....

Go to the Device Manager,
Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers,
Open each USB Root Hub properties,
Select Powere Management tab,
Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
Close

This is the fix to the USB connectivity issue. My guess is that this patch will automatically set these items for you.

--Eric