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General discussion

mapping USB port addresses

by jdunster May 15, 2005 12:50PM PDT

XP pro SP 2. OK team. I have replaced the defective USB port and recabled the system this afternoon. Using the manual that came with the mobo (DFI lanparty)I made a careful list of what which peripheral was connected to each of the numbered ports (there are 10 available). Installing a couple of printers I discover that the port address does not match the list I made and the system appears to have made a virtual USB port (oh joy).
So, my question is how can I map the USB ports on the system to detect what number they are and what they think is attached to them?

It was simpler with LPT and COM ports.

Any help appreciated.

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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USB doesn't work the same way
by Yew May 15, 2005 10:12PM PDT

USB doesn't really provide any means for doing this. All the addressing is handled internally by the controller. Which is why you could use a front USB port to install and configure a printer, then move it to a back port and not have to change a thing to get it working again. Unfortunately, if something goes wrong, this means the fun trial and error process to figure out which port it is.

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Oh how I wish it were so
by jdunster May 16, 2005 12:01AM PDT

Yes, in theory I can use the front ports and the cable up to the back ports. Tried that. Spent a lot of time setting up the peripherals (2 scanners, 2 printers, ext drives etc) on the front ports. Then pulled it all apart, recabled to make it all tidy and bingo, a lot of the stuff failed and the system recognised a lot of new hardware and wanted to reinstall all the drivers. I did have a defective hub which I finally swapped out and replaced with a Linksys. Still, nowhere near as simple as I had wanted. When trying to install a printer directly, it wants to know the exact usb port and obviously it's not as easy. Oh well, I now know more about USB than I really wanted to.

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mapping USB port addresses
by Themisive May 15, 2005 10:20PM PDT

They automaically configure - remember,they're plug & play devices. You'll see that they're virtual ports, and as they are plug and play, they do not need mapping, your computer should do this for you.

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