Windows 7 x64 laptop - "Unknown Device"

[FireC]

I don't know where I strayed off wrong here.. I have installed the drivers for the USB Gecko and have everything arranged perfectly for myself. However, it dosen't always connect smoothly.. it either connects as "Unknown Device" where I can't do anything, or "USB Serial Converter" which is what it should be, but WiiRD will not work with this and it will eventually become "Unknown Device" again.


I have a Windows 7 64 bit laptop, as said in the title. Does this attribute to anything?

What is my problem here?

[dcx2]

Is the driver you installed designed for 64-bit systems?  32-bit user-mode code can run in 64-bit using Windows On Windows (WOW).  Drivers cannot use WOW.

Hm...it has to be 64-bit compliant, or the OS would have complained when installing the driver.

Look in Device Manager at the Properties of the Unknown Device.  Flip to the Details tab, change the dropdown box to "Hardware Ids".  What are the VID and PID?  They should be 0403 and 6001.

[FireC]

Is the driver you installed designed for 64-bit systems?  32-bit user-mode code can run in 64-bit using Windows On Windows (WOW).  Drivers cannot use WOW.

Hm...it has to be 64-bit compliant, or the OS would have complained when installing the driver.

Look in Device Manager at the Properties of the Unknown Device.  Flip to the Details tab, change the dropdown box to "Hardware Ids".  What are the VID and PID?  They should be 0403 and 6001.

0403 and 6001 is the VID and PID for the device when it decides to be nice and become "USB Serial Converter." The problem is that it keeps switching back and forth to unknown to known. (By the way, when it is in unknown device mode, the vid and pid are both 0000)

Also, I'm pretty sure the driver I installed said it was both 32-bit and 64-bit compatible.


Edit - In case this is of any use, this is what the general description says when it is in "Unknown Device" mode; "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)"

[dcx2]

When a USB device is connected to a PC, the PC interrogates the device for a VID and PID.  This process is called enumeration.  The PC uses the VID and PID to decide what driver it's supposed to load to talk with the device.

If you're getting 0000 for VID/PID, that means that the device is not enumerating.  My guess is that the cable or one of the connectors is loose.  The odd switching back and forth seems consistent with a loose cable.

1) Try plugging the USB cord into different USB ports on your PC.  One of your ports might be loose.

2) Try replacing the USB cable with a different USB cable.  The cable's manufacturer might have poor quality control, and it might not fit snugly into the connector.

3) Try inserting the USB cord slowly.  The USB cable has power pins and data pins; the power pins are longer, so that the device gets electricity first and the data connection second.  Perhaps if you insert the cord too quickly, the device has not powered up enough to respond to enumeration in time, though this is an unlikely scenario.

[FireC]

When a USB device is connected to a PC, the PC interrogates the device for a VID and PID.  This process is called enumeration.  The PC uses the VID and PID to decide what driver it's supposed to load to talk with the device.

If you're getting 0000 for VID/PID, that means that the device is not enumerating.  My guess is that the cable or one of the connectors is loose.  The odd switching back and forth seems consistent with a loose cable.

1) Try plugging the USB cord into different USB ports on your PC.  One of your ports might be loose.

2) Try replacing the USB cable with a different USB cable.  The cable's manufacturer might have poor quality control, and it might not fit snugly into the connector.

3) Try inserting the USB cord slowly.  The USB cable has power pins and data pins; the power pins are longer, so that the device gets electricity first and the data connection second.  Perhaps if you insert the cord too quickly, the device has not powered up enough to respond to enumeration in time, though this is an unlikely scenario.

None of the options work, is my laptop a jerk or is my USB Gecko busted?

[dcx2]

If you're getting USB Serial Converter, then I don't think your USB Gecko is broken.  However, the connection internally might be loose...I'm not sure what else to tell you.  Can you try a different computer?

[FireC]

If you're getting USB Serial Converter, then I don't think your USB Gecko is broken.  However, the connection internally might be loose...I'm not sure what else to tell you.  Can you try a different computer?

I can't at the moment, but would it be enough to say last time I tried it and it worked completely, I had a different computer?

[Romaap]

You could try to reinstall the drivers, the latest can be found here.

[FireC]

Alright, I've been screwing around a bit, and your theory is right. The connection is not firm enough to stay stable. The problem is.. that the problem itself is located on the "mini" side of the USB cable, not the normal part that connects to the computer.

There is no more "unknown device", it is either "USB Serial Converter" or it won't even realize something was plugged in. "USB Serial Converter" occurs only when I hold the mini part of the cable down firmly.

[dcx2]

I believe you said you tried a different cable, which leads me to believe that it's the mini connector on the USB Gecko.

I hesitate to suggest this, but you could try opening the USB Gecko and squeezing the connector VERY GENTLY so that it's a little bit tighter.  If you aren't 100% confident about doing this without breaking anything then DON'T.  USB Geckos are hard to find and I don't want you wrecking yours on account of my advice.

Another suggestion would be to shim a small piece of paper into the connector while you plug it in.  The piece of paper might tighten up the loose connector.

[FireC]

I believe you said you tried a different cable, which leads me to believe that it's the mini connector on the USB Gecko.

I hesitate to suggest this, but you could try opening the USB Gecko and squeezing the connector VERY GENTLY so that it's a little bit tighter.  If you aren't 100% confident about doing this without breaking anything then DON'T.  USB Geckos are hard to find and I don't want you wrecking yours on account of my advice.

Another suggestion would be to shim a small piece of paper into the connector while you plug it in.  The piece of paper might tighten up the loose connector.

I found a solution, I put the cable straight down behind the USB Gecko, and put the cable from there under the Wii. With the Wii, keeping the cable tight and straight down, the connection seems to be solid.

Is this safe to use as a method though?

By the way, WiiRD is not working with me because of a certain error (it's a random one too):



Should I experiment with another hook?

Never mind, the problem was I had the software in folders with spaces in them.. apparently this is a problem...

[dcx2]

I don't see any serious danger in artificially stressing the cable to make up for looseness.  The worst that would happen is you lose your connection while trying to hack

That's a weird error...my expertise is with Gecko.NET and not WiiRDGUI so much.  You can try another hook, but that error means that WiiRDGUI is trying to read memory it's not allowed to read.

[FireC]

I fixed the error.  ;D

I edited the post to show what the problem was above.

I don't see any serious danger in artificially stressing the cable to make up for looseness.  The worst that would happen is you lose your connection while trying to hack

It seems to be stable now to a point where what you say is the worst won't happen.  ;)

Well, f**k. It's pulling this crap again.. I can't trust myself to go inside the USB Gecko and tighten the controller because I don't have experience with doing things with the hardware itself and the likes... oh well.