#260240 - 12/07/2005 15:13
Installing drivers
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12324
Loc: Sterling, VA
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I've got a basic USB device here - a USB CDROM. I'm installing it on a brand new Dell workstation. One would think the process would require no more than plugging the thing in (that's what "plug and play" is for, right?). Well, no such luck. After I connect the thing to the computer, it tries to start installing the driver. But it always fails and ends up with this error:
An error occurred during the installation of this device
The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for this device instance
I've searched MS's site and didn't find anything helpful. I've Googled it, and am not optimistic because I have found several mentions of this error, and in each of them the person went as far as formatting and reinstalling Windows, and they still got the error!
Any ideas?
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Matt
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#260241 - 12/07/2005 16:15
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31584
Loc: Seattle, WA
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You've fallen prey to one of the classic blunders.
The most well known is, "Never get involved in a land war in Asia."
But only slightly less well known is, "Never trust Microsoft operating systems when reliability is on the line."
All kidding aside, there are a few suggestions I have:
1. Make sure the Intel USB chipset drivers are up to date for that PC.
2. Make sure the BIOS version is up to date on that PC.
3. Install the driver for that device prior to plugging it in.
1 and 2 can be found at support.dell.com and plugging in the system's service tag number. The third can be found at the web site of the manufacturer of the CD-ROM drive.
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#260242 - 12/07/2005 16:24
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12324
Loc: Sterling, VA
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I'll try #1, I don't think I have the guts at the moment to try #2 because if it screws up I'll hear about it. As for #3, well, here's the funny thing, Iomega says that you don't need drivers...because they're in Windows. Hahaha! sigh...
But yeah, this is not cool. It also makes no sense. This machine is brand new. It is one of three that were copies of each other (the drives are just imaged), and the other two have these CD writers on them and work fine. Go figure.
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Matt
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#260243 - 12/07/2005 16:27
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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veteran
Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
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Quote:
I've got a basic USB device here - a USB CDROM. I'm installing it on a brand new Dell workstation. One would think the process would require no more than plugging the thing in (that's what "plug and play" is for, right?). Well, no such luck. After I connect the thing to the computer, it tries to start installing the driver. But it always fails and ends up with this error:
An error occurred during the installation of this device
The installation failed because a function driver was not specified for this device instance
I've searched MS's site and didn't find anything helpful. I've Googled it, and am not optimistic because I have found several mentions of this error, and in each of them the person went as far as formatting and reinstalling Windows, and they still got the error!
Any ideas?
You'll think I'm kidding, but I think I know the solution. REBOOT! I bet it works!
- Jon
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#260244 - 12/07/2005 16:29
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31584
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
It is one of three that were copies of each other (the drives are just imaged), and the other two have these CD writers on them and work fine.
Well, I'm a big fan of the nuke-and-pave approach to getting a new PC. I never trust a PC that I get from a manufacturer that was "just imaged" and has a bunch of crap on its hard disk I don't want or need.
It's a pain, and it means you have to reinstall a bunch of drivers and such, but the resulting PC is (usually) a lot faster and more stable.
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#260245 - 12/07/2005 16:43
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12324
Loc: Sterling, VA
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No no, we image the drives ourselves, with one image for each model. I did it myself and have confidence in my work  We wipe the drives clean when we get them from Dell, install Win2K, set it up with the standard software for our network, then store the compressed image on our servers for putting on other machines. All three of these machines are new images.
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Matt
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#260246 - 12/07/2005 17:22
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31584
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
We wipe the drives clean when we get them from Dell, install Win2K, set it up with the standard software for our network, then store the compressed image on our servers for putting on other machines.
There's a step missing there. The part where you put the correct drivers on. Most new machines need, at the absolute minimum:
- Motherboard chipset / IDE / USB drivers
- Video drivers
- Audio drivers
If you don't update those things after installing the OS, you'll get strange problems. Like... let's see... USB devices not working properly when you plug them in...
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#260247 - 12/07/2005 18:05
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12324
Loc: Sterling, VA
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No no, I was skipping a bunch of steps! Trust me, these PCs are set up right. The point I was trying to make about the imaging stuff is that all three of these machines are supposed to be identical in every single way other than their PC name.
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Matt
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#260248 - 12/07/2005 18:14
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
the other two have these CD writers on them
Okay, so since the hardware and software should be the same, that leaves PC and CDROM (and enclosure) firmware differences and hardware defects.
Can you swap out the CD writers to see if the problem follows the computer or the drive? If it's the CDROM, then you've got a bad drive somehow. Try updating firmware, maybe, or RMA it. If it's the computer, then you could at least check to see if the BIOS is at the same revision. If it is, then chances are you've got some bad hardware. I can't think of what else could cause that. If it's a different BIOS revision, try updating it.
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Bitt Faulk
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#260249 - 12/07/2005 18:27
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12324
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Sounds logical to me. Thanks!
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Matt
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#260250 - 12/07/2005 20:03
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: Dignan]
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veteran
Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
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Quote:
Sounds logical to me. Thanks!
So you re-booted and that didn't fix it?
I know it sounds silly, but I've seen that fix that particular problem 100 times...
- Jon
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#260251 - 12/07/2005 20:24
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: jbauer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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It being Windows, I'm sure it's been rebooted a dozen times unrelated to this problem during this problem.
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Bitt Faulk
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#260252 - 12/07/2005 22:35
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 20/01/2002
Posts: 2085
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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#260253 - 13/07/2005 07:03
Re: Installing drivers
[Re: wfaulk]
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veteran
Registered: 19/06/2000
Posts: 1495
Loc: US: CA
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Speaking of firmware, this site has been quite handy for me. You might want to do a search for your drive on there; couldn't hurt, anyway.
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Donato MkII/080000565 MkIIa/010101253 ricin.us
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