Well then, I've finally reached the point where this thing is annoying the fuck out of me, so here goes...
I've bought my computer a bit more than 2 years ago, and after a while I've started getting issues with devices that stop working from time to time.
Sadfully I cannot find an email that contains the details about my purchase of this computer, though I'm not too sure about some of the stuff in it.
Specifically, the problem I'm having is that devices connected through USB can sometimes just stop working. I've had this happen to a keyboard, 2 mice and a lot with my headset.
What happens depends on the device.
- Keyboard: The indicator leds stay on, but any keypress isn't received by the computer, so I can't type anything.
- Mouse: the laser light turns off (it should normally always be on), and mouse input no longer works.
- Headset: Any application that is playing sound keeps playing sound, but any application that tries to play sound/get a handle to play sound fails. So I can play a youtube video, the thing happens and the audio will continue, but if I pause the video and start playing it again it won't work.
I'm also suspecting this to be the source of some other problems I've been having.
Most of the times I try to do something with Bluetooth (there is a Bluetooth controller built in to the back of my computer, probably connected through USB as well), it'll fail to complete the action. Sometimes even freezing the application and causing it to crash (windows 8 settings for example).
It probably also causes an issue with my mic not working, even when the computer has just been turned on.
The way I usually fix this is either unplugging the device that is not working properly, or going to device manager and uninstalling it and restarting. (Most of the time, restarting is required because windows can't properly remove the device).
The issue is probably not related to drivers or OS version, because I've had this issue while Windows 7 was installed, as well as with Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
It's also not possible to force the issue to happen, because it happens randomly.
It's also worth to note that the issue happens with all USB ports, the ones on the front and the ones on the back.
Things I've done so far:
- Install specific software for my headset, this didn't help and has since been removed because of a system reinstall.
- Update the BIOS of my motherboard (in case that can work in some way)
Specifications:
I really hope this is something I can fix, but it looks like it's something related to hardware, but I'm not sure how I would check. (I'm not prepared to go with linux for a week trying to reproduce the issue, as it'd drive me insane not being able to do the stuff I usually do)
So, any ideas or suggestions as to how I can find out what the issue is?