Author Topic: How many of these USB devices will run together?  (Read 6751 times)

kmw

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How many of these USB devices will run together?
« on: April 12, 2013, 07:56:29 am »
I currently run 3 usb devices while racing:
1)G27
2)Pro race display/wheelplate(SR Hardware)
3)home made button box with 24 buttons and 2 rotary encoders (Symprojects JC32 controller)

They were all plugged into a cheap, self-powered USB hub, but I have had some problems with either the steering & throttle freezing while driving, or the Pro race unit freezing. It happens randomly, and is very annoying as I suddenly lose control and crash. The device then usually begins working again after a few seconds.

I am trying the devices in different slots in an effort to cure this.

(Win 7 64 bit, AMD 960T quad 3ghz, 750W PSU, 2 x HD5750 cards, 8GB DDR2 ram)
 
Has anyone had similar problems?
How many devices are you running?
How many should I be able to run without problems?

In the future I would like to add a USB shifter and possibly a SimScreen & other dials, but I am reluctant to add anything until I find the cause of this :(

Thanks for any ideas


« Last Edit: April 12, 2013, 07:59:12 am by kmw »

Cristiano

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2013, 02:27:06 pm »
Hello.
You should have no problem running that devices together.
I would try replacing the USB hub.I would use one with an external power supply.
there might be not enough current to power all the 3 devices together, in particular the Pro-Race

Regards

ramok

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2013, 02:30:56 pm »
HI
maybe you have with static electricity problem, try to ground something.
I run 6 usb with cheap hub (gi max,dysplay, rev burner,....). i have problem with wheel now is grounded and work fine.

kmw

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2013, 03:34:14 pm »
Thanks to both of you for the replies, I really need to get to the bottom of this as it is spoiling my racing.

It is a powered 7 slot hub, it was only a cheap one off Ebay, but it has it's own power supply and should be 500mA per socket.

If there is an issue with the grounding, how would I fix that ?

I have moved the steering wheel back to the main PC case, and the Pro-Race and JC32 are still in the hub. In the last 24hrs, the Pro-Race display (& its buttons) has frozen 4 times - on three of those, it resumed operation after a few seconds; on the other occasion I had to unplug it, plug it back in, and restart SimDash. It then worked ok again.
The JC32 button box so far has had no problems.
I would begin to suspect a fault in the Pro-Race except that the steerng wheel has frozen a few times as well, so I am thinking it must be something to do with the USB.
I should add, that when it happens, there is never any slow down of the game, it continues running perfectly well, so I don't believe it is a memory problem. It feels more like USB or power block of some kind.

I have ordered a USB extension so that I can move all three devices to the main case as another test.

The only other solution so far was offered by Brian Clancy, and that would be to use a PCI USB expansion card, which I will certainly try if necessary, but if you can think of anything that would cause this momentary (sometimes terminal) freeze/bottleneck/ or whatever it is, then I'd be grateful.

Many thanks :)
Keith

Cristiano

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2013, 05:42:42 pm »
I would suggest to unplug a different device every time and play for a while.
this way you should be able to identify what is causing the problem.

Regards

kmw

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2013, 06:01:36 pm »
Thanks Cristiano, I will certainly do that if I have to. I have avoided that so far as it can be over a week before it happens, and I really miss any of the devices when I am racing. But if plugging them into the main case does not work I will have to try that. :(
« Last Edit: April 16, 2013, 08:10:22 pm by kmw »

kmw

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2013, 11:25:38 pm »
12 days with all three devices plugged into the main case, so powered usb hub taken out of the equation, and no freeze of any device :)
Thought I would give this (hopefully resolved) update in case it helps someone else in the future.

Cristiano

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Re: How many of these USB devices will run together?
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2013, 05:44:44 pm »
12 days with all three devices plugged into the main case, so powered usb hub taken out of the equation, and no freeze of any device :)
Thought I would give this (hopefully resolved) update in case it helps someone else in the future.

it might not be the USB hub instead but it's power supply. thank you for sharing

 

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