Problem with strange USB device behavior on Dell Win11 laptop connected through Dell Dock.
Problem with strange USB device behavior on Dell Win11 laptop connected through Dell Dock.
Weird issue on my Dell 9315 XPS13 running win11. The laptop is linked to a Dell dock WD19TB via USB-C between the dock and the machine. The dock has two monitors and one USB-powered hub. All USB devices are connected through this hub, which currently has five items (speaker phone, camera, two Jabra wireless headsets, and one USB storage drive). What’s unusual is that only the speaker phone functions, while the other four do not.
What I have tried:
1. Rebooted/repowered down/rebooted all devices without any changes.
2. Reconnected and removed/replaced all devices, then repeated step 1—still no improvement.
3. Brought in another older Dell XPS 13 that matches the setup exactly; all devices work properly.
4. Experimented with different connections to the laptop’s USB-C ports using an adapter; speaker phone works, but the other four do not.
5. Cleared USB root Hub and Generic Hub entries in Device Manager and rebooted—everything started functioning again. The laptop turned on after a long day and overnight.
6. Recently, while at the office, I picked up a wireless headset and joined a Teams meeting. The problem returned. Same symptoms appear again. All five devices still fail to show up in Device Manager.
I suspect there might be a faulty USB cable, possibly due to unstable voltage or grounding issues, which could explain the intermittent behavior. It’s also worth noting that a second laptop connected via the same USB-C cable is working fine. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
Dell 9315 XPS13
What BIOS version are you on for your laptop?
Dell dock WD19TB
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/...erid=cwcf9
try that out and see if that helps.
Both the Dell laptop and dock have received the latest firmware updates as indicated by the Dell Update app. I've noted the details below. This issue has been one of the most unusual I've encountered with PCs over time.
Thank you for the update.
@Ralston18
The USB hub I currently use is a powered one. I also have another one that is ready to use, recently ordered from Amazon with a different OEM. Since it works with my laptop and the devices function properly on a different Dell XPS, I believe the issue isn't tied to the USB hub or cables—though I suspect an intermittent problem possibly linked to Windows or the device itself. Removing the USB root Hub and Generic Hub entries in Device Manager and rebooting resolves the problem, which is another point I’m considering.
I will start examining this information and apply the methods/tools you provided. It’s interesting that all devices are functioning properly now after removing or uninstalling certain device manager entries on Thursday.
Yesterday (Friday), I experienced a similar issue with peripheral connectivity (Bluetooth mouse and keyboard). When using a Logitech device with flow enabled, both the mouse and keyboard became unresponsive on my Dell laptop. On the MacOS machine, they worked during the observed period. On the Dell laptop, I had to open the case to restart the BT process via the interface. This happened a couple of times yesterday—once after restarting, then again after leaving the lid open.
I’m considering this as possibly related to power settings, such as saving power or operating on lower power during XYX events. These recurring issues are quite challenging to fix.
For anyone reviewing this—please contact Dell or your IT team. Unfortunately, Dell didn’t assist and I was trying to check for the latest firmware/OS updates, which I usually monitor closely. I might return to Dell later, but at the moment I’m short on time for a phone call. My company’s IT department seems unhelpful, as they were simply clueless and suggested upgrading to a larger laptop. We could revisit that in the future, but my current XPS 13 is only three months old and generally performs well when it does work—just started having problems a few days ago.
The issue reappeared this morning shortly before joining a Teams meeting, when I began using the Teams application and chose my headset for the session. It had been stable for several weeks until then. I didn’t use any Jabra headsets or an external camera. On Friday evening, I tried one of my Jabra headsets and followed some recommended tools. After launching Event Viewer and checking Windows logs, I noticed entries starting on Saturday night (2/24) while my laptop remained on.
I searched the Task Category and found a relevant article: https://windowsreport.com/event-id-196/. It suggested a possible BIOS or power-related configuration issue. The article mentioned adjusting settings in Device Manager for the USB3 Hub, which I did. I disabled the power-saving option under "Allow the computer to run off the device to save power" in the Power Management section of Device Manager. This resolved the missing peripherals (Jabra headsets and external HD camera) that were visible on my laptop.
I also checked other USB entries in Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers, but only the USB Hub3 setting changed. I won’t make further adjustments since the error notifications began on Saturday were specifically linked to that hub. I’ll keep monitoring the situation and explore BIOS settings further, as the article references Dell and Lenovo laptops.
Yes. I have one in reserve that I purchased on Amazon when this was happening in the beginning. A different OEM. So, I have made one change (the power management setting change) on the laptop. I will not make another change until I see the behavior again. I can correct the symptom, as I have stated, but removing the USB Hub USB 3.0 entries in Device Manager, and rebooting.
In my troubleshooting, I initially ruled out the USB powered hub as I could attach another Dell XPS 13 (yet a different model, older, but running win11) in the dock position and all expected peripheral devices showed up. Granted, it was only a test of 5 or 10 minutes, so I could be dealing with a Dock issue, USB Powered Hub -- intermittent of course. I have ruled out AC power issues to the computer as I use a fairly decent UPS from Cyberpower that also conditions the AC power. I use Cyberpower UPSs for all critical components (my office, my wife's computer, and all network router/switches/APs/modems).
I think my next move, if I see this again, will be to again search Windows logs (again, thanks for that idea), remove the USB entries in the Device Manager, leave the power settings alone in the new USB entries after reboot, and switch out the USB Power hub to a new one I have. Run in this state. Only other item I am running down if there may be some BIOS setting I need to toggle -- but I need to get the time to boot into that interface and look