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Well, the subject says it all, I can't get my USB to work. I'm running Windows 95 B, so that could be the problem. I just finished a (yet another) HD format.
Unfortunately, the drivers CD that came with the motherboard is still at the place I bought the PC... 8 years ago. So that's out.The weird thing is it finds the USB fine, but it still doesn't work. I'm guessing it's the PCI bridge, which is why I asked. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Can you identify the MOBO or the chipset on it? The drivers can sometimes be obtained from their respective websites.
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Win95B doesn't support USB. You'll need 95C and I'm not sure you'll get it to work then.
Win98 fully supports USB
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I agree with both Dave and DR.
I have a Dell that came loaded with WIN95B with USB support and the USB works well. I have a computer I made with a Tyan 1590S MOBO loaded with the same OS and I’ve never been able to get the USB to function.
I think USB works with WIN95B sometimes.
I haven’t had any trouble with USB and WIN98.
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I think the question of chipset is crucial.
Who's USB host/root hub are you using? Is the USB hardware integrated into your motherboard? If so, what chipset are you using?
If you've got a motherboard with a VIA chipset, well... Microsoft apparently refuses to properly support VIA Technology's USB implementation, so if you've got a VIA chipset, you'll need to use the latest USB PCI bridge update from VIA--and not rely on the Windows drivers.
You don't need the driver CD that came with the system board. If you've got a VIA chipset, just download the latest 4-in-1 driver update from VIA and run it.
Since I mentioned the VIA chipset/Windows issue, I should probably clarify a few things:
There is nothing wrong with VIA's USB, although Microsoft says there is. Many people will tell you that VIA chipsets are crap and that USB will never work properly if you've got a VIA chipset. Don't believe them.
USB on VIA chipset-based motherboards does indeed work. It works flawlessly under Linux and BeOS and if you install the driver update from VIA, it even works under Windows.
There's even a Microsoft Knowledge Base article that clearly states that Microsoft decided not to officially support VIA's USB because of issues with the VIA chipset and that until VIA Technologies corrects the problem, Microsoft will not officially support the VIA USB. This K-Base article is a lie. There isn't anything really wrong with VIA's USB. If this were the case, then why would it work so well under non-Microsoft platforms?
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So, Andrew Ordo, do you think that if I update the VIA drivers on my Tyan 1590S MOBO, I might be able to use the USB with WIN95B?
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I have to agree with 666. If you don't have a problem with the formatting why waste time with all that other crap. Just put win98SE in. That has all the needed drivers for the USB. Win98 doesn't. When I ran win98 I had to transfer the files from win98SE disk so this time just used win98SE. And it ain't like they are that hard to come by considering as far as Microsoft is concerned it is obsolete anyway. Heck it has to be a little less obsolete than the win95 you are running.
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In reply to Response Number 6:
Almost certainly. I know from experience it works like a charm under Windows 98 SE.
I am actually using a Tyan Trinity 100AT s1590s with Windows 98 Second Edition. The system had tremendous issues because the Microsoft-supplied chipset drivers for things like ACPI support, PCI bridge, etc. just didn't work. After applying VIA's 4-in-1 driver update, all these issues were solved.
It took me a few years to figure out what was going on. I had been using PC-DOS, Windows NT 4.0, and Solaris on my system for some time. I installed Windows 95 and couldn't get it to work. It could only boot in safe mode because it couldn't load 32-bit drivers. It looked like an ACPI/Plug-n-Play BIOS issue. I tried a pre-OSR2 release of Windows 95 as well as Windows 95C and got the same results. I also tried Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows 2000 and ran into the same problem. At almost every attempt to boot into normal mode, I'd just get a VGA screen with the message "Windows proection error. You will need to restart your computer" (or something along those lines, I may have misquoted the message.)
Every other ix86-compatible operating system on the planet worked perfectly. Only Windows 9x and 2000 wouldn't work. DOS worked great. OS/2 Warp 3 installed and had no trouble at all. Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 worked flawlessly. Solaris even installed without a hitch (and this is a BIG test of how solid your system is!). Linux ran great. BeOS loves my computer.
For years, I just chalked this up to versions of Windows that weren't real 32-bit operating systems being crap.
I don't remember how I realized that the problem was simply caused by Microsoft not properly certain key features of the VIA chipset, but for whatever reason, I applied the VIA updates and suddenly everything worked.
If you are using a Tyan Trinity 100AT s1590s under any operating system but Windows, everything should be fine and you should have no trouble. If you're using Windows 9x or any other version of Windows that supports USB and advanced Plug and Play BIOS features (PCI IRQ steering, etc.), you will very likely have headaches until you download and install the 4-in-1 driver update from VIA.
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Windows socket error
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