USB 2 Devices rendered useless when HP D2660 printer power is on

[Elwood]

My HP Slimline s7220n, although not a powerful performer, has worked flawlessly since new. The recent addition of an HP Deskjet D2660 printer has caused performance problems for other USB devices such as flash drives, iPod, and external USB portable hard drives. The problems occur only when the printer power is "on". Other HP printers used in the past have not been problematic for the above mentioned USB devices.
 When I plug in an external drive to any of my 4 remaining USB 2 ports with the printer powered up, it displays any number of symptoms on screen from not being recognized to not being able to install itself. It also causes the computer to hang indefinitely. There is also an occasional warning window from the task bar starting with "Windows - Delayed Write Failed".
 Moments after turning off the printer, the device is recognized and opens the drive per my settings. The PC returns to normal.
 I have performed many troubleshooting steps including uninstalling and re-installing the USB drivers, opened the case and physically re-seated connectors and the memory board, blew the dust out of the USB sockets, re-installed the printer driver, checked for correct BIOS settings and correct BIOS version, examined device properties for conflicts, experimented with virtual memory, and finally re-installed Windows XP Home Edition from the recovery console and completed all Windows updates. None of these steps has resolved the issue.
 PC-Doctor diagnostics passes all hardware tests; and a memory board test downloaded from Microsoft indicates a problem free physical memory.
 The simple solution is to leave the printer off when not in use, but I really want to know the root cause of this problem. Is there anything I haven't tried? HP Chat and phone support are no longer free. The printer warranty expired before I figured out it was at the center of my problem.
 Additional PC info: HP Slimline s7220n, Celeron M 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, Windows XP Home SP3 all updates current.

[truenorth]

One suggestion i have that appears not yet to have been tried is: using a POWERED usb hub connected to one of your rear ports connect your printer usb to that powered hub. If you can try to borrow one to see if it helps before buying one. Buying one if it doesn't solve the problem will only add to your frustration. good luck,truenorth

[Elwood]

Thanks. Your suggestion makes sense to me. Are you implying that the printer's USB connection is somehow robbing power from the other ports?

[truenorth]

In a word yes--or that it requires more power than the USB port is capable of  IF other devices are also simultaneously connected. truenorth

[Computer_Commando]

It's mostly likely the HP Deskjet D2660 printer software.  Dos that particular printer have have an SD card slot?

[Elwood]

There are no card slots on the printer. It is very basic.

[rthompson80819]

I'm sure the printer is AC powered, why would it need to draw power from USB?  I agree that it's a HP software issue.

[Elwood]

It could very well be software related which also means this question might need to be posted elsewhere on the forum. I'm not ready to commit to a software issue unless someone expands on their hunch.

My logic is that the printer software is always accessible and all settings can be changed even when the printer is turned off. Why would it not interfere or conflict with the other USB 2 devices all the time.

Before the original post. I did try to install previous HP D2360 printer software and hoped it would work with the current printer. The connection was never made. The older printer was similar to the newer one except for the ink type.

I'm new to this forum and really appreciate the intelligent feedback so far.

[Geek-9pm]

It has a separate poser supply. Varies by region.
Use only the drivers from HP.
Where did you get it?  Is it under warranty.
I suspect this is a hardware issue.
Support for D2660
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documentSubCategory?tmp_task=solveCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3742936

[Elwood]

Two responders have indicated that I have a separate power supply and one asks why would I need to draw power from USB.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the USB port require voltage to carry the communication signal back and forth along the cable to each device. I don't think this voltage is generated by the printer power supply, but from within the computer. This voltage is what I think Truenorth made reference to in his reply.

I will try the original suggestion from Truenorth and report back. In the meantime, please continue the feedback. Keep in mind, this is not a printer functionality problem. It works perfectly.

The possibility that printer software and drivers caused this problem is still very much alive in my mind. However, I'm stuck with this PC and printer for the time being and I don't see a software solution unless HP releases a patch or update. Unfortunately, this issue does not appear widespread.

[Geek-9pm]

The only clue I found was bogus sites offering bogus updates for the software driver. Which makes me want to ask: Did you use anything but drivers off of the HP site? If so, please provide a link to any such site. 

[Computer_Commando]

1.  Two responders have indicated that I have a separate power supply and one asks why would I need to draw power from USB.
2.  Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the USB port require voltage to carry the communication signal back and forth along the cable to each device. I don't think this voltage is generated by the printer power supply, but from within the computer. This voltage is what I think Truenorth made reference to in his reply.
3.  I will try the original suggestion from Truenorth and report back. In the meantime, please continue the feedback. Keep in mind, this is not a printer functionality problem. It works perfectly.
4.  The possibility that printer software and drivers caused this problem is still very much alive in my mind. However, I'm stuck with this PC and printer for the time being and I don't see a software solution unless HP releases a patch or update. Unfortunately, this issue does not appear widespread.

1.  Draw power or in other words, supply voltage & current.
2.  Voltage carries nothing.  Voltage & current are supplied by the host, the PC, in this case.  However, it does not provide power (voltage & current) for the printer, only the USB interface.
3.  Agreed.
4.  It's the HP software, seen it many times with other printers.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3742936#N267

[Geek-9pm]

1.  Draw power or in other words, supply voltage & current.
2.  Voltage carries nothing.  Voltage & current are supplied by the host, the PC, in this case.  However, it does not provide power (voltage & current) for the printer, only the USB interface.
3.  Agreed.
4.  It's the HP software, seen it many times.

I have not seen it. But Computer_Commando has. So believe him.
My experience with HP printer software  is very limited. But I do not doubt that the driver and related software can mess up the USB performance, even to the point of making the system slow down or prevent other devices from working.

We suppose you already tried another cable. And you already tried HP support and found nothing.

[Elwood]

Good news. My hat is off to Truenorth from reply#1.

Adding a powered USB hub to one of the ports and plugging the printer's USB cable into the hub quickly brought the whole operation up to speed. I don't know if this is a true solution to the problem or if it's just covering the symptoms. Everything is working normally, however.

There is another solution which satisfies me and is a bit less expensive than the hub. Thinking that maybe there wasn't sufficient RAM, I doubled the physical memory from 512MB to 1GB (only 1slot, 1GB max). The USB device problems disappeared with the additional RAM but the reaction time was still slower than using the powered hub with my original 512MB of RAM.

To Geek: I used only genuine HP drivers and software. First from the included CD, then downloaded from HP.

To Computer_Commando: Thank you for the terminology correction regarding power, voltage and current. I'm a little confused so I plan to educate myself on the topic. I consider this issue solved to my satisfaction but I'm still curious as to a what a tangible solution might have been for the HP software problem that you've seen many times with other printers. Did you have a solution that worked?

Thank you to all who cared enough to reply.

[Geek-9pm]

Thank you very much for coming back with that information.
Which reminds me. Some printers, like this one, do not work well as network printer when using USB. A network printer should use only a Ethernet interface.