Problem when I use "Safely Remove Hardware"

[doclee]

Whenever I click on the "Safely Remove Harware" icon in the Service Tray (bottom right of screen), my telephone connection is disconnected.  This is before I have even selected the device to be disconnected.  It began doing this several months ago and I cannot pin it down to the installation of any new software etc.  System Restore does not resolve the problem.

This is a nuisance and one I would prefer not to have to live with.  Can anyone offer suggestions for correcting it.

I run WindowsXP, SP2, on a Dell Dimensions 5150.

Many thanks,

doclee

[stevejohnson1958]

I'm assuming you have a VOIP phone...

That being the case...who is your provider and what's the model of the terminal you're using?

[doclee]

Saviour, no, I don't have a VOIP phone.  I'm on broadband provided by Cable & Wireless and have been on it for over 2 years.  The problem only started about 5 months ago.

[Aegis]

Is the phone service provided by Cable & Wireless, or another carrier?

[doclee]

Cable & Wireless is one of the 2 providers of telephone services locally and is the one I use.  I have no involvement with the other provider.

[Aegis]

OK, Doc -- bear with me.

Do you have a cable modem which also plugs in a phone line, all in one unit?  (This is my suspicion.)  Or has your provider actually run separate lines for your phone service?

[doclee]

Aegis, I have a modem which plugs via an "ADSL splitter" into the phone line which is shared by a telephone - i.e. it is one unit as you suspect.

[Aegis]

All right, but you also told us it's an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) connection.  (Faster on download than upload.)

The phone connection goes down as soon as you click on the icon...I'm assuming it doesn't matter whether someone is actually on the phone...I think what you're saying is that you lose dial tone as soon as you click on the icon.

It's like the line goes "off hook" when you click the icon...sorry, just thinking out loud...let me poke around, see what I can find...don't mean to split all these hairs, either...just odd that two things that "shouldn't" be related, apparently are related...

[BC_Programmer]

is the Modem connected to the PC through USB? If so at least we have a connection of some sort, albiet the Modem shouldn't be disconnected when you simply select the icon. On the other hand, it needs to enumerate then USB devices, and maybe the modem doesn't like that.

[Aegis]

Very good, BC.  All the assuming I was doing, and I assumed an Ethernet connection rather than USB.  I'd bet on the USB -- it would explain a lot.  Let's see what the good doctor comes back with...

[doclee]

Thank you for your help, Gentlemen;

When I click on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon and the connection is disconnected, the phone has never actually been in use.  The disconnection is signalled by the disappearance of the "connection" icon from the service tray after which my system tries automatically to reconnect to my I.S.P.  As often as not connection is re-established but frequently it is not as "the port is already in use".  If I then try to manually connect I receive an error mesage: "Error 0633 - The modem (or other connecting device) is already in use or not configured properly".  In that case I have to reboot which is a real pain in the posterior.  Throughout the disconnection and the reconnection, whether successful or not, there is a dial tone on the telephone.

The modem is connected via (fanfare of trumpets) a USB.  (I have no idea of the relevance of it being a USB connection rather than an Ethernet connection, but now I get some idea of what it's like on the other side of the desk wondering what on earth the doctor's rabbitting on about!!).  I await enlightenment!
 

[stevejohnson1958]

Have you contacted your providor regarding this issue?  Seems to me, the firmware for the device may be causing the issue.

Rather than have us troubleshoot the issue (which we will try anyway), you should let the carrier know of the issue, to see what they advise to remedy this.

[doclee]

Gentlemen,

From what you have all been saying and "thinking out aloud" I understand that when the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon is activated it first must find out what hardware is in use (something that had never occurred to me before you pointed it out but is obvious now that you have!!!) and the mere fact of asking the modem "Are you in use?" causes the modem to shut down.  From this and the fact that the modem is connected via a USB (which may or may not now be relevant), you are logically deducing that this must therefore be a problem either with the modem or the software which controls it.  Would that be a reasonable synthesis of the problem?

I will, therefore, do as Saviour suggests and will keep you informed as to what transpires.

Many thanks and (as the locals in my neck of the woods say) "A la perchoine" ,

doclee

[BC_Programmer]

As you said- this didn't happen previously? did you happen to get a new USB peripheral, maybe a USB hub, and then plug the modem into that, or something similiar?

Gentlemen,

From what you have all been saying and "thinking out aloud" I understand that when the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon is activated it first must find out what hardware is in use (something that had never occurred to me before you pointed it out but is obvious now that you have!!!) and the mere fact of asking the modem "Are you in use?" causes the modem to shut down.  From this and the fact that the modem is connected via a USB (which may or may not now be relevant), you are logically deducing that this must therefore be a problem either with the modem or the software which controls it.  Would that be a reasonable synthesis of the problem?

I will, therefore, do as Saviour suggests and will keep you informed as to what transpires.

Many thanks and (as the locals in my neck of the woods say) "A la perchoine" ,

doclee

Very good Also when asked, "say, anything on the other end of this port?" the modem replies "not anymore."


if possible one workaround would be to try connecting through ethernet, if your computer has an NIC.

[doclee]

BC; 

I've been racking my brains to recall whether anything new, software or hardware, was added to my system just prior to the problem appearing and I can be fairly certain that no new hardware was. 

One problem is that there was no sudden great revelatory moment when it became apparent that there was a problem.  It just gradually dawned on me that my internet connection was disconnecting rather more frequently and I then realised that it was happening when I clicked on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon.  It was more of a "Well, isn't that odd" feeling rather than a "SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG" moment.  I did not, therefore, suddenly halt everything and go back over the preceding days/weeks to try and identify the culprit.  However, as I haven't added new hardware for yonks (the last was an External HDD I use intermittently only for backing up) I have tended to dismiss that as the cause. 

I can't exclude the addition of a new programme as being the precipitatant of the problem but that is simply because new ones are being added all the time, especially by my grown-up son who also uses this PC.  However, if a newly installed programme was/is the culprit, I know of no practical way of identifying which one of the myriad it may be.

In the meantime I await the pontifications of my ISP - as usual the so-called "Help Line" was nothing of the sort and so they are going to come back to me (eventually).  I won't hold my breath for an early reply!!

Thanks all.

doclee

[kburra]

Try using this:
A program that allows you to quickly remove USB devices in Windows. It was originally designed to remove only USB pen drives but will now eject any USB device.You probably have several thumb drives. They're great for toting around your documents.

Not only are thumb drives convenient, they're more durable than CDs and floppy discs. Still, you need to remove them correctly from the USB port.

Windows has the Safely Remove Hardware option. But this is cumbersome. You get several dialog boxes before you can eject a drive. And then there's the aggravating message you get when the drive is ready to be removed.

It’s especially useful when dealing with multiple USB devices and for Vista users who don’t want the ‘now safe to remove this device’ dialog box to appear.

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/usb-disk-ejector

[Aegis]

That's the problem, kb -- doclee shouldn't be getting any kind of error or disconnect message being "driven" by his ADSL modem.  It should just stay connected.

[doclee]

Gentlemen,

I apologise for the inordinate delay in coming back to you with a progress report - a combination of having to work away with no access to the net and somewhat tortuous discussions with my ISP.  That said, what progress?

No luck so far.  Neither a clean re-install of the software nor the use of a new modem have solved the problem.  After much humming and ha-ing by the IT blokes at the ISP they have plumped for this being a problem with the "Safely Remove Hardware" programme in the Windows XP operating system.

Does this sound reasonable and, if so, what might I do about it - please, don't suggest re-installing Windows XP!!  If this doesn't sound reasonable, what might be your suggestion(s).

Many thanks for your continuing help.

doclee