Recently, I ran into a problem trying to install a USB keyboard on Windows XP at work. Given that HID devices always just work with Windows, I wasn’t quite sure how to go about troubleshooting such a ridiculous problem.
My first step was to investigate the problem, repeating the process to see what went wrong. When I plugged in the keyboard, it would show up as Unknown Device. Searching for drivers would fail. I already had another USB keyboard installed, and this one worked fine. So I tried installing a third keyboard, this time a fancy multimedia keyboard, and it also exhibited the same behavior.
It turned out that my keyboard was not just a Human Interface Device, despite its appearance. It was actually a USB composite device and hub. I spent half a day trying to figure out what was wrong, and ended up learning a lot more about Windows USB driver installation.
Microsoft provides several MSKB articles on troubleshooting USB driver installation, most of which are useless. However, KB314464 contains the key to the problem: setupapi.log. This log file records installations of drivers and the process Windows went through to determine how to match a driver to newly discovered device. Once I opened this file and watched the install fail for the keyboard, it became obvious that it was searching for a USB composite device driver, but not finding one. It turned out my usb.inf was missing. I don’t know how it got deleted, but it did. Once I copied over a replacement from another PC, the keyboard installed perfectly.
Device Tree for Logitech Illuminated Keyboard (Windows 7)
Here’s what happened with the when I plugged in the keyboard:
[2010/01/04 10:11:28 1276.7 Driver Install] #-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501,usb\vid_046d&pid_c318 #-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\devclass_00&subclass_00&prot_00,usb\devclass_00&subclass_00,usb\devclass_00,usb\composite #-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe #-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV. #W059 Selecting best compatible driver failed. Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device. #W157 Default installer failed. Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
Windows failed to find an exact driver for the vid/pid combination and tried to find a compatible driver based on the device class. The device is a usb\composite device, which should map to a standard Windows driver, but it instead reported that the search failed. At this point, I should have looked for an inf file with this hwid string: usb\composite. If I had, I would have discovered it missing in my directory, but present in another machine where I could install a keyboard, in usb.inf.
The Generic Models section of usb.inf includes the hwid:
; =================== Generic ================================== [Generic.Section] %USB\COMPOSITE.DeviceDesc%=Composite.Dev,USB\COMPOSITE %USB\UNKNOWN.DeviceDesc%=BADDEVICE.Dev,USB\UNKNOWN
This directs to DDInstall sections Composite.Dev.*:
[Composite.Dev] AddReg=CommonClassParent.AddReg CopyFiles=CommonClassParent.CopyFiles ; For Windows NT... [Composite.Dev.NT] CopyFiles=CommonClassParent.CopyFiles DelReg=Composite.DelReg.NT [Composite.DelReg.NT] HKR,,EnumPropPages32 [Composite.Dev.NT.Services] AddService = usbccgp, 0x00000002, CommonClassParent.AddService
The Composite.Dev section is actually for Windows 2000 and the decorator .NT on Composite.Dev.NT specifies a generic driver for Windows XP and later.
Once I placed the usb.inf file back into the %SYSTEMDIR%\inf directory, installation of the USB Composite Device magically worked:
[2010/01/04 13:10:39 1264.3 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501,usb\vid_046d&pid_c318
#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\devclass_00&subclass_00&prot_00,usb\devclass_00&subclass_00,usb\devclass_00,usb\composite
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "USB\COMPOSITE" in C:\WINNT\inf\usb.inf; Device: "USB Composite Device"; Driver: "USB Composite Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard USB Host Controller)"; Section name: "Composite.Dev".
#I023 Actual install section: [Composite.Dev.NT]. Rank: 0x00002003. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [Composite.Dev] in "c:\winnt\inf\usb.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318\5&1AF8ED3F&0&1".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [Composite.Dev.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\usb.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318\5&1AF8ED3F&0&1".
#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318\5&1AF8ED3F&0&1" finished successfully.
After that, the remaining the remaining device tree hierarchy installed successfully and the keyboard was enabled:
[2010/01/04 13:10:43 1264.7 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501&mi_00,usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&mi_00
#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\class_03&subclass_01&prot_01,usb\class_03&subclass_01,usb\class_03
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "USB\Class_03&SubClass_01" in C:\WINNT\inf\input.inf; Device: "USB Human Interface Device"; Driver: "USB Human Interface Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard system devices)"; Section name: "HID_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00003101. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HID_Inst] in "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {745A17A0-74D3-11D0-B6FE-00A0C90F57DA}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\6&7451BA8&0&0000".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [HID_Inst.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\6&7451BA8&0&0000".
#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\6&7451BA8&0&0000" finished successfully.
[2010/01/04 13:10:47 1264.11 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501&mi_01,usb\vid_046d&pid_c318&mi_01
#-018 Searching for compatible ID(s): usb\class_03&subclass_00&prot_02,usb\class_03&subclass_00,usb\class_03
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "USB\Class_03" in C:\WINNT\inf\input.inf; Device: "USB Human Interface Device"; Driver: "USB Human Interface Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard system devices)"; Section name: "HID_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00003202. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HID_Inst] in "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {745A17A0-74D3-11D0-B6FE-00A0C90F57DA}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01\6&7451BA8&0&0001".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [HID_Inst.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01\6&7451BA8&0&0001".
#I121 Device install of "USB\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01\6&7451BA8&0&0001" finished successfully.
[2010/01/04 13:10:51 1264.15 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501&mi_00,hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&mi_00,hid_device_system_keyboard,hid_device_up:0001_u:0006,hid_device
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "HID_DEVICE_SYSTEM_KEYBOARD" in C:\WINNT\inf\keyboard.inf; Device: "HID Keyboard Device"; Driver: "HID Keyboard Device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard keyboards)"; Section name: "HID_Keyboard_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Keyboard_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00001002. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#I022 Found "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&Mi_00" in C:\WINNT\inf\oem52.inf; Device: "Logitech HID-Compliant Keyboard"; Driver: "Logitech HID-Compliant Keyboard"; Provider: "Logitech"; Mfg: "Logitech"; Section name: "HIDFiltInstWakeEnbl".
#I023 Actual install section: [HIDFiltInstWakeEnbl.NT]. Rank: 0x00000001. Effective driver date: 06/17/2009.
#I022 Found "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&Mi_00" in C:\WINNT\inf\oem52.inf; Device: "Logicool HID-Compliant Keyboard (106 keys)"; Driver: "Logicool HID-Compliant Keyboard (106 keys)"; Provider: "Logitech"; Mfg: "Logicool"; Section name: "HIDFiltInstWakeEnblJ".
#I023 Actual install section: [HIDFiltInstWakeEnblJ.NT]. Rank: 0x00000001. Effective driver date: 06/17/2009.
#I022 Found "HID_DEVICE" in C:\WINNT\inf\input.inf; Device: "HID-compliant device"; Driver: "HID-compliant device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard system devices)"; Section name: "HID_Raw_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Raw_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00001004. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HIDFiltInstWakeEnbl] in "c:\winnt\inf\oem52.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HIDFiltInstWakeEnbl] in "c:\winnt\inf\oem52.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\7&2C4789AA&0&0000".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [HIDFiltInstWakeEnbl.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\oem52.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\7&2C4789AA&0&0000".
#I121 Device install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_00\7&2C4789AA&0&0000" finished successfully.
[2010/01/04 13:10:56 1264.19 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501&mi_01&col01,hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&mi_01&col01,hid_device_system_consumer,hid_device_up:000c_u:0001,hid_device
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "HID_DEVICE_UP:000C_U:0001" in C:\WINNT\inf\hidserv.inf; Device: "HID-compliant consumer control device"; Driver: "HID-compliant consumer control device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "Microsoft"; Section name: "HIDSystemConsumer".
#I023 Actual install section: [HIDSystemConsumer]. Rank: 0x00001003. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#I022 Found "HID_DEVICE" in C:\WINNT\inf\input.inf; Device: "HID-compliant device"; Driver: "HID-compliant device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard system devices)"; Section name: "HID_Raw_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Raw_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00001004. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HIDSystemConsumer] in "c:\winnt\inf\hidserv.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {745A17A0-74D3-11D0-B6FE-00A0C90F57DA}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL01\7&3DCDBE1&0&0000".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [HIDSystemConsumer.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\hidserv.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL01\7&3DCDBE1&0&0000".
#I121 Device install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL01\7&3DCDBE1&0&0000" finished successfully.
[2010/01/04 13:10:58 1264.23 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&rev_5501&mi_01&col02,hid\vid_046d&pid_c318&mi_01&col02,hid_device_up:ff00_u:0001,hid_device
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "HID_DEVICE" in C:\WINNT\inf\input.inf; Device: "HID-compliant device"; Driver: "HID-compliant device"; Provider: "Microsoft"; Mfg: "(Standard system devices)"; Section name: "HID_Raw_Inst".
#I023 Actual install section: [HID_Raw_Inst.NT]. Rank: 0x00001003. Effective driver date: 07/01/2001.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [HID_Raw_Inst] in "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {745A17A0-74D3-11D0-B6FE-00A0C90F57DA}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL02\7&3DCDBE1&0&0001".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [HID_Raw_Inst.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\input.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL02\7&3DCDBE1&0&0001".
#I121 Device install of "HID\VID_046D&PID_C318&MI_01&COL02\7&3DCDBE1&0&0001" finished successfully.
[2010/01/04 13:10:59 1264.29]
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I140 Installing device class: "DriverInterface" {D41DD63A-1395-4419-AE14-A534F5F2AD29}.
#I141 Class install completed with no errors.
[2010/01/04 13:10:59 1264.27 Driver Install]
#-019 Searching for hardware ID(s): logitech_raw_pdo
#-198 Command line processed: C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
#I022 Found "LOGITECH_RAW_PDO" in C:\WINNT\inf\oem53.inf; Device: "Logitech Driver Interface"; Driver: "Logitech Driver Interface"; Provider: "Logitech"; Mfg: "Logitech"; Section name: "NullInst".
#I023 Actual install section: [NullInst.NT]. Rank: 0x00000000. Effective driver date: 06/17/2009.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
#I063 Selected driver installs from section [NullInst] in "c:\winnt\inf\oem53.inf".
#I320 Class GUID of device remains: {D41DD63A-1395-4419-AE14-A534F5F2AD29}.
#I060 Set selected driver.
#I058 Selected best compatible driver.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
#I124 Doing copy-only install of "{C1FCC185-55B3-4E00-814B-C588A13525E1}\VID_046D&PID_C318&REV_5501&MI_00&HIDFILT\8&AEA4138&0&00".
#-166 Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
#I056 Coinstallers registered.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
#-011 Installing section [NullInst.NT.Interfaces] from "c:\winnt\inf\oem53.inf".
#I054 Interfaces installed.
#-166 Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
#I123 Doing full install of "{C1FCC185-55B3-4E00-814B-C588A13525E1}\VID_046D&PID_C318&REV_5501&MI_00&HIDFILT\8&AEA4138&0&00".
#I121 Device install of "{C1FCC185-55B3-4E00-814B-C588A13525E1}\VID_046D&PID_C318&REV_5501&MI_00&HIDFILT\8&AEA4138&0&00" finished successfully.
USB Driver Installation Troubleshooting Steps for Windows XP / Server 2003
- Look in device manager to determine the device that failed to install (with a yellow exclamation mark
) - View the properties to determine its hardware and compatible ids
- Search setupapi.log for the device installation and examine the output
- If no driver was found, search the %SystemRoot%\Inf directory for the vid/pid or compatible id.
In a future article, I will cover the differences for newer versions of Windows (Vista, Server 2008, 7).
5 Comments
Hi !
After 12 hours of searching, your post was the absolute hit!!!!
Much, much thanks!! After copying over a usb.inf my problem was solved!
br++mabra
You are a lifesaver! Wow. I was still a long, long way off from finding the root of this problem without your post. I was similarly totally confused as to why really basic USB devices (like my keyboard, like a KVI switch, like a mouse, etc.) were suddenly unrecognizable, and wouldn’t even install when I pointed it right at the appropriate driver! I didn’t see what you saw in setupapi.log, sadly. Sure glad you did! usb.inf was missing. What the hell??? I think the explanation for that might have been that I uninstalled USB hubs, etc. from the device manager to try and resolve a camera not being recognized and Windows must have thought deleting the usb.inf was the right thing to do as part of uninstalling the usb driver… I disagree, but oh well. THanks!!!!
I doubt that Windows deleted it. I suspect some poorly coded application or malicious program removed it… I have to wonder why Windows wouldn’t keep this file under system file protection and restore it.
Excellent explanation. I also spent several hours searching, found your post only afterwards.
Dan, I agree with you that Windows should protect usb.ini and/or display a useful message if missing.
Who removes usb.inf? I believe some device installers copy their own usb.inf if missing, and remove it at uninstall time.
It would be useful if it were protected by SFP in Windows. It’s certainly possible that a device driver removed this usb.inf either on purpose or accidentally, but there’s really no way to tell after the fact.