I'm dealing with a tricky issue in a dental office where my client uses Dentimax x-ray sensors—these are USB 2 wired devices that go in patients' mouths for dental imaging. Since March 5th, multiple computers in the office have encountered a Device Descriptor error with these sensors only when they're plugged into powered USB hubs. The sensors work just fine when connected directly to the computers. The setup includes devices on Windows 10 and 11 across various computer models like Asus NUCs and Dell Optiplexes, as well as some generic Chinese NUCs. We've tried both powered and unpowered USB hubs without success. Interestingly, two computers that are behind on updates aren't having this problem. I've also disabled Windows Defender and virtualization security, but the issue persists. After reinstalling the driver, the sensors work through the hub only once, and then revert to only functioning when directly connected to the PC. One of the drivers is a bit problematic, requiring core isolation to be turned off, and I suspect a recent update might have impacted how these security settings interact. Given that these sensors are quite expensive and the cabling is organized for ease of access, having to plug them directly into the PCs is not ideal. Has anyone else run into similar issues recently?
5 Answers
This problem resonates with me! You should definitely dig into the Device Manager settings. I used to have a nightmare with a similar setting. Also, check the event viewer to see what's happening when the sensors work compared to when they don't. You could try using Wireshark to monitor the USB activity, though I’ve never personally tried that. Boss around your system settings a bit to disable power-saving features as well—sometimes those cause USB devices to act up.
As a workaround, have you considered using USB extension cables to plug them directly into the PCs, or is that too far? Different brands of hubs might also yield different results.
You might want to check if the device drivers are being blocked. I've seen similar issues with US Robotics USB devices, although they were flagged as blocked. It’s strange that you're seeing a failed enumeration only with the hubs, but it's worth looking into the drivers.
That’s interesting! I haven’t seen them blocked either, just failed to enumerate. When plugged directly into the machine, they work fine.
I've learned a lot about core isolation from dental offices too. It seems like managing USB devices in such setups can be a pain.
I've seen a similar issue with another dental client. Their sensors would work on the powered hub for a short time before stopping. Moving them to a short extension off the PC fixed it. However, I’ve also noticed that sometimes these errors might pop up when a sensor is starting to fail. Have you tried checking with Dentimax to troubleshoot the sensors?
That would work, but it's a bit of a hassle. They really want to stick with the hubs for ease of use, haha!