Feature: Troubleshooting USB Camera Connections

I had really hoped that computer configuration issues would be a thing of the past by now. A few years back, cutting-edge gadgets like digital cameras, MP3 players, and PDAs had to connect to the PC through the ancient and inconvenient serial port. Now that the serial port mode of connecting to digital cameras and most other devices is all but gone and USB has taken center stage--and you don't have to reboot every time you connect a new gadget--I was hoping that arcane glitches would be as rare as movies about giant, killer insects. (If you didn't grow up watching Saturday morning movies, you should know that they were actually kind of popular for a while--trust me.)

Nonetheless, I still get e-mail from readers who run into trouble getting their digital cameras to talk to Windows. If you're in that category, read along--let's see if we can get you up and running.

Make Sure There's Power

This may sound silly, but make sure the digital camera's batteries are working. If the batteries are dead--or even very low on charge--the USB port won't recognize the device, and you won't be able to connect.

Check the Settings

Likewise, make sure your digital camera is in the proper mode to communicate with Windows. Some cameras have a special PC setting. Others need to be in Camera or Playback mode. Some don't care. If you're having trouble, check to see if your camera is in the right mode to find Windows. If in doubt, check your camera's user guide.

The Trouble With Hubs

Ah, hubs. USB is a wonderful standard because it theoretically allows up to 127 devices to be connected to the same PC. That many devices would take an awful lot of USB hubs, though, and I'm willing to bet that Windows would literally jump out of your PC, run screaming to the kitchen, and throw itself into the oven before you got even halfway there.

Yes, hubs are tricky little gadgets. There are some things you need to keep in mind when using them.

For starters, unpowered hubs can cause erratic behavior. If you use a USB hub to attach a bunch of devices to your PC, make sure it's a powered hub (it'll come with its own AC adapter), and plug it into the wall.

If you have so many devices that you need to add a hub or two to your PC, your computer's USB port may not have enough bandwidth to support them all. Remember: All of your USB devices must share a limited amount of bandwidth. Devices at the front of the line take what they need, potentially leaving the others high and dry. That means gadgets at the end of the USB chain may not work properly--or at all.

If you run into this situation, you can remove devices to free up bandwidth or add a new USB port to your PC via an empty PCI expansion slot. Now that USB 2.0 is out, it's a good time to upgrade. But keep in mind that USB 2.0 offers much faster performance when used with a USB 2.0-compatible device. Alas, no digital cameras are yet built for USB 2.0, so they run at the slower USB 1.1 speed, even over a USB 2.0 port.

Some devices, bless their little souls, freak out on a hub and demand to be plugged directly into a PC's USB port--even if the hub has power and there's nothing else plugged into it. I've seen this happen with a few digital cameras and several Pocket PCs. If you can't solve a connection problem, try going directly into the PC's port instead of using a hub.

When in Doubt, Reboot

If I've learned anything in a decade of working with Microsoft operating systems, it's that rebooting your PC can frequently solve a world of troubles. Often, I will find that my camera or some other USB device will lose the ability to chat with Windows for no good reason. Rather than tearing my hair out looking for a weird glitch, I just reboot. Ninety percent of the time, everything will work just fine when the computer restarts. Bottom line: Don't be afraid to shut everything down and try again after getting a nice, hot cup of tea.

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