I have a Toshiba Satellite 220CS laptop with one USB socket at the
back.  It is a Pentium 133 processor, 20GB HDD and is running windows
98.

I needed to plug in several USB devices at once, so I purchased a
self-powered 4-port USB hub.  The hub is a small cream coloured block
with the name Maxxtro on the top of it.  When I plug this hub in to
the laptop and wait a few seconds, I get a little window saying that
an "Unknown device" was detected, and when the window goes away, I
look in the system option in the "Control Panel" where I see under the
USB secton an unknown device.  Updating the drivers doesn't do
anything (it can't find an updated driver), and trying to enable the
device makes the laptop unresponsive.  Restarting the machine is slow,
and once it's restarted there's no change to the configuration.

Plugging this hub into at least 3 other PC's, it has been detected
properly and requires no installation disk - it would appear that
windows ME, windows 98 SE and windows 2000 support this device
natively, so we can rule out the OS.

Other devices I plug in to the Toshiba laptop (one at a time
unfortunately) work without any problems.  The laptop's USB interface
is described as "Open Host Controller Interface".

I contacted a company called ADP based in the UK (where I live) as
they are the support company for Toshiba and many other laptop
manufactures.  They had the machine in under warranty (which was
amazing - top marks to them) and upgraded the main board of the laptop
to a later revision of the OHCI chipset.  This was very speedy, but
hasn't helped.

I installed (from the windows 98 CD) the sample windows 98 support
tools, and running the USB information tool shows no information about
the device.  It's like the hub just isn't compatible with the hardware
in the laptop.

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Request for Question Clarification by sa-ga on 13 Jun 2002 02:03 PDT

Is your hub pictured here? 
<a href="http://maxxtro.com.hk/info.phtml?Page=PRODUCTS&amp;Category=USB">http://maxxtro.com.hk/info.phtml?Page=PRODUCTS&amp;Category=USB</a> 

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Clarification of Question by aprilfool-ga on 13 Jun 2002 02:34 PDT

The laptop does indeed have Windows 98 SE installed. 
 
The hub is listed - it's the first four port hub - UHB104N 

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Clarification of Question by aprilfool-ga on 13 Jun 2002 06:31 PDT

An update to this problem:  I have today plugged in a Belkin usb
expansion hub.  This was a spare hub sitting at work, which I tried as
a test.  After installing the drivers, everything is fine.
 
I get 4 usb ports available, and the Belkin hub also contains two
serial ports and a parrallel connection.
 
Everything worked, and I was then able to further plug in my Maxxtro 4
port hub which was then detected and configured correctly.
 
Therefore, to summarise, when I plug the Maxxtro 4 port hub into my
laptop, it is detected as an unknown device, but through another hub,
it is detected and installed fine.
 
I have already upgraded the BIOS to the latest revision - 6.90 and do
not know what to do next.
 
Maybe I look for a different USB hub by a different manufacturer.  The
only other thing I can think of is that the Belkin hub had an external
power supply where as the Maxxtro one doesn't (self powered). 

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Request for Question Clarification by chromedome-ga on 14 Jun 2002 06:54 PDT

Would a product like this be a viable solution? 
 
<a href="http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=3885-PBUS">http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=3885-PBUS</a> 

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Clarification of Question by aprilfool-ga on 14 Jun 2002 07:45 PDT

Possibly, but I occasionally use a PCMCIA network/modem dual function
card which takes up all the space in the PCMCIA slot - stopping me
from plugging in more than one PCMCIA card.
 
After viewing other USB hubs from the list, there is one with an
optional power supply.  Something like this could be what I need, but
I have to find a supplier in the United Kingdom that are local to me
so I can possibly take my laptop to them and try the hub before I buy. 

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Request for Question Clarification by markoft-ga on 15 Jun 2002 14:26 PDT

That USB hub looks remarkably like a USB hub I have on my iMac.  The
hub did not have an external power supply but it does have a socket
into which a power supply could be connected.  Does they hub you have
have such a socket?  Mine is located next to the cord that you plug
into your computer's USB port.  If you do have a socket take the hub
to a knowledgeable electronics shop and they should be able to help
you find a power adaptor that could work.  My USB hub is marked for a
2 Amp power source but it should not draw that much power if you are
not using power hungry devices.  A 700mA to 1 Amp power supply should
be sufficient. 

I noticed that you specified Windows 98 as installed on the laptop,
but eliminated it as a potential problem by infering Windows 98 -SE on
another computer.
Unfortunelty, there was significant USB support added in Win98-SE, and
I have a suspision this might be the problem.
However, for a specific answer, I am unable to provide anything else.

The Maxxtro is listed as supporting USB 1.1.

I=t might be worth confirming that your laptop supports this
specification.

From http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/supp_tech_supportbulletin_docview.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0705505958.1023962144@@@@&BV_EngineID=dadcefkjefgmbfekcghcfmfdglj.0&Center=SupportBulletin&Product=Portables&Family=Satellite&Model=220CDS&OS=All+Operating+Systems&Category=All+Categories&OID=12967&FileName=98050196

"Make sure the system is running Windows 98 and that the USB port is
configured. On the Toshiba systems with the Intel USB controller,
there will be an Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal host Controller
and USB root hub devices listed in device manager under Universal
Serial Bus Controller. On Toshiba systems with the NEC USB controller,
there will be an NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller and USB root hub
devices listed in device manager under Universal Serial Bus
Controller."

"The system must be running Windows '98 and have a USB controller that
conforms to USB specification v1.0 or greater. If the USB controller
does not meet the v1.1 specification, data corruption will result if a
low speed USB device (joystick, mouse, keyboard, etc.) and a high
speed USB device (printer, scanner, Zip drive) are combined on the
same controller."

Unfortunately, this does not make it clear which controller implements
which level of support.

With your laptop being a P-133 (and therefore relatively old), there
is a possibility that your BIOS is the culprit.  You might want to
write down the date and revision number, then check the manufacturer's
website for any known issues relating to USB.

There may be a patch or upgrade which would address your problem.

If possible, I would return the hub in favor of another one.
Otherwise, I would contact Maxxtro (
http://maxxtro.com.hk/info.phtml?Page=CONTACTS ) and tell them
everything you have told us. They should be able to help.

I suspect that the problem is a combination of a self-powered hub and
an old host controller analog design on your motherboard.  The analog
design for self-powered devices on the USB bus is tricky; there are
tight timing requirements for the attach signaling, which is made
tricker with the device is self-powered since it must power-up, come
out of reset, and signal an attach all within a tight time window.  If
this timing is off, then you will not go through the attach handshake
properly, effectively looking like a 'glitch' to the OS, which is why
W98SE is reporting 'unknown device'.  Older motherboards designed
around the time that the 1.0 spec was released were still working the
kinks out of the motherboard design.  This was the reason why the USB
'plugfest' was started; computers and device manufacturers get
together in a big hotel and every device plugs into every computer,
and those that pass get a certification stamp.

This explains why when you plug into the externally-powered hub
everything works.  This hub does not have the same timing restrictions
as a self-powered hub, allowing the attach process a much wider error
window.  Plus, the design in the externally powered hub is more
recent, which allows it to plug into the self-powered hub with no
problems.

I would strongly suggest to you to not use a self-powered hub if at
all possible.  The USB spec current limits each port to a maximum of
500mA per port, which means that your entire hub is limited to a total
of 500mA.  This is OK for mice and keyboards, but gets very thin when
you're dealing with anything with moving parts.  Save yourself the
headache, and get a hub with an external power source. However, if you
must use the self-powered one, you might consider buying a shorter
cable between the hub and the PC, which may speed up the power-up
sequence and give you some breathing room.

This is just a simple suggestion that I have found to work with
Windows, USB and drivers in general...

Remove BOTH USB devices: USB controller and USB root hub... you may
have to search for the latter. Shutdown and power off your machine.
Turn on the machine with the USB hub connected. Specifically, I have
previously had problems where the controller device installed and the
root hub device did not - the symptom was that it appeared as an
unknown device.

More generally with network cards, I have seen removal and then
reinstallation fix "reportedly" successful (slight inconsistencies in
reporting) but non-working installations.

If you haven't done this yet, it doesn't cost much time. If you
already have - sorry.

The devices I want to plug in will be:

A cordless optical mouse - 2 sockets, 1 for charging the mouse, the
other for the radio transmitter.
A 2.5" 1.33GB hard disk in a case, powered optionally via a ps2
tee-plug.
A webcam - small device with no moving parts.

All of these together require minimal power, so I don't think power is
an issue, and the whole point is that it's a laptop.  I get 2 and a
half hours if I'm in a sticky siutuation where I don't have to go
looking for a mains socket to plug the whole thing in to.

I notice that some hubs that come with a power adaptor state that its
use is optional anyway.  Maybe that's the best option for me?

A couple of points, Aprilfool:

First and foremost, check the power requirements for these devices. 
If they add up to anything like 500ma, you'll need the powered unit.

Secondly, you may find a USB hub with a battery option.  There are
many niche companies focussing specifically on the laptop market. I
will try to find one for you as the day goes on.

Third, nxtnce's suggestion of a shorter USB cable is well worth
trying. (Incidentally, as a computer retailer during the time USB came
in, I frequently pulled my hair out over situations like this {hence
my GA nickname}, without knowing the underlying technical reasons. 
Thank you, nxtnce!)

Finally (I know you want to avoid this one), given the age of your
machine, you may want to re-evaluate your timeframe for an upgrade.

For now, good luck and keep plugging.  We will, too.