USB cable...works on other comps but not mine (solved)

[babyflitestreak]

-- My computer --
2.5 GHz dual core AMD processor, 2gb RAM, Win XP Home SP3
-- Transmitter --
Hitec Flash 5X
Batteries fully charged, crystal installed, and turned on when checking signal and running FMS.
-- Interface cable --
TTI (Tom's RC) FMS Futaba/Hitec version U3, USBc purchased from Helihobby.com. When first plugged in Windows "sees" it as a "USB Human Interface Device" and then "USB to Serial". The cable came with its own USB driver.

-- Problem --
A few months ago I built a new computer (see my computer specs above). For the first few weeks everything was just fine. A few weeks later I started having intermittent problems with FMS not "seeing" the signal from the cable. Because of this I started using PIC Check (utility that came with cable) to check the signal before running FMS. I set it to the correct port, click "go" to start the signal check. If it "found" the signal I could run FMS with no problems. If it didn't "find" the signal it would hang (no error messages) and stay that way until I force it to close. Now this problem is constant. The only way I can get FMS to work with my computer is if I uninstall and reinstall FMS + cable drivers. After doing this if I unplug and replug or reboot/shutdown the comp it goes back to its non-working state.

-- Items Checked --
I tried it on dad's computer...Compaq Presario SR1210NX w/ Win XP SP3 and it works just fine. It was hooked up to the front USB port on the multi-card reader. The reader is internal so removing it is not an option.

Uninstall cable driver while plugged in. Unplug, replug and then run PIC Check. "COM3 not found" error. It appears that this cable requires its special USB driver in order to function.

After installing the driver I opened "Device Manager" then plugged in the cable and unplugged it. The entries in the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section appear and disappear as they should which tells me that Windows does "see" the cable.

-- Background --
When I first started using FMS with the interface cable I was running it on my old Dell laptop with Win XP SP2. The cable was hooked to one of the ports on a PCMCIA USB hub. It worked great every single time. ..but the laptop is no longer in service since it doesn't run very well anymore.

Is there something I'm missing? Anything else I need to check?

[babyflitestreak]

My problem was solved by a $10 AC powered USB hub. FMS works great now, no problems at all.
What prompted this purchase was the results I got from my laptop and dad's comp...cable was hooked up to a hub in both cases.
I also read other posts here and elsewhere indicating that others with this cable had the same problem until they hooked it up via a USB hub.