Is This a Hardware Problem? Phone Not Recognized by Windows - Google Pixel 4a Questions & Answers

Pixel 4a running Android 12, build SQ1A.211205.008. When I connect my Pixel 4A to my Windows 10 PC, the phone is not recognized by Windows. The message in Windows specifically reads: "The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows did not recognize it." If I go into USB preferences on the phone, I cannot change any of the settings, for example selecting "File transfer / Android Auto"
Another Pixel 4a phone using the same cable connects with no problem and the USB preferences can be adjusted.

This may sound like a dumb question, but have you tried rebooting your phone and trying it again?

Have you tried a different cable? Do you have the correct USB drivers installed?

I did try connecting with two other cables. Also tried connecting with the phone running in Safe Mode. The last thing I tried was a factory reset of the phone. That did not fix it, either.

Iam having the same problem has anyone found any fixes.

Related

[Q] USB Device not recognized / Unknown Device

I'm having an issue where my thunderbolt is not recognized by my PC any longer. I used to have it set up with pdanet and everything worked well for about a week. All of a sudden, any computer i tried to plug the device into, wouldn't detect the phone. A friend of mine has tried his thunderbolt on my computer and it detects it.
When plugging my phone in, it pops up an error message with "USB Device not Recognized." In the device manager, the phone shows up as Unknown Device. I have tried this on 3 different pc's, using 3 different data cables. No USB symbol displays on the taskbar of the phone when I plug it in, however, it does charge.
What I have tried:
Changing data cables.
Using another PC.
Uninstalling device drivers and letting windows re-detect and install.
Downloaded HTC Sync and ran it after uninstalling drivers again and re-plugging the phone.
Changed different Connection settings on the phone, such as USB Debuggin on/off, and changing it to HTC Sync Mode, Charge Only, Disk Drive, etc
Mounted and unmounted SD Card in the phone settings.
OS: Windows 7 x64
Is there anyone out there that can help?
Thank you for any information you may provide.
I remember that one of my friend's desire cannot be detected by the pc before, he search the forum and find out that he need to change something in the driver files before installing the driver. I'm not sure if that will work in your case thought..

[Q] Trouble connecting Nexus 5 to new laptop in MTP mode

Not sure how many would read such a long post for a question, but here goes...
Any help is appreciated!!
1. Problem
In short, I plugged in my Nexus 5 to my laptop in MTP mode, it does not show up in "My Computer".
I just wanted to transfer files to my phone via USB, not even using ADB yet.
I have yet to solve the problem after googling around for a bit.
Relevant XDA threads that I remember reading are this, this, this, this and this.
I have tried numerous combinations of (un)plugging my phone / (un)installing drivers / rebooting my laptop and phone / switching usb ports / turning USB debugging on and off / connect in PTP mode / ...
As a workaround, I am now transferring files using the AirDroid app, which is really convenient with acceptable speed.
Still, it would be nice to know why the problem occurred and see if others have similar problem.
Below I will describe the devices I have on hand and more details on the failures I have encountered will follow.
2. My Devices
A. an old Galaxy Note
B. the new Nexus 5 with the stock micro USB cord
C. new laptop
- 64-bit Windows 8 Pro (not upgraded to 8.1 yet)
- only USB 3.0 ports
D. old laptop
- 32-bit Windows XP Home
- only USB 2.0 ports
3. Details
Scenario A. Nexus 5 not showing up in "My Computer"
Naturally, the first thing I tried is to simply plug my Nexus 5 in to my new laptop. I was used to Android devices working just like that!
However, my Nexus 5 does not show up in "My Computer" after a loooong wait.
On a closer look, my Nexus 5 (only) appears in the "Device Manager" under "Portable Devices" as "MTP USB Device".
It shows my device to be "working properly". However, I cannot uninstall/disable it when my phone is plugged in (normal?)
Frustrated, I decided to unplug my phone. I have the option to "Unplug Nexus 5" under "Safely Remove Hardware", but the operation always times out, so I simply unplugged it.
Then I tried with my Note using the same cable. It works flawlessly either in MTP mode or Mass Storage mode.
Scenario B. Nexus 5 shows up, but is really sloooooooooooooow
At some point, I turned on USB debugging.
With USB debugging on, my phone appears under "Portable Devices" as "Nexus 5" (and in some other places according to what drivers I have installed).
I was quite pleased for a few seconds as my Nexus 5 now shows up in "My Computer"!
However, it took a few minutes to list the folders I have under my phone's internal storage.
Attempting to copy a 12MB file to it gives an estimated time of over 2 hours.
Scenario C. Success?
After tinkering with it for some time to no avail, I was beginning to worry if I have gotten a defective hardware.
Then I remembered I had an old laptop stashed somewhere, so I tried connecting my Nexus 5 to that.
And... voila! It works without a hitch (MTP mode, USB debugging off).
A maybe useful note is that I have used both the old and new laptops to transfer files to my Note before.
4. Possible causes
While many seems to have solved the issue by simply unplugging and letting Windows reinstall the drivers, I have no such luck.
I sincerely hope that it is not due to any hardware defects since
a) my Note can talk to my new laptop through the same micro USB with no problems, and
b) my Nexus 5 can talk to my old laptop.
I feel that this is a driver-related issue but I am not sure.
Is it possible that there are compatibility issues with using USB 3.0 port (which should be backward compatible...) or a 64-bit Win 8 Pro?
Any help is appreciated!
It is so strange..
I just bought a USB 2.0 hub and connected my phone to my new laptop through it.
Guess what... it works perfectly!
Apparently my problem was that my new laptop only had USB 3.0 ports for me to test on?
Doesn't make sense... thought 3.0 is backward compatible and my old Note works on it!
Maybe I'm missing something but I'm happy it is solved for me now
This solution worked for me. Go to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512549 and see post #5. Be sure to thank n7of9 for the link and WugFresh for his toolkit solution. Enjoy.
Hey,
I basically seem to have the same problem as you do.
My laptop also only has USB 3.0 ports and Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit installed.
The Nexus 5 doesn't get installed, in MTP mode it is just shown with the yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. Downloading different USB drivers including Google's and trying to manually install it doesn't work at all. I specifically checked that all older similar drivers are gone, so I doubt that older Android devices could be interfering.
On the other hand, as you noted, using an older computer with USB 2.0 works perfectly, I had the same result.
To be honest, I'm not much of a developer or Android tinkerer, so I'm not really making any progreess... In the end, I think I will follow your example and test it with a USB 2.0 adapter.
Did you manage to get it to work without this workaround?
Kind regards! :fingers-crossed:
I'm using Linux Mint. Just plug the Nexus in. It shows up as a folder. No hassle
Sent from my Nexus 5
SabinSnorlax said:
Hey,
I basically seem to have the same problem as you do.
My laptop also only has USB 3.0 ports and Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit installed.
The Nexus 5 doesn't get installed, in MTP mode it is just shown with the yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. Downloading different USB drivers including Google's and trying to manually install it doesn't work at all. I specifically checked that all older similar drivers are gone, so I doubt that older Android devices could be interfering.
On the other hand, as you noted, using an older computer with USB 2.0 works perfectly, I had the same result.
To be honest, I'm not much of a developer or Android tinkerer, so I'm not really making any progreess... In the end, I think I will follow your example and test it with a USB 2.0 adapter.
Did you manage to get it to work without this workaround?
Kind regards! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a lot of issues with my S3 and my work computer (windows XP SP3) and it was because I had half installed some USB driver that windows tried installing.
I fixed the problem in device manager by manually uninstalling EVERY SINGLE USB DEVICE attached to the computer while I had my phone plugged in.
Word of caution: You'll probably uninstall your mouse/keyboard doing this.
Once everything was uninstalled I reinstalled the Samsung drivers and it worked fine.
The same computer only required me to install the Google drivers for my N5. If I enable USB debugging, I all of a sudden can't install MTP drivers, but USB debugging disabled works fine.
USB & MTP mode
I have the same problem with my Nexus 5. The only workaround to transfer files to my phone from a computer via USB cable is to enable USB debuging, set the phone to PTP mode instead of MTP and then it shows in My Computer as a camera. I can only access the DCIM and Pictures folders but for now I have to settle for this...I copy all the files I need to let's say Pictures and then using a file explorer (on the phone) I cut and paste them to the folders I wish...e.g. movies to Movies, music to Music and so on...
I had same problem. Developer Mode...USB Debugging ON worked.
I have this problem too, but I got it to work using a galaxy s3 cable. for some reasons the cable that came with N5 did not work.
Its usually just missing drivers.. You can get them straight from Google or a toolkit as mentioned! (P.s you need to download a little applet like thing from Google if you want to hook up your Mac to your n5)
See andoid.com/filetransfer for the drivers.
This worked for me when all else failed: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35854664&postcount=7
Hope that helps!
The problem I am having now connecting is that my phone got wet recently. I dried it immediately and used dessicant to withrow the water and now it works (sort of). Now when I plug my phone into my pc, the usb debugging icon doesn't even show up.
I tried connecting to both my work pc and home laptop and they both say the same thing, that the usb device has malfunstioned and that windows doesn't recognize it.
Is it time for a new phone?
islandboy_2000 said:
The problem I am having now connecting is that my phone got wet recently. I dried it immediately and used dessicant to withrow the water and now it works (sort of). Now when I plug my phone into my pc, the usb debugging icon doesn't even show up.
I tried connecting to both my work pc and home laptop and they both say the same thing, that the usb device has malfunstioned and that windows doesn't recognize it.
Is it time for a new phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the usb is shorting. How long did you let it dry. Give it more time and try it again.
jd1639 said:
Sounds like the usb is shorting. How long did you let it dry. Give it more time and try it again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah maybe thats what happened. It's been drying now for about a week. The screen was the major problem at first but has since dried there mostly.
Hopefully it will come back. Would suck to have to buy a new phone because of that.
Thanks. :good:
MTP connecting problem solved
Going back to the subject of the thread: I am pretty sure that ADB drivers and SDK (I am confident that a lot of nexus users have their devices rooted and that means they must have the above installed) is what is causing some sort of conflict when trying to connect the Nexus 5 as MTP. After I reinstalled the windows (W8) on my computer and connected my Nexus 5 it took @1-2 minutes to auto install the drivers and then worked fine...I have no ideea what happens if I install ADB and SDK again...
ASepi said:
Going back to the subject of the thread: I am pretty sure that ADB drivers and SDK (I am confident that a lot of nexus users have their devices rooted and that means they must have the above installed) is what is causing some sort of conflict when trying to connect the Nexus 5 as MTP. After I reinstalled the windows (W8) on my computer and connected my Nexus 5 it took @1-2 minutes to auto install the drivers and then worked fine...I have no ideea what happens if I install ADB and SDK again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you tell the SDK not to install the drivers it'll be fine
The simplest and shortest way to connect google nexus5 with PC as MTP(Media device)
When I plugged it, there wasn't any yellow exclamation mark within Device Manager. So for me, the drivers were OK. But the device was not listed within my Eclipse DDMS. After a little bit of searching, it was just an option to change in the device settings. By default, the Nexus 5 USB computer connection is in MTP mode (Media Device).
What you have to do is:
Unplug the device from the computer
Go to Settings -> Storage.
In the ActionBar, click the option menu and choose "USB computer connection".
Then select Media device(MTP) or Camera(PTP) based on your requirement...
Plug the device and you should have a popup on the device allowing you to accept the computer's incoming connection..
I hope this will help!
njoy
Resolved. nexus 5 PC Connectivity
hackdisk said:
Not sure how many would read such a long post for a question, but here goes...
Any help is appreciated!!
1. Problem
In short, I plugged in my Nexus 5 to my laptop in MTP mode, it does not show up in "My Computer".
I just wanted to transfer files to my phone via USB, not even using ADB yet.
I have yet to solve the problem after googling around for a bit.
Relevant XDA threads that I remember reading are this, this, this, this and this.
I have tried numerous combinations of (un)plugging my phone / (un)installing drivers / rebooting my laptop and phone / switching usb ports / turning USB debugging on and off / connect in PTP mode / ...
As a workaround, I am now transferring files using the AirDroid app, which is really convenient with acceptable speed.
Still, it would be nice to know why the problem occurred and see if others have similar problem.
Below I will describe the devices I have on hand and more details on the failures I have encountered will follow.
2. My Devices
A. an old Galaxy Note
B. the new Nexus 5 with the stock micro USB cord
C. new laptop
- 64-bit Windows 8 Pro (not upgraded to 8.1 yet)
- only USB 3.0 ports
D. old laptop
- 32-bit Windows XP Home
- only USB 2.0 ports
3. Details
Scenario A. Nexus 5 not showing up in "My Computer"
Naturally, the first thing I tried is to simply plug my Nexus 5 in to my new laptop. I was used to Android devices working just like that!
However, my Nexus 5 does not show up in "My Computer" after a loooong wait.
On a closer look, my Nexus 5 (only) appears in the "Device Manager" under "Portable Devices" as "MTP USB Device".
It shows my device to be "working properly". However, I cannot uninstall/disable it when my phone is plugged in (normal?)
Frustrated, I decided to unplug my phone. I have the option to "Unplug Nexus 5" under "Safely Remove Hardware", but the operation always times out, so I simply unplugged it.
Then I tried with my Note using the same cable. It works flawlessly either in MTP mode or Mass Storage mode.
Scenario B. Nexus 5 shows up, but is really sloooooooooooooow
At some point, I turned on USB debugging.
With USB debugging on, my phone appears under "Portable Devices" as "Nexus 5" (and in some other places according to what drivers I have installed).
I was quite pleased for a few seconds as my Nexus 5 now shows up in "My Computer"!
However, it took a few minutes to list the folders I have under my phone's internal storage.
Attempting to copy a 12MB file to it gives an estimated time of over 2 hours.
Scenario C. Success?
After tinkering with it for some time to no avail, I was beginning to worry if I have gotten a defective hardware.
Then I remembered I had an old laptop stashed somewhere, so I tried connecting my Nexus 5 to that.
And... voila! It works without a hitch (MTP mode, USB debugging off).
A maybe useful note is that I have used both the old and new laptops to transfer files to my Note before.
4. Possible causes
While many seems to have solved the issue by simply unplugging and letting Windows reinstall the drivers, I have no such luck.
I sincerely hope that it is not due to any hardware defects since
a) my Note can talk to my new laptop through the same micro USB with no problems, and
b) my Nexus 5 can talk to my old laptop.
I feel that this is a driver-related issue but I am not sure.
Is it possible that there are compatibility issues with using USB 3.0 port (which should be backward compatible...) or a 64-bit Win 8 Pro?
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello !!!
I faced the same problem with mine...
Couldn't connect my phone with my laptop.
It installs the driver but not displaying the folder in my computer.
I uninstalled the Existing samsung driver in control panel.
Then the issue has been solved,
Or uninstall previous mobile's drivers
Try this!?!
Search for Universal Driver here in XDA. Had the same problem most of you are having. First try and BAM! Works like a champ...
NEXUS 5
Problem solved for me
I have no more issues what-so-ever after I unninstalled ADB & SKD drivers...Windows(8) installed my phone by itself after a restart and it works as it should in MTP mode and PTP mode.

[Q] Nexus 5 not connecting to computer (usb), does not show in device manager

Hi,
I would like to see if I can get anyones assistance with solving my problem. I have lost the ability to connect my Nexus 5 to my computer via USB. I had previously been able to connect the phone without any problems.
Connecting my phone to PC charges the phone but no drivers are loaded, nothing changes in device manager and I cannot see a change in windows explorer to view the memory card.
So far I have tried the following:
searches on various sites
rebooting phone, starting in safe mode, wiping all data, performing a hard reset
connecting other phones to usb cable to check that it is not a charge only cable, also trying several other USB cables
connecting phone to other computers
connecting other phones (HTC) to load drivers (then uninstalling drivers)
displaying all hidden devices in device manager and removing all drivers that resemble something to do with mobile phones
uninstalling programs I no longer require on the PC
using "wugs nexus root toolkit" to uninstall and re-install drivers
checking & unchecking MTP, PTP, developer options, USB debugging in various combinations to elicit a response from the computer.
I have also tried to visually check the connections of the USB port on the phone wondering is there is a break but I cannot see very well.
does anyone have any further suggestions to get this phone connected to a PC?
my only last thought is to attempt to open the phone and check the resistance of the plug connections.
Have you tried enabling and disabling usb debugging while plugged in?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I just did it, no change in Device manager or explorer
tropicalchills said:
I just did it, no change in Device manager or explorer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you're using a data usb cable and the usb port is good?
Same Issue
same thing happened to me today when i connected the device to PC.
Mine says unknown device on PC under other devices. so i hope my USB port is ok.but im not using the original SUB cable. i wonder that's is the issue. but it didn't bother me until today. my original cable is at my friend's house.
Tried updating drivers manually. But following error message occurs once i select the drivers folder and hit ok.
Windows was unable to install your unknown device
Please help.
so, not really a solution but while at work my phone fell on to a nice rock cracking the screen. I have replaced the phone and the new phone connects to the pc fine, drivers come up without a problem (I will put this down to a fault with the phone)
Thank you for your assistance

PC won't recognize lg x venture for MTP or ADB?

Hello, I just purchased an LG X Venture, model number H700. It is running android 7.0. When I first got it a few days ago, I installed the drivers for it on my windows 7 computer, and plugged it in. I got a pop up on the phone where I set the default USB mode to MTP (media transfer protocol). It worked great, and I was able to tranfer files between my PC and my phone.
Then I tried to get adb debugging to work with my phone, and screwed everything up. I enabled developer options, and then checked USB debugging. I also accidentally hit the "revoke USB debugging authorization button." I installed what I think are the correct ADB drivers on my PC. Then I plugged my phone back into my PC. This time, nothing comes up. I've checked in the device manager, etc., and I can't find a trace of the phone anywhere.
I looked back at developer options under USB configuration, and it's still set to MTP. But somehow I screwed something up, because my phone and computer no longer recognize each other (except for charging).
I even tried my phone with two other computers (one also windows 7, the other mac), and got the same behavior.
Any idea how to fix this? Ideally I'd like to get ADB to work, but I would settle for just getting MTP back haha.
Actually, solved it! Turns out the cable I was using was damaged. I used another one and MTP works fine on all computers.

Unable to have phone recognized as a device on any computer

Hello there! I posted in the N00B thread without any success and so am casting a wider net:
I have a rooted phone that's been working well for about 1.5 yrs and all of a sudden it's not able to connect to the computer via USB. It was working fine til about 3 months ago, no new apps or changes to the system as far as I know. It still charges when connecting to the computer but I don't get the prompt to choose the USB mode and the computer doesn't recognize it as any sort of device. I've tried it on several computers that have recognized it in the past without luck (drivers up to date) and have tried different USB cords.
I've gone to USB and developer settings and changed and restored default settings for USB connection as well as toggled a bunch of other settings in that section.
I've wiped the Cache and Davlik Cache several times.
I cleaned out the physical port. Any other thoughts? thanks!
If you are on windows 10 PC, the latest windows updates could be an issue. I faced the same issue with my computer. After rolling back windows update (or may be resetting the PC to default settings) has helped resolve my issue and i could connect my phone again normally. It is nothing to do with your phone as far as i know.
shokod said:
Hello there! I posted in the N00B thread without any success and so am casting a wider net:
I have a rooted phone that's been working well for about 1.5 yrs and all of a sudden it's not able to connect to the computer via USB. It was working fine til about 3 months ago, no new apps or changes to the system as far as I know. It still charges when connecting to the computer but I don't get the prompt to choose the USB mode and the computer doesn't recognize it as any sort of device. I've tried it on several computers that have recognized it in the past without luck (drivers up to date) and have tried different USB cords.
I've gone to USB and developer settings and changed and restored default settings for USB connection as well as toggled a bunch of other settings in that section.
I've wiped the Cache and Davlik Cache several times.
I cleaned out the physical port. Any other thoughts? thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said the drivers were up to date but you didn't say whether you tried completely uninstalling the drivers. If you didn't, uninstall every driver you can find related to the Honor, reboot and plug the phone back in. I'm running the absolute latest version of Windows 10 and have no problem connecting my wife's Honor 8.
gdp1979 said:
If you are on windows 10 PC, the latest windows updates could be an issue. I faced the same issue with my computer. After rolling back windows update (or may be resetting the PC to default settings) has helped resolve my issue and i could connect my phone again normally. It is nothing to do with your phone as far as i know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestion - I did try rolling back the update without benefit. Also, to reiterate - this is not being recognized by several computers (including a Mac) and that leads me to believe that it's the phone that's the source of the issue. I don't even get the USB menu (Charging, MTP transfer, debug mode, etc) when I plug it into several different computers.
Tel864 said:
You said the drivers were up to date but you didn't say whether you tried completely uninstalling the drivers. If you didn't, uninstall every driver you can find related to the Honor, reboot and plug the phone back in. I'm running the absolute latest version of Windows 10 and have no problem connecting my wife's Honor 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply- I uninstalled all the drivers and still nothing when I plug the phone in, after a reboot. Also, to reiterate - this phone is not being recognized by several computers (including a Mac) and that leads me to believe that it's the phone that's the source of the issue. I don't even get the USB menu (Charging, MTP transfer, debug mode, etc) when I plug it into several different computers.
It may be too obvious but did you try another USB cable? If it's not the cable try this with the default dialer *#*#2846579#*#* then select in background>usb hisuite, connect the cable and see what happens.
Tel864 said:
It may be too obvious but did you try another USB cable? If it's not the cable try this with the default dialer *#*#2846579#*#* then select in background>usb hisuite, connect the cable and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried different cables but no suggestion is too obvious! My sister in law actually also has an Honor 8 and her cable on my laptop is recognized, so that's what I've been using to troubleshoot with my phone. I did go into that menu you suggested and I tried toggling HiSuite, Manufacture, and Google and exit the menu and still nothing when I connect the cable (other than charging). Thanks
shokod said:
I have tried different cables but no suggestion is too obvious! My sister in law actually also has an Honor 8 and her cable on my laptop is recognized, so that's what I've been using to troubleshoot with my phone. I did go into that menu you suggested and I tried toggling HiSuite, Manufacture, and Google and exit the menu and still nothing when I connect the cable (other than charging). Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you played with any of the developer options like USB Debugging or USB configuration...... Nevermind, just re-read your original post. I was almost sure the dialer thing would fix it but if a reset won't I'm at a loss. I still don't think that it's a hardware problem but I guess it could be. There are things like wiping the cache partition that I see some folks have used for various problems. That would be an option that wouldn't affect your apps.

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