USB 2.0 to Gigabit Adapter freezes the computer

USB Network Adapters USB2-E1000
1

I’ve bought the Plugable USB 2.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Network Adapter (ASIX AX88178 Chipset). I use it on a Windows 7 64-bit laptop. The adapter works fine for a few hours and then randomly freezes the whole computer (screen, keyboard and mouse) and i have to restart it. I happens all the time, every few hours that it’s on. Tried reinstalling the drivers, to no avail. When it’s unplugged, windows works fine, no freezing. How can this be fixed?

2

Thanks for posting! Sorry, that’s frustrating behavior, and not something we’ve seen (system-wide freezes are more likely for PCI devices, etc. which are talking directly to local hardware - it’s harder for something like that to happen with a bus like USB).

Given that it’s a few hours between freezes, it may be difficult to know what’s causing it. Some questions to try to figure that out:

  1. You’ve seen a correlation between the adapter being present and the freezes. Can you say a bit more (if you can remember) about how many times you’ve seen a freeze, and over what period (days or weeks?). And since the first time you’ve seen the freeze, how long you’ve been able to go without a problem, if the adapter is not attached?

  2. If you haven’t done this already - the next time you get a freeze, could you check if ctrl-alt-del brings up a menu at all? And let us know if it does or doesn’t?

  3. The more common possibility with USB devices (although still not common) is a driver crash (a blue screen). Has that happened at all? One good way to check is to look in your \windows\minidump directory for any .dmp files (that are from this timeframe).

Thanks for any additional info you can provide, to try to track down this mystery.

And thanks for your patience!
Bernie

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I’m having a similar problem. Although it has happened only when I’ve been on video chat. Everything connected through the docking client stops. I can then see what is happening on my laptop screen, but connecting via video chat still won’t work until I restart the computer.

4

Hi Jill,

Thanks for posting, I’ll be happy to assist. Can you say a few more details about your setup? I’ll need your Amazon Order Id, your make and model of computer, and the operating system you are using for starters. Also, are you connection through a hub or directly to the computer?

Thanks,
Jerome

Plugable Technologies