Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) – Solved [MiniTool Tips]

As you can easily find, the USB has become a standard and the most popular PC expansion interface of the twenty-first century. USB devices can be seen in all walks of life; even the game console, SD card, and mouse, keyboard & other hardware components of the computer can be connected through the USB interface.

Error: Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)

Sometimes, you may run into the Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error. It is very disappointing to find your USB device shows as unknown. Can you fix the unknown USB Device Descriptor Request Failed issue yourself? How to recover data from the USB device descriptor failure?

You must care about these things when you are experiencing the Device Descriptor Request Failed. Taking this into account, I decided to show you how to recover data from unknown USB device and the way to deal with the unknown USB device Device Descriptor Request Failed error properly.

Some Error Messages Indicating USB Device Descriptor Request Failed

• USB DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE.
• Unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) code 43.
• One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.
• Try reconnecting the device. If Windows still does not recognize it, your device may not be working properly.
• USB device not recognized. The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.
• Etc.

These error messages indicate that a request for the USB Device Descriptor Failed.

Variations of USB\Device_Descriptor_Failure

• USB Device_Descriptor_Failure Bluetooth
• USB Device_Descriptor_Failure driver identifier
• USB Device_Descriptor_Failure driver download
• USB Device_Descriptor_Failure driver download free
• Unknown USB device (device failed enumeration) Windows 10
• USB vid_0000&pid_0008 5&3a33fe6e&0&5

Here is a real case of unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) code 43 in Windows 10:

I have been facing a problem with my USB devices for the past few weeks. Whenever I connect a USB device (mouse, iPhone or even a USB), I get the error Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43). As a result, I am unable to connect any USB device to my computer which is very frustrating. In addition to that, I have also discovered that my Bluetooth Devices also shows a similar message Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) Driver Error. I tried to connect devices (phone, a wireless headset) to my computer but that also failed.– reported by Usman26 on forums.lenovo.com

USB Device Descriptor Failed, How to Recover Data

Whenever you come across the error – USB Device Descriptor Request Failed, you are advised to recover data from the unknown USB device at first. When the data recovery has been finished, you can try every possible means to fix the problem (this is for data security reasons).

USB Device Data Recovery Steps

Step one: if you envy the free USB data recovery, please get the following trial edition and install it on your computer properly.

Free Download

Step two: connect the target USB device to your computer and launch the software you have just installed by double clicking on the icon.

Step three: the Logical Drives tab will be checked by default, but you need to shift to the Devices tab. Then, take a look at the devices list to see whether your USB device appears here.

• If it does appear, please select it and click on the Scan button to start searching for files saved on it.
• If you can’t find your USB device, please try to fix the problem & make it appear there after reading this page.

Step four: wait for the scan. Then, browse all the files and folders found & listed by the software to figure out whether they contain the lost data you need.

• If you have found the documents you want, please check them one by one.
• If not all your needed files are here, please wait patiently for the completion of the scan (to get the best recovery result).

Please note that:

• You can choose to Pause the scan when you have to leave for a while and don't want the scan to continue.
• You may as well click on the Stop button to cancel further scans completely when you have found all the files you need in the current scan result.

Step five: click on the Save button located in the lower right corner of the software interface. Then, choose a storage path for the selected files (which are waiting to be recovered from the USB device) and click on the OK button to reconfirm your choice (this step can’t be accomplished if you are using a trial edition to scan the USB drive).

To really recover the needed data from the software scan result, you should:

1. Get an advanced edition.
2. Register your copy of software.
3. Re-scan the USB device and check files to recover.

This is the end of data recovery from an unknown USB device. Actually, the method also works for the situations where you need to recover deleted files from USB drive or fix a broken USB stick.

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As for how to recover data from the HDD which shows as unknown, you should read this post carefully:

How To Recover Data From Disk Shows As Unknown Without Damaging

On discovering your disk shows as unknown, uninitialized or unallocated, you must take actions at once to recover all valuable data from it.

Read More

How to Fix Unknown USB Device Device Descriptor Request Failed Windows 10

As I said earlier, the USB port has been applied to a lot of commonly seen products, mobile phones, USB flash drives, printers, scanners, tablets, laptops, and desktops. You need to connect the USB device to a computer to deal with some data copying, managing and transferring work most of the time.

This is where the problem comes in – an error of Unknown USB Device is given by the Windows computer (and the computers running Linux or other systems). Well, what are you going to do when encountering the following error messages?

• Unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) nothing plugged in
• Unknown USB device (port reset failed)
• Unknown USB device (the device failed enumeration)
• Unknown USB device (set address failed)
• Error code 43
• …

Please check whether the USB port is damaged or not when you see those error messages: try connecting it through other USB ports on the computer or try to connect it to a different PC -> shut down your computer -> restart it -> plug the USB device into a good USB port to see whether the problem can be fixed.

If this fails, you should connect the target USB device properly to the computer and then resort to the following workarounds yourself.

Workaround 1: Check & Repair Bad Sectors

If Bad Sectors appear on a USB storage device, the corresponding area can’t be read or written.

How to check and repair:

1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to enter its main interface.
2. Select your USB disk from the right pane first. Then, scroll down in the left pane to locate the Check Disk section and click Surface Test.
3. Click on the Start Now button in the pop-up Surface Test window and wait for the check process.
4. Take a glance at the result and decide what to do next (if there are only a few bad sectors, you may try to repair them; if too many bad sectors are found, you’ll need to discard this device and buy a new one, for the sake of data security).
5. Repair the bad sectors with special tools when necessary.

Workaround 2: Use Hardware and Device Troubleshooter

Troubleshooter is actually a universal troubleshooting tool built-in in the Windows systems. It works well in checking and repairing many common system problems.

How to use:

1. Click on the Start button from the bottom left corner of the screen.
2. Scroll down to the S column and select Settings.
3. Find Update & Security (Windows Update, recovery, backup) option and click on it.
4. Select Troubleshoot from the left pane.
5. Select Hardware and Devices under Find and fix other problems area.
6. Click on the Run the troubleshooter button appeared.
7. Wait for the problems detecting process and follow the on-screen instruction.
8. Click on Apply this fix if any problem is found.

This method will help you to solve the unknown USB device problem once it is caused by hardware issues. If the problem persists, please move on to the next solution.

Workaround 3: Uninstall/Update the USB Driver

The problematic USB driver (the driver is outdated, corrupted, broken, or missing) is likely to be the cause of the USB device descriptor failure issue.

How to uninstall/update:

1. Open Device Manager the way you like (type devmgmt.msc in Run or right click on This PC -> choose Manage -> select Device Manager).
2. Find and expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers from the right pane.
3. Now, you can locate the malfunctioned USB drives easily (they are marked with a yellow triangle, with an exclamation point inside).
4. Right click on the USB drive and choose Uninstall or Update Driver Software.
5. Follow the instructions to continue.
6. Restart the computer to see whether the problem has been fixed.

If the problem is still not solved after unknown USB device driver download, please also try to uninstall the USB Root Hub drivers.

Workaround 4: Uninstall Drivers or Change Settings of USB Root Hub

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Find and expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
3. Right click on USB Root Hub and choose Uninstall or Update Driver Software.
4. Follow the instructions to continue.
5. Restart computer.

If this still failed, you should try to change the Settings:

1. Repeat step 1 and 2.
2. Right click on USB Root Hub and click Properties.
3. Shift to the Power Management tab.
4. Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and click OK.

Workaround 5: Change Power Options

You may also change your current power plan to try to fix the unknown device problem.

Here’s how to change:

1. Click on the search box on the taskbar (how to fix when taskbar is not working).
2. Type settings into the box.
3. Select Settings (Trusted Microsoft Store app) from the search result.
4. Select System (Display, notifications, power) option from the Settings window.
5. Shift to Power & sleep option from Display (which is selected by default).
6. Scroll down on the right side of the screen to find Related settings area.
7. Click on the Additional power settings option.
8. Click on Change plan settings after your current plan.
9. Click on Change advanced power settings in the Edit Plan Settings window.
10. Find USB settings and expand it.
11. Expand USB selective suspend setting.
12. Click on the Enabled button after Setting and choose Disabled instead.
13. Click on the OK/Apply button.
14. Reboot your PC to make the changes take effect.

If the problem is not solved, please turn to the next method.

Workaround 6: Disable Fast Startup

Indeed, the fast startup is a feature embedded with Windows system and related to hibernate and shutdown. It aims at speeding up the computer boost. Yet, some people complained about this: the fast startup generates an ultra-fast execution speed so that the USB device may not be detected by Windows 10 or other systems; thus, the USB device descriptor failure may appear.

Now, I’ll show you how to fix the error by disabling fast startup:

1. Open the Run dialog box by holding the Windows key and R key on the keyboard at the same time.
2. Type control/control panel into the text box after the word Open:.
3. Press Enter on the keyboard or click on the OK button in the Run dialog box to open Control Panel.
4. Please click on Hardware and Sound option and choose Power Options from the right side when the items are viewed Category (you can choose Power Options directly if all items are viewed by Large icons or Small icons).
5. Select Choose what the power button does from the left-hand pane.
6. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable under Define power buttons and turn on password protection.
7. Uncheck the Turn on fast startup (recommended) option under Shutdown settings.
8. Click on the Save Changes button.
9. Restart your computer to see whether the problem has been solved.

You can use the above six ways to solve the unknown USB device Descriptor Request Failed problem most of the time. What else to try if you failed? You may try to update your BIOS; please be very careful when doing it. (How to update BIOS on ASUS motherboard?)

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Final Words

It really doesn’t matter whether you use a USB hard drive or a USB flash drive; in both cases, you’re likely to come across the Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error. On this occasion, what really matters is how you respond to the problem.

My advice is recovering data from that unknown USB device first when receiving error USB\Device_Descriptor_Failure. Then, you should follow the methods and steps mentioned above to try to repair the Device Descriptor Request Failed error ASAP.

Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) FAQ