Computers/Laptops gives us the freedom to connect external USB devices using their dedicated USB ports. But, sometimes the connected device won’t get recognized and gives an error “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed).” This error is very frustrating sometimes as there is no more description available in the device manager to fix this. Well, this guide is here to help you. This article gives solutions to fix a Device Descriptor Request Failed problem. With this guide, you will also be able to fix the USB device not recognized the problem.
- 1) Why “Device descriptor Request failed” occurs?
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2)
6 ways to fix Device Descriptor Request failed
- 3) 1. Update USB drivers/Re-install drivers to fix Device Descriptor Request failed
- 4) 2. Using Troubleshooter to fix USB device not recognized
- 5) 3. Update USB drivers to fix unknown USB device
- 6) 4. Disable USB selective suspend option to fix the USB not recognized issue
- 7) 5. Turn off Fast Startup setting
- 8) 6. Restore the PC to a previous restore point
Why “Device descriptor Request failed” occurs?
- This issue arises intermittently due to various issues occurs in the windows.
- Unknown USB Device issue may occur after installing random software without doing a proper installation setup, may cause USB drivers to corrupt and fail to recognize the device.
- Changing system settings unknowingly may cause device drivers to support alteration and USB device not recognized can occur.
The issue can occur during connecting the devices like a USB mouse, keyboard, pen drive, Bluetooth device, PS4 controller, Arduino, etc.
6 ways to fix Device Descriptor Request failed
Following are the 6 ways to fix this issue. You may want to reboot the computer after performing each task to take its effect.
1. Update USB drivers/Re-install drivers to fix Device Descriptor Request failed
The simple way to fix the USB not recognized issue is to update the device driver or re-install the drivers.
To update the drivers, you can go to the respective device support website and download the newest drivers.
To reinstall drivers, you have to first uninstall the currently installed drivers.
1. Open run tool from Win. + R key and type devmgmt.msc
2. Find the driver with a yellow mark.
3. Right-click on it and select “Uninstall device.”
4. Once you have done, restart the PC, and drivers will be automatically re-installed after you connect that particular device to PC.
2. Using Troubleshooter to fix USB device not recognized
Windows default troubleshooter can fix common problems. Using this troubleshooter, we can fix the issue of an unknown USB device.
1. Open control panel and open System and Security option.
2. From the new windows, under Security and Maintenance option, click on “Troubleshoot common computer problems.” (For Windows 10, you can directly go to settings and open troubleshoot option.)

3. Under hardware and devices click on “Run maintenance” button.
4. An automated diagnosis will run and look for possible fixes.
5. Once the problem has been found, you can see a dialogue box, asking “Apply this fix.” Click on it.

6. Now reboot your PC and check if the problem has been fixed.
3. Update USB drivers to fix unknown USB device
An outdated drivers cant recognize a device and an error like device Descriptor Request Failed can occur. Updating generic USB drivers should fix this issue.
1. Press Win. + R from your keyboard to open the Run tool.
2. Type devmgmt.msc to open device manager.
3. Now click on “Generic Serial Bus controllers” and expand the list.
4. Now right-click on Generic and select “Update driver software.”
5. Now click on “Browse my computer for driver software.”

6. On the next screen, click on “Let me pick from the list of available drivers on my computer.”
7. The computer now searches for available drivers and show a list of possible compatible drivers.
8. Select “USB Generic Driver” and install it by clicking the Next button.
4. Disable USB selective suspend option to fix the USB not recognized issue
This settings if enabled can get the issue of USB device not recognized. You can disable these setting to fix his issue.
1. Go to control panel and select ” large icons” first. Now select Power Options from the list of icons.
2. From the active power plan, click on Change plan settings and then click on Change advanced power settings.
3. From the new window, expand the USB settings option and then expand the USB selective suspend setting.

4. Now select disable option from the drop-down menu and disable that click OK to disable the setting.
5. Turn off Fast Startup setting
Booting PC fastly can suspend some features to improve the boot time. If this option is enabled, the Device descriptor request failed issue can occur, and you may run into trouble. To fix this issue, you can turn off that setting.
1. Go to control panel and select ” large icons” first. Now select Power option from the list of icons.
2. Now from the left side menu, select “Choose what the power button does.”
3. From the next screen, if the settings can’t be selected, click on the option, “change settings that are currently unavailable.”

4. Now, un-tick the radio box corresponding to the setting “turn on fast startup” to disable this setting.

5. Click on Save changes to make the changes.
You can now connect the device to check if device not recognized problem is fixed.
6. Restore the PC to a previous restore point
If all above fixed won’t work for you, you can roll back to the previous restore point to fix the device descriptor request failed issue.
To roll back, just click on the menu button and click on “restore point” and select “Restore your PC” option.
Summary
Device descriptor request failed, or unknown USB device issue may occur due to various reasons. You can perform some task to fix the device not recognized the problem.