HID - Is There Software to Enable/Disable Devices En Masse?

[fsdfgdsafasdfda]

I seem to be finding that some applications and games have serious problems, when trying to deal with too many HID peripherals connected simultaneously. It's not surprising, I suppose, considering how many exist, and serve distinct niche uses. With the number of USB ports available, on the rise, it's much easier to just leave everything connected.

So here's my issue. I have multiple games that will flat out not even start, if I even have a few devices connected. This means I need to manually disable each unncessary one in Device Manager, or I need to unplug everything extraneous, and then reboot.

Now, it wouldn't be big deal to disable some of them manually, except devices seem to have blown up massively in the number of HID spots they are listed as.

What I'm looking for is software that would allow me to select the devices I will be using, from a list, and have them enabled automatically, while disabling all that are unchecked.

Here's an example of what I'm referring to (in the manual and awful to do way).

This is a G15 KB, Razer Mouse, and nothing else plugged in. At points in time a T650 touchpad, and Xbox controller, were connected (not on this boot). This is a basically one day old install of Windows 8, and I haven't connected any other joysticks, wheels, or the nostromo yet, all of which will make the list even more rediculously long.

Any suggestions?

[Arkose]

I don't have either of these devices to test with but it seems odd that they mostly have generic names; is this with the official drivers or just whatever Windows installed automatically? Installing the official software would be a good place to start if you haven't done so yet.

Logitech released a new version of the G-series Logitech Gaming Software just a few days ago which might also help.

EDIT: actually, I'm guessing you ran the Windows 8 installer using these devices for input, in which case it would have definitely seen them and attempted to set up basic drivers. Do these entries reappear if you clear them out? To do this remove all of the HID listings (checking the box to delete the software, if prompted), disconnect both devices, and then install the official software for them (reconnecting them when prompted by the installer). You may need to use a different mouse temporarily to help with this.

[fsdfgdsafasdfda]

I don't have either of these devices to test with but it seems odd that they mostly have generic names; is this with the official drivers or just whatever Windows installed automatically? Installing the official software would be a good place to start if you haven't done so yet.

Logitech released a new version of the G-series Logitech Gaming Software just a few days ago which might also help.

EDIT: actually, I'm guessing you ran the Windows 8 installer using these devices for input, in which case it would have definitely seen them and attempted to set up basic drivers. Do these entries reappear if you clear them out? To do this remove all of the HID listings (checking the box to delete the software, if prompted), disconnect both devices, and then install the official software for them (reconnecting them when prompted by the installer). You may need to use a different mouse temporarily to help with this.

I'll give that a shot, and report my results.

All three were attached when I installed Windows. I did install the official drivers for the touchpad and the keyboard after, but not the mouse (there are reports of problems with the Razer drivers).

[Linkinfamous]

It's not surprising, I suppose,

It is to me. Opening a handle to a specific HID device is pretty easy. I can't imagine how anyone could screw it up.

That's a really odd problem.

[fsdfgdsafasdfda]

So, I went through and removed absolutely every HID by uninstalling, and removing the software if prompted.

I made sure to remove all hidden ones as well.

First I loaded up the trackpad, which created a bunch of junk. I installed the logitech drivers, and then removed absolutely everything but those. Ok, trackpad still working ok, nothing else plugged in.

I installed the logitech software for the keyboard, and plugged it in after install. Still good. Just the bacics listed.

I installed the Razer Nostromo software, and plugged it in after. Again, looking good. The Nostromo is listed, and there's one generic HID associated with it.

I connected the xbox controller, and the whole thing went to crap again. So, I went through and deleted everything that didn't say xbox controller in it (which was only one), and rebooted. Still looking good.

I installed the Razer Mamba mouse driver/software, and re-booted. No Razer Mamba listed in there. I plugged it in, and the whole list went to crap again. I deleted everything that was added, and only the very last HID that was unnamed caused it to stop working. It was a generic microsoft driver.

I'm not sure what the rest of the crap is, but I'm going to remove all but that last generic file, aside from the drivers that should be there for the other devices, and cross my fingers that it doesn't all come back after a re-boot.

[fsdfgdsafasdfda]

Right, so I chipped away at all of the other HID listings that did not appear to be needed. All devices appeared to be working correctly, and the list was managable.

Then of course, I re-booted....

Anything in the jpeg you see, that isn't marked by me, was NOT there prior to the re-boot. So all of the unmarked just came back. All devices were plugged in prior to, and during, the boot sequence. Nothing had physically changed on my end.

I suppose I should give some real world examples, as to why this is driving me buggy.

Dark Souls (a game), will not allow me to use the xbox controller, unless the Nostromo is fully disabled, or the software is uninstalled. Unplugging it and rebooting is not good enough.

Planetside 2 (also a game), will automatically crash after launch, if both the trackpad and mouse are connected during boot up. Unplugging or turning off the trackpad after boot up will not fix the issue. Fully disabling it does.

The problem is trying to sort out all of the crap that needs to be disabled, each and every time, and then remembering to enable it all afterwards. It's especially bad because a lot of my HID list isn't labeled properly, so it's not as simple as just hopping in there and doing it manually.

Apparently some games have issues with the idea of two controllers being installed at once, or two mice, for that matter.

I was really hoping someone would know of some software that might let you select which peripherals you want enabled, and it would automatically disable all the others. If it could then re-enable all of them with a simple click, that would be fine too.

Honestly, if I even could sort out a batch file to do it all, that would be clumsy but just fine by me.

Well I'm off to unplug a bunch of things, and reboot, so that I can mess around in PS2.

If anyone has more thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Edited December 19, 2012 by bladebarrier

[+BudMan MVC]

you could use devcon to create different scripts to disable enable the devices you want, etc.

https://support.micr...t.com/kb/311272

The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager

I have issue on work machine where the stupid vpn software they run will throw a fit if you have more than one network connection. So if I need to jump on wireless to vpn into customer network, etc. I have to either unplug my wired interface or disable it.

So I just run a devcon command I put in a batch file - so 2 icons on desktop one disables, other enables.

You could do the same thing for multiple lists of devices, so play game X disable all devices you don't want. Play game Y disable different listing, etc. Then another one to enable them all again, etc. etc.

edit: just thought of another option - since all usb based,

http://safelyremove.com/

Now I use it for usb based disks, flashdrives, etc. But should work on all usb devices - you could create hot keys to disable the devices you want, etc..

I normally find freeware tools to use, this is one of the few tools I actually paid money for ;)

[fsdfgdsafasdfda]

you could use devcon to create different scripts to disable enable the devices you want, etc.

https://support.micr...t.com/kb/311272

The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager

I have issue on work machine where the stupid vpn software they run will throw a fit if you have more than one network connection. So if I need to jump on wireless to vpn into customer network, etc. I have to either unplug my wired interface or disable it.

So I just run a devcon command I put in a batch file - so 2 icons on desktop one disables, other enables.

You could do the same thing for multiple lists of devices, so play game X disable all devices you don't want. Play game Y disable different listing, etc. Then another one to enable them all again, etc. etc.

edit: just thought of another option - since all usb based,

http://safelyremove.com/

Now I use it for usb based disks, flashdrives, etc. But should work on all usb devices - you could create hot keys to disable the devices you want, etc..

I normally find freeware tools to use, this is one of the few tools I actually paid money for ;)

Fantastic!

Those both should be excellent methods.

Thanks a bunch, Budman!