4

Failed to recognise device ... failed to open USB

Steve

July 05, 2013 02:34

None

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Went to cehck for firmware updates and was told to download the latest manager (V1.4).

In doing so I got the warning that this software hasn't been verified as safe by microsoft and may damage other programs. (I'm using Win XP)

Went ahead anyway and all seemed fine.

Device selection: SMH10

Device recognition: Remove all bluetooth devices (means unplugging the keyboard!) Wire it up & switch it on as instructed till the light flashes violet.

Press Next button: that's where it all stops with "Failed to recognise device ... failed to open USB". Repeating the process gets that far and no further - I can't even see if there are any updates, let alone install them.

If I remember right , this is as far as I got about 8 months ago.

So, now what?

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20 comments

• 0
  
  Kjelders2002 July 06, 2013 02:50

  I'm having the same issue.  I'm running Widows 7

• 0
  
  Steve July 09, 2013 04:07

  Well, one of the Sena Techs solved this for me! Here's his response: (Note: my solution was in his Pt. 5 - the Sena wasn't being recognised as a Bluetooth device inside Device Manager.)

  Hello,

  Here are some troubleshooting steps. It is your computer that is the problem not all 3 devices. So here are some steps if this does not work you will have to try it on another computer.

  Please make sure you have SMH10 that supports firmware update.
  To receive firmware update, your SMH10 must have micro-USB port as power port and back of the SMH10 must display "SMH10B".
  If you have SMH10 with round co-axial power port and "SMH10" labeled on the back, then your SMH10 cannot receive firmware update.

  We only support Windows XP and 7. If you do have firmware update supported SMH10, below is common troubleshooting method for firmware update trouble.
  1. Uninstall previous version of SMH10 Manager if there is newer version available on the web.

  2. Make sure to download correct version for your operating system.

  3. Disable/disconnect any internal/external bluetooth hardware connected to PC. For embedded Bluetooth module, you will need to disable from device manager.

  4. Make sure to use micro-USB cable that came with SMH10.

  5. After SMH10 Manager and driver installation, check Windows device manager with SMH10 powered and connected to PC. SMH10 should be listed under Universal Serial Bus Controllers as "CSR BlueCore Bluetooth". If you do not see this and instead see unrecognizable Bluetooth device listed, you will need to change the driver manually through device properties. Driver location is under program/Sena Technologies/SMH10 Manager.

  
  After installing the new firmware, you must do a Factory Reset. You will lose all pairings and will need to redo your pairings, but it will make your device compatible with the new update.

  FACTORY RESET:
  1. To restore the SMH10 to factory default settings, press and hold the Phone Button for 12 seconds until the LED shows solid red and you hear double beeps. You will hear a voice prompt saying “Factory reset”.
  2. Within 5 seconds, press the Jog Dial to confirm reset. The headset will be restored to factory setting and switched off automatically. You will hear a voice prompt saying “Headset reset, good-bye”.
  3. If you

• 0
  
  Kjelders2002 July 10, 2013 01:41

  This above instructions did not fix the issue.  There is definitely a issue with Sena's software

   

• 0
  
  Steve July 10, 2013 02:22

  Do you have any oither Bluetooth devices nearby? I had to unplug & switch off my keyboard, use a corded mouse - and put my phone in another room!

  I can't speak for Win7, but once I had these detailed instructions - which you'd think Sena would make more widely available - it did work: took a while though.

  At what point are you getting stuck?

  Have you tried Sena's help-desk? they're pretty good about getting back to users.

  Also, how old is/are your Sena/s? I was very unhappy with mine and spoke to the importer: they reminded me that there's a 2-year warranty on them and suggested I send all three back for testing; about 2 weeks later, I got them back - they had found something wrong with one of them and replaced it free of charge.

• 0
  
  Kjelders2002 July 10, 2013 02:29

  I bought mine (2) in April.  The wife and I used them on our 5,100 miles trip on the Gold Wing.  They were great.

• 0
  
  Steve July 10, 2013 03:28

  If they are that new and you only use them rider-to-passenger, you might not need to update them yet; if you're sure they are ot behaving correctly, try talking to the retailer.

  We use ours between bikes and the main issue is the advertised range of 900metres is a joke: clear line of sight you might get 500m if you're lucky, but if there are cars in the way that can drop to 200m - and if line-of-sight is lost - so is contact. We haven't tried using them on our dirt-bikes yet, but I expect in among trees and in dips and ridges, we'd be out of contact more than we're in it.

  Because we are three people, we found a big volume difference, depending on who joined the conversation in which order; hopefully that is better now.

  And I wanted to connect a GPS to my headset, but couldn't find one that  would pair to the Sena: lots will link to the Scala system, but not Sena: apparently that is addressed in this latest upgrade. In the meantime, I have started using my phone as a GPS and it works quite well.

• 0
  
  Kevin Willis August 09, 2013 15:07

  Love the units, but the software update(s) are a big negative. 

  I don't want to be a software programer, I do want to update to the latest firmware. 

• 0
  
  Kjelders2002 August 09, 2013 15:18

  KW - Exactly!  I am a Senior Software Engineer and can't get this to work.  I wanted the latest firmware because of the audio volume update.  There is something wrong in the latest Sena manager software and firmware package.  My computer didn't change between the time I first loaded the version of the manager and firmware when I received the SMH10 headsets.  You do not have to unplug all other bluetooth devices to get this to work.  However, I did try that and it didn't make a difference.  I tried both units on two different Windows 7 laptops and still get the error.  Sena's IT department will need to solve this and release an update.

• 0
  
  Zebra75 February 28, 2014 23:04

  See:  http://support.senabluetooth.com/entries/26079160-What-if-I-get-the-message-Failed-to-recognize-device-cannot-open-USB-during-a-firmware-update-

  I had tried to do a Mac - SMH10 V5.0 upgrade using one of the standard Sena micro-USB cables which has worked perfectly for me over the last two years, for charging and firmware upgrades. I had been following the procedure outlined by the Help Desk at the link above.

  The only thing I hadn't done was to swap USB cables.  I used my other (unused) Sena cable in the box and everything worked fine.  

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  Peter Nilsson February 08, 2016 11:59

  Fellow bikers, I have tried absolutely everything. I am running OS X El Capitan on my 2 Mac laptops (Pro and Air), and Windows XP on my desktop...Have installed/uninstalled several times, upgraded to latest version etc, etc...both computers still does not recognise the USB (even bought new cable)...Spent day and a half on this and getting quite desperate as the camera function is useless without the computer of course!...any assistance/advise would be greatly appreciated!

• 0
  
  AA March 18, 2016 15:55

  This is a cross post.

  I have win7 installed. And own 2 Sena 3s units.

  What I tried:

  Reinstall the Sena "Device manager" software. (multiple times and restarts of windows)

  Swap USB ports and cable.

  Result: Device not recognised in the Sena software and an exclamation mark in windows.

   

  What DID work:

  I don't remember where, but I found a link on this help forum to an older version of the Sena "Device manager".

  Uninstalled the latest version and installed the much older version. (version 1. something) Followed the procedure.

  Upon starting this older version and connecting my 3S the device, it does not appear in the list as it wasn't available yet that time.

  If you're asked to upgrade the device manager program.

  Do so. If not just reinstall the newer version.

  Follow the procedures on screen.

  And after this Win 7 will properly recognise your 3S and the latest device manager will do so too.

   

  Sena, shame on you to make such a crappy program for updates.

• 0
  
  Patrick Donnelly August 18, 2016 10:50

  Just got a pair of 20S. since it was recommended to be sure of current firmware I downloaded the Device Mgr for MAC and proceeded to have zero luck connecting with the devices. So I tried the 64 (and 32) bit versions for windoze 7. That is a fiasco too because Panda Antivirus insists that the Sena ware is infected and deletes it. Turning Panda off, multiple restarts and way too much time being unhappy with microsoft and Sena finally resulted in random success updating the 20S pair. 

  So then I got curious about the Mac again. I have a handful of USB things plugged into a hub. Turns out that the hub or keyboard or Wacom or Space Navigator or something interferes with the Sena ware talking to ANY USB port. Unplug the hub and then the Sena ware will recognize the 20S units.

  So for simplicity I'd recommend running Device Manager  using a Mac and keeping it bare bones (nothing connected to USB). And I'd agree with AA and say "Shame on Sena for not hiring a decent coder and fixing this lame bit of work for something so important as device firmware support."

  Hope This Helps!

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  Peter Nilsson August 18, 2016 11:44

  Absolute garbage! I consider myself relatively IT savvy, but after countless hours of sweat and frustration trying to make my 20S pair with my Mac, it's now lining the bottom of my garbage bin (could not return as my Ducati dealer ordered it through 3rd party...complicated and long story). Shame on Sena for not decoding and testing this kit properly before releasing to consumers!

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  Steve August 18, 2016 12:55

  @peternilsson: Wait - you threw away a perfectly good Mac? Where? I feel the need to dumpster-dive!

• 0
  
  Peter Nilsson August 19, 2016 01:06

  Good one Steve - yep, throw my Mac away, time to upgrade anyway!

• 0
  
  Patrick Donnelly August 19, 2016 01:58

  Just to be clear, once I figured out that the Device Manager software is stupid fussy about the USB ports and then got past that problem, it recognises the 20S perfectly. You don't need or want to pair it with the Mac. The Sena software just needs to recognise the devices to do updates / change settings. You would most commonly be pairing with your phone.
  And otherwise I'd say the 20S is a good piece of gear.

  HTH,

  PD

• 0
  
  Terry655 August 19, 2016 03:44

  Having the same issue but with my new Sena Prism Tube D: What the hell?! It charges just fine, is fully charged but I keep seeing this error. :(

  Was on my mac, no good so on my pc, still no good

• 0
  
  Garry Rife September 30, 2016 07:13

  Trying to update the firmware on my new Sena Prism Tube (Model PT10-01) with no luck.  Using a PC with Win. 8.1 and have tried both the Download Manager, the instructions in the quick start guide, and the "reset" button ....all three several times with no luck.  Download Manager returns "Failed to recognize device.  Cannot open USB":  Also tried downloading the firmware V1.1 and pasting into the root folder of the camera and that didn't work either.  I thought about deleting the original original firmware file version dated Jan. 2015, changing the file extension of the new version to ".ver" instead of ".bin" but, if it doesn't work I'm afraid my new birthday gift will die.  It's working OK as is but, would like to take advantage of the latest and greatest firmware ....whatever that maybe.

  VERY FRUSTRATING. 

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  Jelke Adema October 28, 2017 10:12

  This post is old, but hopefully I can still help people. I had the issue where my firmware update was stuck at 90%, and afterwards, my device wouldn't turn on. I have an SMH10R. The way I fixed this was by:

   

  1. Disconnect your Sena from the computer.

  2. Uninstall the device manager.

  3. Reinstall the device manager. Make sure to right click on the installation files and hit "run as administrator." It'll ask if you want to install the driver, leave it at this step for now.

  4. Take your (still disconnected) Sena, and do a fault reset by inserting a paper clip into the little hole on your device (it's in different places depending on which one you have. Look at your manual to find out where it is). It only takes about a second.

  5. Turn your device on. For my SMH10R, it was pressing the center button, and the + button at the same time.

  6. Connect your device to your computer, while the window about driver installation is still up. As soon as you connect it, it should immediately install the driver.

  7. Once the install finishes, the device manager should be up, and it should recognize your device. Now, click through the prompts, so that you download the firmware, and start updating it.

  8. Let the update process finish.

  You should now have a device that can turn on again.

• 0
  
  Mike Kelly December 01, 2019 20:58

  Completely agree, the software is a piece of junk.  The fact that they would seriously suggest you have to unplug every other USB and Bluetooth device for it to work is embarassing.  

   

  But... if you come here because you just bought an SMH10 (as I did) and want to get the latest firmware, you probably don't need it - the last firmware update was in May 2017 so if you bought a device in the last year, it probably has the latest v5.1.2 firmware already.  Skip the POS device manager install.