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I have a USB headset and a notebook with Windows 10. Due to the nature of having a notebook I change the port in which the USB headset is inserted to multiple times a week. Sometimes even through a USB hub or the builtin USB hub of my monitor.

The issue is that Windows assigns this USB headset a different name/identifier on different ports. I can even see it in the sound bar: depending on the port, it starts with 2-Logitech USB-Headset, 3-..., 4-... and so on. This causes my online meeting software to be confused (because it really thinks it's a different device) and I find myself in the settings of multiple voice-utilizing software several times a week.

I guess it has a reason Windows does this. I also found this question but my problem is not specific to USB2/USB3 ports. It's happening on different USB3 ports built in my laptop. My specific request here is not solely find how to avoid this happening but finding out what the name of this feature is so I can start finding answers on the web and maybe can start to build a specific program/driver to avoid this for my specific headset.

The Wavelength
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  • I've never ever figured out the reasoning for this - it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me - but, yes, Windows does consider each to be a 'different thing' [so much so that if drivers are needed, it will reinstall them again for each new port]. I sincerely hope someone knows a workaround for this, it's bugged me for more than a decade ;) – Tetsujin May 24 '21 at 17:26

1 Answers1

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The nature of the problem is explained in the article Why does Windows not recognize my USB device as the same device if I plug it into a different port?

The USB device people explained that this happens when the device lacks a USB serial number.

Serial numbers are optional on USB devices. If the device has one, then Windows recognizes the device no matter which USB port you plug it into. But if it doesn’t have a serial number, then Windows treats each appearance on a different USB port as if it were a new device.

Your USB headset was not assigned a serial number by the manufacturer. This is a common practice when devices are mass-manufactured in an identical manner.

I don't have such a device to test, but the following procedure might fix the problem for this one device and this one computer. If it works, all identical USB headsets will be taken as being one device.

  • Connect the USB headset

  • Run Device Manager

  • Find the device, right-click it and select Properties

  • Position to the Details tab

  • In the drop-down box select "Hardware IDs" which might look like:
    USB\VID_10C4&PID_EA60&long-string

  • Extract your vendor ID (VID_) and product ID (PID_) from the Hardware ID

  • Construct the following .reg file using a text editor while substituting your values for vendor ID and product ID:

      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\UsbFlags]
  "IgnoreHWSerNum10C4EA60"=hex:01

  • Execute the .reg and allow its execution

  • Reboot.

I can't guarantee that this will work with your device, and in addition, future changes of Windows might stop this workaround from working.

harrymc
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  • Would I be right in thinking that this fix might mean that you cannot plug in two or more of the same device? – Mokubai May 24 '21 at 19:09
  • @Mokubai: I believe so. I don't know what will happen in such a case. – harrymc May 24 '21 at 19:19
  • Oh, apparently is it mostly fine with this. Further down the article: "Depending on the order in which the devices get enumerated by Plug and Play, the two sets of settings would get assigned seemingly randomly at each boot. Today the settings match up one way, but tomorrow when the devices are enumerated in the other order, the settings are swapped." basically assigning by ports "fixes" the issue of multiple devices being assigned in a random order. If you don't care about what order (only one device) then any order is fine. – Mokubai May 24 '21 at 20:25
  • I totally see why this would work. Sadly, when I go to the list of Hardware Ids for that device I only see "MMDEVAPI\AudioEndpoints". That's sad. Thank you anyway for the good explanation! – The Wavelength May 24 '21 at 21:24
  • I found a VID_ and PID_ in the dropdown entry "Last known parent". Sadly it either seems to be wrong (no effect after creating the entry and rebooting) or my Windows is too new already (Windows 10 21H1). I validated that the VID is from my vendor (Logitech) and in fact, it is. – The Wavelength May 24 '21 at 21:31