VERY unhappy, need a fix

xero · Post by **xero** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:28 pm

Every few min. My MagicJack seems to lose service. I had it hooked up without the dongle to the USB directly on the mobo and it doesn't help. I have changed phones and that didn't do it. I have it setup as a service because there is more than one user account on my computer as well.

The MagicJack itself is VERY staticy and it seems in random intervals that the software just reboots and than fails and reboots again only to work for a few min. than fails and needs to reboot. I haven't had a day yet where the MagicJack had worked all day. I am running an XP Pro SP3 machine, 3 gigs of ram and a 2.0 Ghz AMD dual core.

I don't know what to do but if something isn't figured out I will just terminate my service....

xero · Post by **xero** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:31 pm

Nothing?

hsweiss · Post by **hsweiss** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:25 pm

Just to make sure you don't have a bad USB dongle can you/have you tried to use it on another computer? Also have you contacted the (not so great) tech support chat folks? There are reported conflicts when you have Nero installed (although I have an old OEM version that does not cause any problems) - do you have Nero?

xero · Post by **xero** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:53 pm

I figured out my problem. It ended up being that there were voltage dips in the USB2.0 and when that happened the magicJack software would assume the MJ itself was disconnected and reconnected and restart. I ended up going to the local computer store and buying a 4-1 external powered USB thing. Once that was done the crackling went away and I have yet to see the MJ restart itself.

Matt9876 · Post by **Matt9876** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:44 pm

I'm starting to think USB power problems are at the root of many different problems,(software restarts,dropouts and audio issues) all seem to stem from USB power and connector/cable issues.

Getting a powered USB hub for a dedicated MJ install sounds like the way to go.

mberlant · Post by **mberlant** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:59 pm

I haven't bothered to investigate why it would be so, but it is rather strange that the MJ is so sensitive to the amount of power it can suck out of a USB connection, while other TigerJet RJ-11-to-USB modules do not suffer the same sensitivity. I have some CUPhone USB adapters (same TigerJet chip) in service since 1991, and they don't squeal at all.

murphy · Post by **murphy** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:35 pm

USB ports are, by design, limited to a maximum of 500 milliamps. If a connected device tries to exceed that value, they are supposed to shut down. I suspect that MJ is running too close to the limit and due to manufacturing tolerances some MJs exceed the limit. The only way I can think of to actually measure the load the MJ puts on a port is to cut open an adapter cable like the one that came with the MJ and insert a meter to measure the current. I'm not sufficiently curious to destroy a cable to make the measurement.

mberlant · Post by **mberlant** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:54 pm

I can get USB extension cables at the dollar store. I'll put it on my things-to-do-when-my-wife-lets-me-off-my-leash list.