SX280 HS no longer recognized as connected to any computer/ device

[TxRosz]

I purchased the brand new PowerShot SX280 HS three weeks ago. Being a person that actually reads directions and owners manuals, I followed the Getting Started booklet exactly as stated to connect the camera to my Win 7 (64-bit) PC, and it worked well to automatically transfer my photos to the computer via USB cord using CameraWindow. 

Within a few days, I had also set up the camera's wifi connection to the same computer, and it worked fine to transfer selected photos to the computer.  I *think* that I could still also connect to the computer via USB at that time.  I also set up wifi connections to various email addresses and to Canon's iMAGE Gateway online.  However, I was never able to connect via wifi to my tablet (Motorola XOOM, Android 4.1.2) 

A few days later we took a week-long trip out of town for our dd's college graduation (the whole reason for the camera upgrade). Rather than waiting a week to download the photos to the home computer, we tried to connect the SX280  to our Win 7 (32-bit) laptop via USB, having previously installed the Canon software. However, the laptop would never recognize being connected to the camera.  After trying the set-up several times, we finally succumbed to using ImageBrowser to import the pictures directly from the SD card inserted into the laptop. 

Upon returning home, I wanted to download the pictures to the home PC, but now had the same problem as with the laptop: CameraWindow, ImageBrowser, and Windows Explorer all gave me the same error - no camera detected!  Tried using ImageBrowser to import the pictures from the SD card inserted into the PC, but even that was not recognized by the computer! Finally got the computer to "see" the SD card when I put it into a USB card reader and connected that way. Whew!

Tried again today to connect the camera to the home PC, but still no recognition by the computer of there being a camera connected via USB.  In an attempt to start over from the beginning to connect the camera to the computer, I resorted to removing that computer from the camera's wifi settings, deleted the camera profile from the computer's list of devices, and removed all the Canon software from the computer, Alas, during the software installation process, when the time came to connect the camera via USB to the computer, I received the same error - could not detect any camera as connected to the computer!  

Did setting up the wifi connections somehow disable the ability to connect via USB? 

What to do???  There is now a big Firmware Update available for this camera to correct a major glitch, but I fear I will not be able to install the update if the computer cannot detect the camera.

[TxRosz]

P.S.  To rule out other possible causes of the problem, I tried two different USB cables and tried them in two different USB ports on the PC, and even tried a different SD card, all of which shouldn't be necessary since it worked fine when originally set up.

[Mykolas]

Hi TxRosz!

Thank you for posting!

Check to see if your camera is even being recognized by Windows by looking the device manager.  Please follow these steps:

 1.  Connect the camera and power it on in the playback mode.

 2.  Click on the Start button.

 3.  Click on Computer.

 4.  Click on System Properties.

 5.  Click on Device Manager.

Do you see anything listed under Portable Devices or Imaging Devices?
If so, what is listed there?
Do you see any "!" or "?" anywhere in the device manager?
If so, where are they and what is listed next to them?

If this is a time sensitive-matter, additional support options are available at Contact Us.

[TxRosz]

Hi, Mike,

In Device Manager,

--Portable Devices   shows CANON_DC, however, that showed up even before I connected the camera.  (The device description in Its properties shows it as a USB HS-SD Card, but I don't know why it appears, since there is no USB card in the computer at this time, other than the one in the camera, so how could it have shown up when the camera was not connected?)   ...Portable Devices also lists an F Drive and G Drive, and those properties say they are a USB  HS-SD and a USB HS-xD/SM, respectively.

--Imaging Devices    shows only my webcam and printer

-- ? Other Devices  

           ! SM Bus Controller

          ? Unknown device

As a further update, I was able to install the firmware update, since that used an SD card rather than a direct connection between the camera and the computer. I had hoped that would solve the problem with the computer recognizing the camera, but no, it did nothing along those lines.

[Mykolas]

TxRosz,

Other imaging devices can sometimes interfere with proper communication between the camera and the computer.  These devices can include printers, other cameras and external drives.  You mentioned a printer and a webcam that show up under Imaging Devices.  Just to test this, try disconnecting both from your computer, then restarting your computer.  Once your computer restarts, close any software that is related to those devices that may be running in the background, then try connecting the camera again.

(Note:  Some webcams are built-in and I fully understand this, so if your's is, you do not have to worry about disconnecting it for this test.  At the very least, try disconnecting the printer)

Does the camera get properly recognized now?

If this is a time sensitive-matter, additional support options are available at Contact Us.

[TxRosz]

Won't have a chance to try that (disconnect printer & webcam) until about 10 hours from now, but I don't understand how that could be the problem, since those were connected when I did the initial camera set up and connected to the computer just fine.

I really think the problem is something in the camera, since neither my PC, laptop, nor my tablet recognize the camera as being connected.  I am afraid to delete the wifi connection settings (since it  seems likely that setting up the wifi caused the camera to not be able to be connected via USB anymore), because that still works to send pics to ppl via email addresses. (Although I cannot add a new email address to the profile, since I cannot connect the camera to any computer.)  

As a side note / suggestion:  It sure would be nice if the camera software were modified so that I could add an email address directly from the camera itself for spontaniously sending pictures to ppl for whom I didn't prepare ahead of time (and since it only allows 20 email addresses to be added to the database).

[TxRosz]

Was not able to disconnect the printer from the computer because it is not connected directly to the computer; it is through the network.  Did disconnect the webcam, re-booted, closed webcame software that was running, then tried to connect the camera. No go.  Still getting the message, "The device was not detected. Check that the device is connected, and then click [Next] again."   

I'm not surprised. The webcam, or any other devices, should not interfere with the camera being recognized by the computer, since the computer DID find the camera when I first added it, and nothing about the computer has changed from that initial set-up.

Grrrrr! SO frustrating! Apparently I cannot change any of my iMAGE settings without the camera being connected to a computer via USB.

[TxRosz]

Tried using the wifi connection to connect to the computer, but even that doesn't work anymore!  The camera finds, but cannot connect to the computer, and the computer gives me an error that the device driver software was not successfully installed.   Reason:  MTP IP Device. Tried going to Canon website, but it says there is no driver to install for this camera.

[Richard]

When using other imaging devices with your computer, the conflict between the two (or more) devices and software may corrupt the camera driver, which is provided by Windows.

You've already done some of this, so I apologize, in advance, but I'm going to ask you to go back to the Device Manager.

Before you go:  If your computer is a desktop unit, is the USB cord plugged into the back of the computer? (Recommended) If it's a laptop, is your computer running on AC power? (recommended)

Now, on to the Device Manager:

1.  Click on the Windows Icon (used to be the "Start" button.

2.  Click on Computer.

3.  Click on System Properties.

4.  Click on Device Manager and expand "Portable Devices".

Now, while keeping an eye on the Device Manager, connect your camera and power it on in the playback mode.

If you see the camera driver appear, please right-click on it, then choose "Delete".  Next, turn the camera off for a few seconds (10 or so), then turn the camera back on.

What happens?

[TxRosz]

I have been trying to (re-)connect to a desktop computer, which is on AC power, and the USB cord is plugged in to the front USB port, the same port as during the inital set-up, when it connected and set up fine.

Watched Device Manager while connecting camera and powering up, but nothing new appeared under Portable Devices. The camera, however, after about 10 seconds, briefly displayed the message "Communication Error".  (Tried several times, even expanding other possibilities, but nothing ever appeared.)