Triggers are developed for indicating the presence of non-recoverable and/or recoverable loss of communication situations between a device and device driver software using universal serial bus (USB) protocol. We modify the firmware at the device in order to monitor for the triggers and control the device in specified ways once a trigger is indicated. In a particularly preferred embodiment the device is a motorized card reader in a self-service terminal and the device is arranged to return a smart card when a trigger is detected. In one embodiment the trigger is associated with the presence of a single ended zero condition on the USB. In another embodiment the trigger is associated with attempts to re-enumerate the device over the USB.