a doozy of a USB story

[alex666]

AArrgghh. My son plugged in a cheap mp3 player into my pretty new ASRock Extreme3 (see sig), into the front USB2 ports and managed to knock out the ports. They no longer work. Now I only see two enhanced controllers now in the device manager (but did not discover this until later). Fortunately the USB3 still works, and the USB ports in the back of the mobo work. I think those controllers are fried.

Before we knew the full extent of what had happened, we plugged the mp3 player into the front ports of my gigabyte system (listed in sig) and damned if it didn't shut down the computer. Just shut it down. We plugged it in again, and it shut down the computer a second time. Now I knew there was something very amiss. When I tried to plug a flash drive that I knew worked into the front ports, nothing, no response. Nothing was amiss in the bios re enhanced USB, i.e., it was still enabled. But two controllers were crossed out in the Win 7 device manager. However, after a few reboots, the controllers came back and work just fine. But not before my USB 3.0 controller was briefly knocked out as well. Geez.

But the Extreme3 is still messed up. I disconnected the connectors leading from those USB mobo headers to the front ports, but still, only two enhanced controllers show up in the device manager. Damned cheap mp3 player.

So, I'm open to any ideas. I've search the internet high and low for suggestions, but no joy. Are those two enhanced controllers somehow fried? I've never had anything like this happen before. I know for a fact that those controllers/front ports had been working just fine. Thanks.

marty

[mmettin]

How is the mp3 player connected ? cable ? direct ?

My guess is the cable is shorted somehow, causing the controller to overload.

I'd try another cable, if possible

[alex666]

How is the mp3 player connected ? cable ? direct ?

My guess is the cable is shorted somehow, causing the controller to overload.

I'd try another cable, if possible

Thanks for the reply.

It was a cable that came with the mp3 player. And yes, that's exactly what I am thinking, some kind of overload, but one that seems to have blown out the ASRock enhanced USB controller but was somehow prevented from doing so with the Gigabyte board.

Any possible fixes? Thanks.

marty

[kbohip]

I had a problem a few weeks ago with the usb ports on my Asrock board. I was working inside my case, taking out the dust filters under the top fans. When I turned the system back on, I had lost the rear usb ports completely. No mouse and no keyboard. I decided to switch off the power at the psu for a minute and then reboot. That fixed the issue but I still have no idea what happened. If you haven't already, try removing power to the system for a minute or two, you might get lucky.

[alex666]

I had a problem a few weeks ago with the usb ports on my Asrock board. I was working inside my case, taking out the dust filters under the top fans. When I turned the system back on, I had lost the rear usb ports completely. No mouse and no keyboard. I decided to switch off the power at the psu for a minute and then reboot. That fixed the issue but I still have no idea what happened. If you haven't already, try removing power to the system for a minute or two, you might get lucky.

I did that once, I'll try it again. I'll try it again for several minutes, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bummer, no change. I'll leave it unplugged over night. But that makes me wonder if resetting the CMOS might do something. I've got all my OC settings listed, so that's no big deal. Something to keep me busy tomorrow night. Hey, thanks kbohip.

marty

[kbohip]

I did that once, I'll try it again. I'll try it again for several minutes, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bummer, no change. I'll leave it unplugged over night. But that makes me wonder if resetting the CMOS might do something. I've got all my OC settings listed, so that's no big deal. Something to keep me busy tomorrow night. Hey, thanks kbohip.

marty

I figured you would've already done it, but it was worth a shot. I'd love to know why mine did that though. Strangest thing I ever saw.

[rdgrimes]

USB pulls power from the 5v rail of the PSU. So a board may react to a short differently depending on the protection offered in the PSU (or lack of it). One PSU may protect the board, another may not. If internal protection is tripped in the PSU, it may take a power cycle to reset that. Rebooting the PC does not qualify as a PSU power cycle. So unplug the PSU or hit it's power switch if it has one.

It's also possible that an MP3 player might try to draw more than the 500mA rating on a USB port, in which case anything could happen. Although many boards can handle 1000mA per port.

[bmaverick]

Had a Dell desktop 280 that had the same issue. A crappy USB jump drive did the front ports in.

My solution, bought an internal PCI card that handled to fix the front USB ports, making them to functions once more.

[alex666]

Had a Dell desktop 280 that had the same issue. A crappy USB jump drive did the front ports in.

My solution, bought an internal PCI card that handled to fix the front USB ports, making them to functions once more.

That's exactly what I plan on doing. I'll have to look for something to which I can attach the current front panel cables. They seem to have sufficient length.

Rdgrimes, greetings. The PSU in my ASRock system is a PC Power and Cooling, I think the PSU in my Gigabyte is an Antec Earthworks. Both solid PSUs. But I agree, something, either in the PSU (I had not thought of that) or perhaps the mobo, prevented the Gigabyte from, well, biting the dust on the advanced USB controller front. As much as I like the ASRock mobo, I suspect the Gigabyte is more durable in its manufacture, though I have no data to prove it, just a general feel. Anyway, I'm leaving my ASRock unplugged all ni8ght.

One question, I unplugged the connectors to those USB headers (to see if that would clear things). I should not need those connected for those headers to be read, correct?

marty