Help

[digmen1]

All of my USB ports are dead.

They have worked fine till last night

No peripherals work when I plug them.

Yet device manager says they are working OK.

I notice that there is no blue spark when I plug a device in.

Any suggestions ?

Regards

Digby
NZ

[lynx]

There shouldn't be a blue spark when you plug a device into a USB port.

If you've been experiencing that, it suggests you've possibly got a fault.

If the ports are no longer working, it could be that the blue spark has finally blown the USB controller.

[digmen1]

Yes I think I have blown it.

My PC is under a table so its a bit dark and I had noticed a small blue spark when I plug a device in over the last few months.

I just happened to have a USB PCI card and installed this and lo and behold XP recognised it and I now have 4 usb ports that work.

Thanks for that.

I may now have to buy a new motherboard.

Regards

Digby

[ulun64]

Get a USB extender so you don't need go under the table.

Another point, you won't spoil your USB port on the card after prolong use. If the extender spoil than change it and it's cheaper than the USB card or motherboard.

[lynx]

The very fact that there's a spark suggests that there's a stray voltage coming from somewhere, and possibly quite a high voltage at that.

The only part you can see when you come to mate a USB plug and socket is the outer shielding, and (assuming both ends are powered) they should both be grounded.

You should check the voltage between the shield on both devices. If there's a significant voltage you should then check the voltage between each shield and a known ground point to find out which one is at fault.

Then, if it is the PC you need to find out why the system (probably the case) is not grounded properly. If it is the peripheral then you should not use it until you've done similar checks.

Otherwise you risk blowing the new USB card and possibly other parts of your system, especially the replacement motherboard when you get one.

[digmen1]

Thanks guys for the very good advice.

Regards

Digby