2 Dead usb ports. low speed on others on HTPC

I'm running a compaq HTPC with M2N68-la motherboard. OS on SSD working ok. 2 of 6 usb 2.0 ports are dead the others act like 1.1. for 2 different external HD's I'm getting message "this device can perform faster on 2.0" (tray balloon.) No errors in device manager. it shows standard enhanced PCI to USB host control (2.0) I have uninstalled and updated drivers in all usb listings to no avail. I have installed chipset drivers Drivers | GeForce . No change. I tried system restore and ran sfc /scannow(no corrupted files found)

What else should I try?
Any advice will be appreciated.

I ran live unbutu and the usb ports are dead. Looks like a hardware issue. Could this cause the other ports to run slow?

My USB ports went dead once, so I purchased a USB card and installed it in the computer. This gave me four working USB3 ports.

After a couple of months, my onboard USB ports started working again. I have no idea why.

The USB card was cheap - about $15 or $20. That will be your easiest and quickest way to solve this.

Both ext HD's have own power source. Ports are dead no matter what I plug in on win 7 or ubuntu. All pci slots are already used. I may have to add an internal 4tb HD to rescue this rig.

Layback Bear said:

Your mother board has this from here.
P6T Deluxe V2 | Motherboards | ASUS Global




I do wonder what one would have plugged into that many ports. Their is a chance that you are not getting enough power to the usb port when all are used.
**What power supply does your system have?

Jack

That is my main rig (no problems on it)

compaq HTPC with M2N68-la motherboard is my problem child.

I shucked my WD My book 4TB drive and installed it internally with sata (works great)

usb ports still dead and or slow but only used for mouse now.

This rig has been running 24-7 for 7 years. I will try to milk it a little longer :)