Solved Front USB ports not working, but rear USB ports work…

[0pTicaL]

Front USB ports not working, but rear USB ports work…

This is a brand new custom built PC for web browsing for a motel lobby.

Win7 Home Premium
AMD A4-3300 Llano
MSI A55M-P33 FM1
Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower

Running latest BIOS and latest drivers downloaded directly from manufacturer's website.

I tried switching between all 3 internal headers and none of them would detect the flash drive.

If I plug the drive in the rear ports it detects right away leading me to suspect the case's ports might be defective but I don't have another USB 2.0 card lying around to confirm.

Based on this info does it seem likely that the front ports themselves are faulty?

 

[Britton30]

You might check to see if the case end of the USB cables are properly plugged into the front panel holding the headers. Some board need more than one brand of USB drivers, Renesas, NEC, etc.

 

[0pTicaL]

I double check all connections on the mobo before I put the side panel back on. I've built ~20 machines using the MSI A55M-P33 FM1 board and this is the first time I encountered a problem with the front ports. The USB drivers on this AMD build is a all-in-one-package. There are only 4 drivers installations for the board and it's done, unlike Intel with drivers all over the place.

 

[Britton30]

The only way I know to check then would be to plug in another front USB panel to the 9-pin headers and test them. Sounds like they may well be defunct.

 

[0pTicaL]

Yeah, looks like I'm going to have to make a trip. Going to dig through old mobo boxes and see if there's any USB 2.0 brackets lying around.

 

[GeneO]

Bad cable? More likely than three headers failing.

 

[0pTicaL]

That's my hunch as well, very unlikely that all 3 headers would fail. It's a $20 case, so I can't expect too much.

Getting my round of bad luck with this order, the $22 550W (more like 150W real watts) LOGISYS fan separated from the coil.

 

[fireberd]

NEVER use a cheap power supply. Along with being overrated (watts) they tend to have poor DC voltage regulation and that can be a cause of motherboard failures. Cheap cases and "you get what you pay for".

 

[0pTicaL]

Frankly, from experience, there's nothing wrong with cheap power supplies. It's more of a myth than actual fact and oftentimes it depends on how it's used(load). The big boys from HP and Dell use them all the time. The system I built will never pull more than 100W which is way below the "real watts" this Logisys 550W can supply. Knowing that fact it's safe to use a cheap PSU on a build like this. If this build was pulling 250W+ I would never use a cheap psu.

When it comes to cheap PSUs it all boils down to load and environment, and the occasional broken fan…

 

[fireberd]

Dell power supplies tend to be under-rated. e.g. a 300 watt Dell OEM power supply is more like a 350 to 375 watt power supply - and has very good DC voltage regulation.

I've been in electronics (I was the Ampeg guitar/bass amplifier factory repair tech in Nashville at one time) and computer maintenance since before PC's. I've seen motherboard failures that were traced to cheap power supplies. I used to do a lot of user support on the Dell forums and we saw a lot of hardware (motherboard) failures caused by users that used cheap power supplies in their Dell.

 

[Britton30]

I agree on cheap PSUs. While they may work fine with some loads and hardware they can, and do, feed "dirty power". That is fluctuating and not quite converted to DC, still has some AC present. They can overheat trying to keep up too. Their voltage regulation leaves a lot to be desired and could feed 13-14V and start frying components. It's like buying a Ferrari and putting a Ford Escort engine in it.

 

[0pTicaL]

Dell power supplies tend to be under-rated. e.g. a 300 watt Dell OEM power supply is more like a 350 to 375 watt power supply - and has very good DC voltage regulation.

I've been in electronics (I was the Ampeg guitar/bass amplifier factory repair tech in Nashville at one time) and computer maintenance since before PC's. I've seen motherboard failures that were traced to cheap power supplies. I used to do a lot of user support on the Dell forums and we saw a lot of hardware (motherboard) failures caused by users that used cheap power supplies in their Dell.

Depends on which Dell PSUs you're referring to. The ones I've seen used in low end Dells and EMachines with are from Bestec and when it goes it tends to take the main board along with it.

I agree on cheap PSUs. While they may work fine with some loads and hardware they can, and do, feed "dirty power". That is fluctuating and not quite converted to DC, still has some AC present. They can overheat trying to keep up too. Their voltage regulation leaves a lot to be desired and could feed 13-14V and start frying components. It's like buying a Ferrari and putting a Ford Escort engine in it.

Speaking from experience, a local PC shop I used to work for purchased these by the hundreds and during the 2 years I worked there only 3 failed. That's why I continue to use this brand.

I hear the same stories about cheap PSUs on the web all the time. The thing is, we never hear about the millions of cheap PSUs that do work, we only hear about the ones that don't work. Besides, all the reviews and bad things people hear online about cheap PSUs are reviewers intentionally pushing the PSU beyond it's limits. Under normal usage no PSU will be pushed to such limits.

I'm not rallying for cheap PSUs I'm just pointing out, from experience, that cheap PSUs aren't as bad as people think.

 

[Britton30]

Ahem, well....anyway, how about the USB issue?

 

[0pTicaL]

Waiting on the new case to arrive.

 

[Britton30]

Couldn't find a USB panel to test it with?

 

[0pTicaL]

I have a bunch of old USB 2.0 brackets lying around, but it's not worth the gas to drive 40mins to the client's house just to test it and drive back.

Anyways, the problem was with the USB cable, replaced it and it's working now.

Thanks for all the input guys! Rep+

 

[Britton30]

Good sleuthing. Was it the cable from the front panel?

 

[0pTicaL]

Yes