[johnnygb]

Hello

All of USB ports have stopped working on my PC. I've done the following to try and get them working again but nothing has worked so far. I did a restart of the machine after each attempt.

1) Uninstall the drivers via Device Manager.
2) Delete the drivers via Device Manager - when I switched the PC back on it automatically detected and installed the ports.
3) Check the Bios on the PC - everything looked as it should be.
4) Checked the cabling from the ports to the mother board - disconnected and reconnected them.
5) A system restore - I tried to pick a date last month but I could only pick the previous day - when the problem started.
6) A full power down - all power connections removed, including the battery from inside the unit.

Any advice greatly received.

Thanks
Jonathan

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One of the usb ports on my mother board is only working for my printer. It's a VERY old mobo (2003) so this is most likely the case why it's pretty much stopped working. What I would do is just buy a new usb 2 card. They're very cheap and simple to install http://www.newegg.co...me=Add-On Cards

[reconman]

One of the usb ports on my mother board is only working for my printer. It's a VERY old mobo (2003) so this is most likely the case why it's pretty much stopped working. What I would do is just buy a new usb 2 card. They're very cheap and simple to install http://www.newegg.co...me=Add-On Cards

[johnnygb]

Thanks for the advice but....

All the ports have failed, the easily accessed ports at the front of the tower unit to ones at the back. Surley if power is still flowing to the existing ports then the fault has something to do with the mother board recognising the usb port being connected to an external device (printer, camera, modem etc). Could it have something to do with plug'n'play software?

[jeffk813]

From your description of the issue, it sounds as if the USB controller chip on the motherboard is non-functional. Have you been in the BIOS lately? Are you comfortable with going in and checking to verify that the USB functionality of the motherboard is enabled?

If it is, then the USB controller chip is likely hosed. If this is the case, the motherboard will need to be replaced. I've had this happen on a poorly protected motherboard by plugging in too many power-hungry devices to a port. One device I had was a bad design and it tried to draw too much current through the USB bus which burnt out the controller. The port was not current-protected (as it should have been). This necessitated a new motherboard.

[johnnygb]

Hi,

I went into the Bios and everything looked as it should. Would you be able to describe what the settings should be so that I can double check them?

Thanks
Jonathan

[jeffk813]

Shouldn't be anything special other than an entry such as "integrated USB" "USB controller" or something along those lines. There usually are only two possible settings, enabled or disabled. If everything you see in the BIOS that references USB is enabled, but the ports are still not working, you may have a hardware issue.

Your next step would be to open up Device Manager in Windows and look for USB devices there. If you see any yellow exclamation points, let us know. If you don't but your device are still not working properly, it's almost assuredly a hardware issue.

What brand / type of PC is it? Some major brands come with system diagnostics that you may run. These MIGHT tell you if you have a problem. Mine didn't, but it may be worth a shot.