Short on USB port - Asus P4C800-E Deluxe

[stefx]

Hi

On my 2nd rig there is a short in one USB port. Whatever I plug in there (tried various USB devices) the computer freezes up entirely. Sometimes I get a warning that the USB device is consuming too much power. I therefore assume that there's a short-circuit in that specific USB connector.
All other connectors are fine.

What do you advise? disable that USB hub? Just tape it off?

Should I expect more problems due to this?
This computer is used for my girlfriend's work and I need to know if it's still safe or if the integrity has been damaged due to this issue.

Regards

 

[gse1]

I have questions.

Is this one of the USB ports built into the IO plate of the motherboard (i.e. with the network, keyboard,mouse etc ports) or is it on the seperate USB PCI plate that you plug into the extra internal USB connectors?

Also, did this port ever work?

I've got one of these motherboards. When I first set it up plugging something into one of the PCI plate ports caused the machine to reboot. Turns out I had the plate cable plugged into the motherboard the wrong way round.

 

[stefx]

Yes it's one of the mobo-embedded USB ports.

Yes it has worked in the past

 

[1Tanker]

Hi

On my 2nd rig there is a short in one USB port. Whatever I plug in there (tried various USB devices) the computer freezes up entirely. Sometimes I get a warning that the USB device is consuming too much power. I therefore assume that there's a short-circuit in that specific USB connector.
All other connectors are fine.

What do you advise? disable that USB hub? Just tape it off?

Should I expect more problems due to this?
This computer is used for my girlfriend's work and I need to know if it's still safe or if the integrity has been damaged due to this issue.

Regards

I would look into getting a PCI-USB card. Don't bother with the rear mobo ports, and just use the USB card.

Something like this

GL

 

[stefx]

I already got one of those, thanks

My worry is not the number of available USB ports

My worry is the integrity of the mobo. Given that there is a likelihood there was a short in the mobo-embedded USB connector, should I consider this mobo as "at risk" or would the electrical damage strictly be limited to the USB circuit and would not affect anything else?

This mobo is used as the main computer for a home based business, this is why I am inquiring.

 

[gse1]

Well you are right to be worried. I have the same motherboard and when I first got it I noticed that the onboard networking was faulty. When the PC first booted I'd have networking, then it would go down for a random amount of times 5 seconds to 2 minutes, then it would come back again and be fine until I next switched the computer on again.

At the time I couldn't be bothered to send it back so I carried on building the PC with it. Later on I found one of the SATA interfaces was also ropey. I originally had a RAID0 setup but because I got a fault on one of the disks so often and kept losing my entire filesystem I changed to a standard two disk setup. I RMAd the drive that kept going faulty and got a new one and the new one does the same thing.

Ocassionally when I boot the PC the mouse doesn't work as well.

I wish I'd RMAd the board when I had chance, as it stands I put up with it. There's no way of telling if you'll have further problems, it's all down to risk. Even if your PC's uptime is vital, just one USB port going dead isn't a massive thing, it might be worth waiting to see if something else goes wrong first.

On the other hand if you need peace of mind....

 

[stefx]

Good point

Given that it's 3+ years old, yeah I worry.

The problem is the CPU and the RAM which are fine for her work. Maybe I'll look into a Dual-VSTA so I can use the RAM in a new mobo.

 

[gse1]

Buying a new one does seem to be a non-starter, I haven't found any online. But you might be able to pick up a second hand one off eBay.

There's one listed at the moment

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

This is a very long read but, I suspect you may be seeing the early stages of the type of failure listed in the thread below. It applies to P4P and P4C boards.

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/intel-chipsets/84122-ideas-burnt-out-ich5r-chip-p4p800-ed.html

I would suggest disabling ALL onboard USB ports if you have not already and use only the PCI USB ports you added.

 

[babybudha]

Have you tried flashing to the latest BIOS? I know it will most likely not fix it. But it's worth a try.

PS. I have this same board. Is it possible to OC the memory through the BIOS?