Laptop USB ports: no power, no data

[TemporalWolf]

I recently had all three of the USB ports on my laptop (ASUS N61VG) stop working. They don't recognise or power flash drives, mice or gaming controllers. They don't recognise my externally powered hard drive.

All four devices work in other computers, so it is certainly an issue with my laptop and the ports. Originally I noticed the issue when my wireless mouse stopped working. I had thought it was an issue with the transceiver, however, I began testing other devices and then tested it in another computer to verify it still functions properly.

My computer is running Vista 32-bit with all automatic updates installed. The laptop does have some other issues (most notably it will not shutdown properly, requires a hard reset, however, this issue has been present for several months and I have been unable to resolve it. I haven't reinstalled because, frankly, it doesn't bother me that much )

I tried powering down the computer and leaving it off with the plug/battery removed overnight with no success.

I've uninstalled the USB controllers and let my computer automatically reinstall them on start up. I've updated my chipset to the most recent version (PM45 v9.1.0.1014).

I downloaded the most recent BIOS update, but the integrated Easy Flash program in the BIOS didn't recognise the file ( N61VAS.209 from ASUS support website) and I'm unable to get it to flash. My current bios is v. 207.

I'm beginning to suspect hardware failure, but before I get into it does anyone have any other ideas?

 

[scout_03]

rma if it still on warranty

 

[TemporalWolf]

Haha. Well the laptop in question is more than 2 years old and it's replacement is already in the mail; I was hoping that it would be in decent enough condition to continue to use for light tasks.

 

[TemporalWolf]

The thing that makes me suspect is isn't hardware is that the three ports are not located near eachother nor are they on the same usb controller... all the internal usb connectors (to the bluetooth/wifi cards) for example are still working, it's only the external ones that have ceased to function.

At the time I had a wireless mouse dongle plugged into one of the ports, nothing else was in use.

Still looking for ideas regarding this issue.