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Environment

OS: Win 7 x64

M/b: P7P55D-E PRO

Case: Antec MT Proto

The issue is with the front-panel ports. Albeit connected to the motherboard, there is no visible event when my thumb-drive is connected. The same device works great on the back-panel ports.

Hardware re-scan did not notice any changes.

So ... the question - how to find out whether the problem is with the USB port, or with the motherboard?

EDIT: After reading the notes I started to remove the existing connector cable a prior to putting a new cable in ... and realized I'd connected the cable to the IEEE1394 pins

What a stupid thing to do! )+:

Thank you all

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70% accept rate
Between Thiago, Andrew, and Paradroid - the suggestion to get a motherboard cable appeals to me. I'm going to get the m/b USB cable, and plug a USB light into it (+: That should do the trick ... hopefully. Will post the results of the experiment on here after – Everyone May 20 '11 at 18:25
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4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

Sounds to me like if the back ports work then it would be your case, I have had problems with several different cases having cheap front ports. And since it works on the back ports that rules out the majority of issues especially the USB controller chip on the motherboard (which is where ive had problems before). You can hop over to newegg.com and search for a usb motherboard cable. then if you get one of these, you can plug it right in to the motherboard..

Or if you have a multimeter you can see if the usb is outputting power by testing the + and - voltage pins off of the motherboard. Usually a device will light up if power is getting to it. (which sounds like is not your case). you can also put the multimeter on continuity (or diode test) and see if the cable from the case is good, or which wire is bad

enter image description here

above is a typical usb header (which contains 2 usb ports one on left one on right) the 'P0' and 'P1' are the data pins... I would use the multi-meter on pin 1 with pin 7 to see if there is +5v and same for other side.

Good luck!

A cheap multimeter can be found at radio shack for ~$30... should do the trick for you and is a GREAT tool to have on hand.

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I'm possessed of a multi-meter but just the thought of applying the sensors to the motherboard pins makes my hands tremble. – Everyone May 20 '11 at 18:22
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a solution would be to leave the plug on the usb header on the motherboard plugged in, and then use a sewing needle to get in by the wire that you want to test. then just test off of the sewing needle.. this way your hands dont have to be so close to the other components. – CenterOrbit May 20 '11 at 19:31
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up vote 2 down vote

You could connect a different USB backplate to the USB header on the motherboard, to see if it is the physical port that is faulty.

USB Backplate

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up vote 2 down vote

Front USB ports can sometimes be disabled in the BIOS. Have you enabled them in the BIOS?

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up vote 1 down vote

Have found times when devices are not recognized as there is an issue in the registry. It can be cleaned up manually but I stumbled upon this little tool. If it is hardware, it can't help but it has worked for me a few times on different computers.

DriveCleanup V0.7 Uwe Sieber Fulll info on use on the site

DriveTools

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This is a new installation, but I'll give it a shot. Ty (+: – Everyone May 19 '11 at 18:56
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