Front USB Port Problems

P

professor

I just finished an install of Windows XP on a system I built for m
girlfriend's family. Everything works fine aside from the front US
ports. They don't seem to be getting any power. I have a Mitsum
13 in 1 card reader and the two USB ports from the tower connected t
the mobo's internal ports. The rear USB ports work perfectly fine.
The cables for both front USB devices are of the same type as th
mobo's inputs and neither has a wire leading to the key pin. I'v
checked the BIOS and I have all USB ports enabled. All hardwar
information will be listed below. Somebody help, please

Biostar M7VIT-800 Via KT600 Motherboar
AMD Athlon XP 2800
Logisys CS51WBK Area 51 Towe
Mitsumi FA405M 13-in-1 Internal USB 2.0 Card Reader
Corsair CMX1024-3200PRO 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 ProSeries Memory w/Hea
Spreade
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L300S
Chaintech SA5500 GeForce FX550
Sony DW-Q28A-B2 Internal Double Layer DVD±R
Kworld LTV883R Xpert TV DVD Maker PCI + TV Tuner Retai
 
P

Peter

sounds like a wiring problem on the usb ports
Click to expand...

Agreed. Do the cases front USB port wires end in a plug of some sort.
Not all plugs are wired in the same order as the motherboards pinouts.
If the wires are not labelled then you're going to have to find out
which wire relates to which USB pinout.

See the website that old jon mentioned that should help.
 
P

professor

The pins are all assigned correctly. I would say it's a problem wit
the wire itself between the tower's ports and the mobo, but the car
reader is having the same problem
 
B

BruceM

I'm going to see if I can look up your board but is it 9 pins or 8 on the
motherboard?
I stuck it once where the "ninth" pin had to be connected to chasis. (any
screw on your tower or case.)
You said it's wired correct? Is it...........
1234
1234

or is it...
1234
4321

?????????
Is the socket where you plug your device in 12v on far left or right?
 
B

BruceM

OK, on the board you got
2468.10
1357
10 isn't used I suspect.
Pins 1 & 2 are both +5v so the red wires will both be at one end. If not you
need to change it so both sides look like the side that starts with the red
wire.
Like I said.... if still no good then try a wire from pin 10 (the odd one
out) & run it to earth near the front panel sockets. I put the end of that
extra wire under the screw holding the front ports in the chasis.
Let us know how you go?
 
P

professor

The case's plug is a 9 pin with pin 9 not being wired to anything an
the space where pin 10 would be actually has a piece of plastic i
it, so it can only fit in the motherboard's 9 pin socket one way.
The card reader has two 4 pin plugs. The plug marked "card reader
is on pins 1-7 and the one marked "front USB" is on pins 2-8. Pin
is left completely open on this one, as is the empty pin 10. Ther
is no pin 10, so running a wire from it isn't going to work.

Oh, and yes, the red wires (VCC) are on pins 1 and 2 on both. I can’
really screw that up on the case plug, considering it is asymmetrica
and only plugs in one way, but the card reader was also plugged i
correctly. I’ve been building computers since the days of slot 1 an
I have never had anything this annoying happen.

I wonder…should I try to run a grounding wire through the plug on pi
9 maybe
 
B

BruceM

Yes & from your motherboard manual that pin is in fact called pin 10!! But
in any case it is simply an "earth" so do it & pray!! Just make sure that
where you put it actually connects directly (or indirectly to the outer
(metal) shell of those front ports.
My multi-meter actually has a continuity tested with a buzzer to check it?
 
P

professor

Oh yeah, that is pin 10 according to the board. The card reader call
it pin 9. Well, I'll have to give it a shot and see what happens. O
course, I might call biostar first and see what useless informatio
they have for me…because everyone knows that tech support rules
:rolleyes
 
S

__spc__

professor said:
I just finished an install of Windows XP on a system I built for my
girlfriend's family. Everything works fine aside from the front USB
ports. They don't seem to be getting any power. I have a Mitsumi
13 in 1 card reader and the two USB ports from the tower connected to
the mobo's internal ports. The rear USB ports work perfectly fine.
The cables for both front USB devices are of the same type as the
mobo's inputs and neither has a wire leading to the key pin. I've
checked the BIOS and I have all USB ports enabled. All hardware
information will be listed below. Somebody help, please!

Biostar M7VIT-800 Via KT600 Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
Logisys CS51WBK Area 51 Tower
Mitsumi FA405M 13-in-1 Internal USB 2.0 Card Reader
Corsair CMX1024-3200PRO 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 ProSeries Memory w/Heat
Spreader
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L300S0
Chaintech SA5500 GeForce FX5500
Sony DW-Q28A-B2 Internal Double Layer DVD±RW
Kworld LTV883R Xpert TV DVD Maker PCI + TV Tuner Retail
Click to expand...

I think my old Asrock P4VT8+ had jumper settings on the Mobo for activating
the front USB ports...
 
P

professor

After calling biostar, they told me that it should work perfectl
fine. They also told me that since it doesn't work, it's defectiv
and I should send it back to zipzoomfly.com to be repaired/replaced.
This means another 2-3 weeks without a computer. The firs
motherboard I ordered for this computer was defective, so I've bee
waiting for a while. This is just great. I hope zipzoomfly wil
allow me to keep the motherboard until this new one arrives so
don't have to sit here and wait for a new motherboard to arrive.
Must….destroy….computer
 
P

professor

I think my old Asrock P4VT8+ had jumper settings on the Mobo fo activating
the front USB ports..
Click to expand...

Yeah...so do most chaintech boards...but not this biostar. There'
nothing in the manual and I have checked that board from top t
bottom for jumpers and couldn't find any that I didn't know alread
about
 
P

professor

Zipzoomfly is really getting on my nerves. This is the secon
motherboard that I have had to send back to them on this build alone
and they took over a week just to respond to me after I told them
needed an RMA number because of these stupid front USB headers.
Anyone know of a better place to shop
 
P

professor

*update

Zipzoomfly sent me a prepaid label to send back the motherboard!
Well, I got the new one yesterday. It was the same kind as the ol
one. I plugged everything in and....it works perfectly! What's sa
about this is I first ordered the parts for this computer in lat
October and I just now have everything working. Here's a list o
everything that was defective and sent back for replacement

Motherboard #
DIMM #
CPU #
Motherboard #

I live in Ohio and zipzoomfly is in California, so ground shippin
takes forever. The first motherboard was this chaintech pile of cra
that managed to destroy the original CPU and RAM the second I turne
it on. At least I think it did, considering the fact that none o
them worked. Probably incorrect core voltage
 
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