Power Surge On Hub Port... hwta to do?

[Neerav Kothari]

i'm getting this message "power surge on hub port" constantly even though
all my usb ports are free (ie. no device connected). i have pressed reset
several times but it keeps on popping up. what to do?

 

[M.I.5¾]

i'm getting this message "power surge on hub port" constantly even though
all my usb ports are free (ie. no device connected). i have pressed reset
several times but it keeps on popping up. what to do?

One of the ports on your hub is damaged. To get rid of the error, replace
the hub.

Software writers pride themselves in inventing error messages that don't
actually tell you what is wrong. The one that you have seen is actually a
catch all for several types of failure of the port hardware, including an
actual power surge.

 

[Neerav Kothari]

"One of the ports on your hub is damaged. "

what does that mean? i have 4 usb sockets on board my mobo which are on the
back of the computer chasis and 2 in the front which are connected to the
mobo using wires. how do i know which one is damaghed?

 

[M.I.5¾]

news:[email protected]...

[Top posting corrected]

"One of the ports on your hub is damaged. "

what does that mean? i have 4 usb sockets on board my mobo which are on
the back of the computer chasis and 2 in the front which are connected to
the mobo using wires. how do i know which one is damaghed?

Please don't top post. It makes the logic of the conversation hard for
others to follow.

When I saw "power surge on hub port", I immediately assumed you had a USB
hub on your USB system, because your post didn't make it clear that you
didn't. Since you apparently don't, it must be one of the root hubs that
has a damaged port (or indeed failed - these things can just happen). To
complicate matters you will have 4 root hubs. The one that has failed is
the one that no longer works (though it is entirely possible that the
failure is such that the port still works if only partially).
Unfortunately, the ports are resolutely part of the motherboard and the only
advice that I can offer you is to either live with it or change the
motherboard.

Having said that, depending on where your PC came from and who made the
motherboard, a few motherboard suppliers will test the board and repair it,
but the cost of such a service (plus the fact that you lose the boad for a
week or so), almost rivals the cost of a new board.

 

[w_tom]

The surge message is clear and is only about a current surge. When
a USB device attempts to consume too much power, then USB hub hardware
detects that excessive current (not voltage surge), cuts off power,
and announces the failure. If absolutely sure that no USB port is in
use, then USB port hardware may be declaring a failure that does not
exist. Perchance is something intermittently conducting inside a USB
socket? Or has some metallic sliver gotten underneath a cable
connector?

Add damage from static electricity to the list of suspects. Also
possible is defective power supply subsystem. Yes, a computer can
still boot and work just fine with that subsystem defective.

If your computer comes from a more responsible manufacturer, then
comprehensive hardware diagnostics exist - and for free. What do
diagnostics report for the USB hub?

 

[Lance]

Neerav Kothari wrote the following on 12/18/2007 20:58:

i'm getting this message "power surge on hub port" constantly even though
all my usb ports are free (ie. no device connected). i have pressed reset
several times but it keeps on popping up. what to do?

I was getting the same problem a year, maybe two years back on my Intel
D875 motherboard. All my ports and USB equipment (just a mouse &
keyboard) appeared to be working normally so it was a big mystery to me.

After updating drivers and testing all USB ports with my flash drive I
was still getting the error so I told Windows to stop bothering me with
USB errors by using the Device Manager, a bit of a risk since it turns
off all errors messages but it was driving me crazy:

- Click Start then Run
- Type devmgmt.msc in the Run box, hit OK
- Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- Right click on any Universal Host Controller, select Properties
- click on Advanced tab, check the box "Don't tell me about USB errors"
- Repeat for all Universal Host Controllers

Couple months later I went back and unchecked those boxes but the USB
errors did not come back. Heck, I don't know if I did something or some
driver got updated in those couple months. All my USB ports and
equipment are still working fine.

Lance
*****

 

[Neerav Kothari]

news:[email protected]...

[Top posting corrected]

"One of the ports on your hub is damaged. "

what does that mean? i have 4 usb sockets on board my mobo which are on
the back of the computer chasis and 2 in the front which are connected to
the mobo using wires. how do i know which one is damaghed?

Please don't top post. It makes the logic of the conversation hard for
others to follow.

When I saw "power surge on hub port", I immediately assumed you had a USB
hub on your USB system, because your post didn't make it clear that you
didn't. Since you apparently don't, it must be one of the root hubs that
has a damaged port (or indeed failed - these things can just happen). To
complicate matters you will have 4 root hubs. The one that has failed is
the one that no longer works (though it is entirely possible that the
failure is such that the port still works if only partially).
Unfortunately, the ports are resolutely part of the motherboard and the
only advice that I can offer you is to either live with it or change the
motherboard.

Having said that, depending on where your PC came from and who made the
motherboard, a few motherboard suppliers will test the board and repair
it, but the cost of such a service (plus the fact that you lose the boad
for a week or so), almost rivals the cost of a new board.

wait a minute... what is the difference between a usb port, hub and system!

 

[w_tom]

Your question is about USB power provided to a peripheral. A
peripheral must power up with less than 100 ma. If a device is
acknowledged by the USB hub, then up to 500 ma may be delivered.
However, how accurate is the measuring circuit for each port? If
measuring 10% high, then a USB peripheral that should not create a
surge may do so anyway.

what is the difference between a usb port, hub and system!

A hub is the central point from which ports branch off. A hub may
support one port, four ports, eight ports, etc. Hubs can be daisy
chained. For example, your computer probably has a hub containing
four ports. From the root hub, one can daisy chain more hubs for up
to something like 127 USB ports / devices. Each port can power a
maximum of 500 ma at 5 volts. However, if a four port hub does not
have its own power source, then it can only distribute that 500 ma
from its 'root' hub meaning that each device may be limited to 100 ma.

USB ports exist in three forms - low speed, full speed, and high
speed. This could get complex. But the industry standard simplifies
which is one reason why USB obsoleted serial and parallel port
devices.

Which USB port is failing? Another diagnostic tool is a white LED
light powered by a USB port. Light will not define a port as good but
may discover a defective port. A port that should provide at least
100 ma must easily light a 20 ma LED. If not, well, problem
identified. But if the light does light, port is unknown (which is
completely different from 'good').

 

[Daniel]

Neerav Kothari wrote the following on 12/18/2007 20:58:

I was getting the same problem a year, maybe two years back on my Intel
D875 motherboard. All my ports and USB equipment (just a mouse &
keyboard) appeared to be working normally so it was a big mystery to me.

After updating drivers and testing all USB ports with my flash drive I
was still getting the error so I told Windows to stop bothering me with
USB errors by using the Device Manager, a bit of a risk since it turns
off all errors messages but it was driving me crazy:

- Click Start then Run
- Type devmgmt.msc in the Run box, hit OK
- Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- Right click on any Universal Host Controller, select Properties
- click on Advanced tab, check the box "Don't tell me about USB errors"
- Repeat for all Universal Host Controllers

Couple months later I went back and unchecked those boxes but the USB
errors did not come back. Heck, I don't know if I did something or some
driver got updated in those couple months. All my USB ports and
equipment are still working fine.

Lance
*****

Hay everyone i am having the exact same problem but the thing is that i do
not only get the error message but i also cant use any of my usb ports. does
anyone have any ideas of what i can to to make them work again?

Example of whats happening: Wireless keyboard plugs in, on the part that
send the signal the light flash faintly: Giving me the idea that the ports
are somewhat functional but not getting the required power... how can i fix
this???

 

[moby]

On Christmas day my USB ports all decided to pack up, I was not aware
of this until I tried to connect to the internet and realised my USB
modem was dead, I tried everything, uninstalled the USB controllers,
scanned for new hardware and re-installed them, the computer picked up
the new hardware everytime I uninstalled one and checked for new
hardware, I reloaded my motherboard drivers, I tried to do a repair
with my windows cd, absolutely nothing worked, major frustration. In
device manager it showed everything was working perfectly. In System
Information it showed that my external harddrive (usbmassstorage), my
printer, scanner etc had been 'stopped'. I tried to re-set that but
still no luck. On Boxing day my power supply blew, so I figured that
maybe that was the problem, got a new power supply and a USB card with
4 ports, which is now working, but my onboard (motherboard) usb ports
had to be disconnected, according to the guy at the pc shop they had
all blown. Today I connected my external USB hub because he told me
that if anything was faulty it would be worth connecting everything
via the hub so it would blow first, hopefully. I then got a power
surge message that said I must disconnect all hardware and click on
'reset', if I clicked on 'close' without clicking on 'reset' my ports
would not work, now I am wondering if this was not the problem
originally and that maybe someone did just click 'close' on Christmas
day without even looking at what was on the screen. Its a bit late to
check that now as the motherboard ports have been disconnected but I
would like to know how to reset the ports if this ever happens again.
Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Paul]

On Christmas day my USB ports all decided to pack up, I was not aware
of this until I tried to connect to the internet and realised my USB
modem was dead, I tried everything, uninstalled the USB controllers,
scanned for new hardware and re-installed them, the computer picked up
the new hardware everytime I uninstalled one and checked for new
hardware, I reloaded my motherboard drivers, I tried to do a repair
with my windows cd, absolutely nothing worked, major frustration. In
device manager it showed everything was working perfectly. In System
Information it showed that my external harddrive (usbmassstorage), my
printer, scanner etc had been 'stopped'. I tried to re-set that but
still no luck. On Boxing day my power supply blew, so I figured that
maybe that was the problem, got a new power supply and a USB card with
4 ports, which is now working, but my onboard (motherboard) usb ports
had to be disconnected, according to the guy at the pc shop they had
all blown. Today I connected my external USB hub because he told me
that if anything was faulty it would be worth connecting everything
via the hub so it would blow first, hopefully. I then got a power
surge message that said I must disconnect all hardware and click on
'reset', if I clicked on 'close' without clicking on 'reset' my ports
would not work, now I am wondering if this was not the problem
originally and that maybe someone did just click 'close' on Christmas
day without even looking at what was on the screen. Its a bit late to
check that now as the motherboard ports have been disconnected but I
would like to know how to reset the ports if this ever happens again.
Anyone got any suggestions?

There is a certain chipset with a problem. I have the chip that has
a potential problem, and I'm waiting for the day mine blows out.

The chip is the ICH5 from Intel. It is the Southbridge, and has USB 2.0
ports hosted on it. For some people, just the ports blow out. If you
look in Device Manager, all the USB entries are still there. The damage
is nearer the physical layer end of things, so the logic blocks are
still operating. They just don't know that the PHY part is not working
any longer.

In some cases, the damage is so severe, you can see if from the outside.
The chipsets affected, would be 875, 865, 848, each of which may have
an ICH5 or ICH5R Southbridge.

Here is a picture of the failure type, where the motherboard
will no longer POST, due to the damage. When just the USB ports
pop, there is no burn mark like this. The burn mark in this picture,
is actually above the pins on the chip, that power the USB ports.
So the problem is related to USB power, and is likely a "latchup"
failure.

http://onfinite.com/libraries/179057/2ea.jpg

That particular Southbridge doesn't usually have a heatsink on it,
which is why it is easy to inspect. Since your computer still
runs, I doubt there will be that burn mark.

Other chipsets are unaffected, so if you had something other than
an Intel ICH5 or ICH5R, I would not suspect this kind of
problem.

Paul

 

[moby]

Hi Paul

Thank you very much for that reply, and sorry about the delay in
replying, to add to all the other problems I am having a network
issue. I have an Intel processor and a Gigabyte motherboard, what
chipset I have, I would have to ask my son to have a look, he is way
more clued up than I am on those things, but I will let you know. The
m/board has 6 usb ports 2 and 2 under it, and then 2 in the front.

 

[Paul]

Hi Paul

Thank you very much for that reply, and sorry about the delay in
replying, to add to all the other problems I am having a network
issue. I have an Intel processor and a Gigabyte motherboard, what
chipset I have, I would have to ask my son to have a look, he is way
more clued up than I am on those things, but I will let you know. The
m/board has 6 usb ports 2 and 2 under it, and then 2 in the front.

There are utilities that can tell you a few thing about your hardware.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php (try the "mainboard" tab)
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/articles/Intel_E6400_Overclocking/test/cpuz_mainboard.jpg

Or there is Everest - motherboard:chipset for info:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Paul