Why are often front USB slots inactive?

[Jason Stacy]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

J.

 

[Arno Wagner]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

You should not. I can only conclude that this is some
stupidity with the Windows driver.

Arno

 

[Roger Blake]

Why ?

Bad wiring. (The rear USB jacks are soldered direct to the motherboard.
The fronts are connected with skinny, cheap wires and connectors.)

 

[JohnO]

Bad wiring. (The rear USB jacks are soldered direct to the motherboard.
The fronts are connected with skinny, cheap wires and connectors.)

Roger, this is an interesting issue, and I'm very curious. Do you know if
replacing (upgrading) the wires that go to the header connectors will fix
the problem? Does length play a role, or maybe just shielding?

Will slow USB devices work OK, say 1.1, and fast 2.0 devices fail as Stacy
described?

Thanks...

-John O
(posting from ms.pub.winxp.hardware)

 

[philo]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

J.

Open the case up and have a look,
the front ports may not even be connected...

 

[Lil' Dave]

Have also seen only 1 USB port of 2 working on a USB front panel interface
on some. There are many USB interface pinouts on different motherboards.
They are not the same.

On some, yes, there may be a jumper requirement to enable.

 

[Anna]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

J.

Jason:
We have found that in virtually every case where the front panel USB port(s)
did not work correctly but there was no problem with the rear (integrated
motherboard USB ports), the problem was that the cable wires leading to the
USB connector ("header") on the motherboard from the front panel USB port(s)
were incorrectly hooked up. Simply stated, the USB wires of the cable were
not associated with the correct pin(s) on the motherboard's USB connector.
If that be the case it's generally a simple matter to correct the situation.
Hopefully you have your motherboard's user guide/manual and the correct
orientation of the front panel USB cable wires will be shown.

In a very few cases the problem was either a defective front-panel USB port
(extremely rare in our experience) or a defective USB connector on the
motherboard. We have even come across cases where the USB cable wires were
incorrectly connected to some other connector on the motherboard (e.g., an
audio connector) instead of the USB connector.
Anna

 

[Anna]

Jason:
We have found that in virtually every case where the front panel USB
port(s) did not work correctly but there was no problem with the rear
(integrated motherboard USB ports), the problem was that the cable wires
leading to the USB connector ("header") on the motherboard from the front
panel USB port(s) were incorrectly hooked up. Simply stated, the USB wires
of the cable were not associated with the correct pin(s) on the
motherboard's USB connector. If that be the case it's generally a simple
matter to correct the situation. Hopefully you have your motherboard's
user guide/manual and the correct orientation of the front panel USB cable
wires will be shown.

In a very few cases the problem was either a defective front-panel USB
port (extremely rare in our experience) or a defective USB connector on
the motherboard. We have even come across cases where the USB cable wires
were incorrectly connected to some other connector on the motherboard
(e.g., an audio connector) instead of the USB connector.
Anna

Jason:
I forgot to add (as I believe another responder to your query did) that
another frequent occurrence of this problem is because the builder/installer
of the desktop PC simply neglected to connect the USB cable from the
front-panel USB ports to the USB connector on the motherboard. A most common
scenario.
Anna

 

[Jerry]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

J.

You didn't say whether the front usb slots ever worked. If they have not
then it's possible that the either are not connected to the motherboard or
the connector is loose, open the case and follow the wires to where they
plug into the motherboard and check.

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

the problem was that the cable wires leading to the
USB connector ("header") on the motherboard from the front panel USB port(s)
were incorrectly hooked up.

Well, I only build my own computers, and my experience is only two. With
regard to the front USB ports, both worked fine initially. One of them stopped
working after about six months. I think the problem is the cable itself, based
on its appearance, although I obviously can't rule out the front (in this case
actually top) USB circuit board until I replace stuff.

Obviously if it worked at one time, it cannot have been hooked up incorrectly.

I can also exclude the MB as I hooked up another pair of ports (these mount in
a 3.5" slot) to the same connectors on the MB.

I've got a spare cable and circuit board, but it's a PITA to get to it so I
haven't actually done the replacement yet.
--ron

 

[Jerry]

Roger, this is an interesting issue, and I'm very curious. Do you know if
replacing (upgrading) the wires that go to the header connectors will fix
the problem? Does length play a role, or maybe just shielding?

Will slow USB devices work OK, say 1.1, and fast 2.0 devices fail as Stacy
described?

Thanks...

-John O
(posting from ms.pub.winxp.hardware)

Front mounted usb jacks are typically encased in a molded cable that has a
10 pin connector on its end where it connects to the motherboard. You can't
replace the wires, besides the likely hood of a broken wire is slim. More
likely would be a bad crimp on one of the wires in the connector that
attaches to the motherboard, chances of fixing that are slim also and it's
very unlikely that the speed of the device would matter.

 

[Stefano \Dr. Tofu\ Gigante]

We have found that in virtually every case where the front panel USB port(s)
did not work correctly but there was no problem with the rear (integrated

Mine never functioned. In fact, when I connected them first, I only found
that the cable in my cabinet were really skinny, and got even some sparks
because at the end there were touching cables.
I was really unfortunate, but usually many low-end cabinets are done with
cheap materials, and if everything seems rights, but still doesn't
function, I learned to forget

 

[Stefano \Dr. Tofu\ Gigante]

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Mine never functioned well. Most low end case are built with cheap
material, bad soldered cables and frail connectors. Personally, I bought
myself a powered Hub and I'm keeping it on the case, if I need rapid access
for the external hdd, pendrives and stuff

An hub is cheap, but the Front connector are usually cheaper and badly
built

 

[Swifty]

Open the case up and have a look,
the front ports may not even be connected...

I'm not trying to be argumentative (I don't normally have to try) but
how would WinXP know that the device had been plugged in if it wasn't
connected?
Microsoft must have the best programmers!

 

[Paul]

Roger, this is an interesting issue, and I'm very curious. Do you know if
replacing (upgrading) the wires that go to the header connectors will fix
the problem? Does length play a role, or maybe just shielding?

Will slow USB devices work OK, say 1.1, and fast 2.0 devices fail as Stacy
described?

Thanks...

-John O
(posting from ms.pub.winxp.hardware)

On some older Antec computer cases, the small PCB mounted in the
front of the computer case, has to be replaced. Yes, shielding
is important, and examining the publicly available USB spec would
show you what usb.org considers an appropriate cable construction.

In the picture here, you can see that a proper front panel assembly
keeps the bare wire part of the cable to a minimum. The shield starts,
just a little above the 2x5 header. Frontx makes a drive bay product,
that allows the DIY addition of various ports to the front of the
computer. That allows you to bypass any bad assemblies provided with
the computer case.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx108_2.html

Paul

 

[PaulMaudib]

It occured several times that I plugged in an USB stick
into one of the USB slots at the front side of various desktop computers.
WinXP told me "USB device not correctly installed" or something similar.

When I plug in the same USB stick on the USB slots at the back side
everything works fine.

Why ?

Do I have to enable front side USB slots explicitly ?

J.

This is obviously a purely hardware related question and has
absolutely NOTHING to do with the OS.

Take this elsewhere.

 

[Roger Blake]

Roger, this is an interesting issue, and I'm very curious. Do you know if
replacing (upgrading) the wires that go to the header connectors will fix
the problem? Does length play a role, or maybe just shielding?

Upgading the wiring would probably help. It's not something I've really
explored, on systems that exhibit these problems I've just run USB
extension cables from the more stable rear ports.

Will slow USB devices work OK, say 1.1, and fast 2.0 devices fail as Stacy
described?

They might -- I've also seen USB 2.0 devices (such as flash drives) connect
at 1.1 speed via the front panel ports.

This is a very common problem that I've run into across a broad spectrum of
systems. I just chalk it up to most PC chassis being cheap Chinese-made junk,
built with the lowest cost parts from the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-relative
supply chain.

 

[Ian D]

On some older Antec computer cases, the small PCB mounted in the
front of the computer case, has to be replaced. Yes, shielding
is important, and examining the publicly available USB spec would
show you what usb.org considers an appropriate cable construction.

In the picture here, you can see that a proper front panel assembly
keeps the bare wire part of the cable to a minimum. The shield starts,
just a little above the 2x5 header. Frontx makes a drive bay product,
that allows the DIY addition of various ports to the front of the
computer. That allows you to bypass any bad assemblies provided with
the computer case.

http://www.frontx.com/cpx108_2.html

Paul

I have one of those cases, an SX1040B on my older P4 system.
The front panel USB connections didn't work as USB2. I sent
an email to Antec and had a new module within 3 days. The
hardest part of replacing it was getting the case front off and
back on. The cable assembly wasn't replaced, but the USB2
worked perfectly.

 

[Paul]

I have one of those cases, an SX1040B on my older P4 system.
The front panel USB connections didn't work as USB2. I sent
an email to Antec and had a new module within 3 days. The
hardest part of replacing it was getting the case front off and
back on. The cable assembly wasn't replaced, but the USB2
worked perfectly.

You know, at one time, Antec had a web page, that listed all the
computer cases they made, that had the bad PCB in the front.
But they soon removed it (presumably when the first wave of
tech support hit them). I don't know if I could find it today,
on web.archive.org or not. The list was actually quite large.
I think two of my three cases, are affected (my Sonata is OK).
The web page was not linked from other pages on the site, so
it was tricky to find.

Paul

 

[JohnO]

This is a very common problem that I've run into across a broad spectrum

of
systems. I just chalk it up to most PC chassis being cheap Chinese-made
junk,
built with the lowest cost parts from the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-relative
supply chain.

Heh, I'm sure you're right. Thanks guys, that's just what I was looking for.

-John O