http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/944/usbmffp3.jpg

Hi, as the title says my USB ports no longer detect any devices. Here's how i got here using the image above to explain:

1. I decided to hook up my front panel USB ports to my MoBo to the blue connectors in #2 using these two plugs that came with my Antec Sonata Mid tower case.
2. PC froze up, so i unplugged them and reboot.
3. I unplugged this then realized it wouldn't fit into the ones in #2 so i put it back in. This was done with the PC powered on.
4. Now i get this pop up message whenever i connect a USB device to any of the 4 ports.
5. None of these ports work anymore (located at the back), i've tried connecting several devices, nothing.
6. Went into Device Manager, uninstalled all of that, reboot and let WinXP reinstall them, nothing. Same problem.

Did i fry my USB ports? :eek:

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thnx :)

PC Specs:
WinXP Pro SP3
ASUS P4P800SE MoBo
Antec Sonata Mid-Tower Case

It appears you have two usb ports (on a single hub) and one firewire port in the front panel. If that is the case one connector would be for USB and one for Firewire and plugging Firewire into a USB header on the mobo would be very bad. The two USB ports would only use one connector with one port using the top row of header pins and the other port using the lower pins.

A long shot would be that somehow USB has been disabled in the BIOS setup - but most unlikely since you can see the USB tree in device manager. If its just a windows problem you should be able to detect the USB devices with a Knoppix live CD.

Thanks for the reply, I'm downloading Knoppix cd iso right now. Will this software repair my problem completely? Also, I'm unclear about which of the two blue connectors is for USB and the other for Firewire. As far as i know this MoBo doesn't have Firewire. They are both labeled USB56 and USB78 in fine print directly underneath each. :confused:

It's the front panel that appears to have a firewire port (and two USB ports); they have nothing to do with the mobo. The cable from the firewire port had better be curled-up or cut off if you are never going to utliise it.

Knoppix isn't for curing but helping to diagnose what is wrong.

Booted up Knoppix went to "USB View":

UHCI Host Controller
UHCI Host Controller
UHCI Host Controller
UHCI Host Controller
EHCI Host Controller

Plugged in my USB device (Samsung MP3 player), same result as before. MP3 player indicates it's "ready" but the computer doesn't respond.

In BIOS:

USB Configuration
Module Version - 2.23.0-5.3
USB Devices Enabled: None

USB Function..................[8 USB Ports]

Legacy USB Support.........[Auto]
USB 2.0 Controller............[Enabled]
USB 2.0 Controller Mode....[FullSpeed]

What now?

Can USB Devices Enabled: None be altered. If not then it looks as if your board is a bit fried.

It can't be altered. I suspected the power from the ports is fried because i also have a Logitech steering wheel and usually when i connect that to any USB interface the green LEDs on the wheel light up regardless if the wheel has drivers installed or not. Green LEDs indicates power from the USB port, and in this case there is none whatsoever :(

I guess my only option at this point would be to buy a cheap PCI USB adapter and disable the current USB onboard controllers in BIOS, right?

When you hooked up the headers to the pins on the motherboard, are you ABSOULETLY SURE you got the pin-headers and connectors correct?

Simply plugging them in but not checking this, may actually reverse-connect the 5v polarity of the USB supply voltage, and this can easily kill the attached USB device. The fact that you don't get the glow anymore from the steering wheel device, also indicates that you may have the 5v & GND connections round the wrong way. Most motherboards adopt a "One way or the other" way of laying out their USB headers on the motherboard, but it is up to YOU to make sure you get it round the right way.

Just because the plug-header may actually fit the pin-header on the motherboard, this does not actually mean it is correct, as they have not standardized the plug and pin headers between motherboard manufacturers and the PC case manufacturers - The motherboard manufacturers have, but the PC case manufacturers often leave it up to you to plug the headers in the right way to the pins.

Using the motherboard manual, you must confirm yourself, that the pin-header and the header-plug are actually electrically correct.

Most USB header-plugs tend to have a three-way connector, and a seperate GND(ground/earth/negative) header-plug, which you have to connect to the motherboard GND.

The header-plugs tend to be laid out left-to-right as: 5v DC, USB -(data), USB +(data)

Therefore, if you were to plug the three-way header-plug round the wrong way by mistake, you would connect the USB+(data) line to the 5v supply voltage(the connected USB device, that is), the USB-(data) line would remain connected correctly, the 5v DC from the motherboard to the USB+(data) line(again, of the connected USB device), and if you then put the single black header-plug on the last pin, you would either GND the black wire(correct), or possibly connect it to 5v.

This would mean that the USB device is trying to draw it's power from the USB+ data line, and trying to return power to GND through the 5v rail, which shorts out the USB+ data line - not good.

NOTE THAT WHEN I TALK ABOUT USB+ and USB-, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE USB SUPPLY VOLTAGE - USB+ and USB- are the differential data-pair wires...

Vcc and GND are the USB power supply lines - something to be VERY clear about!!!
:p