SteveStrummerUK
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Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
I noticed this first a few weeks ago - my mouse and keyboard would suddenly stop working. By 'not working' I mean the mouse cursor would just freeze on the screen and neither moving the mouse or clicking any of the buttons would do anything. Same with the keyboard - none of the keys would do anything. I know that they are both still communicating with my PC because the mouse laser is still lit and my backlit keyboard is still 'on'. I have two computers sharing a common mouse and keyboard (connected using a switchable Belkin device) so the first thing I thought was that maybe the device had malfunctioned. But when I switch over to my older PC, the mouse and keyboard are working fine. Just to be absolutely certain, I swapped the Belkin Switch→USB cables over but the problem persisted with my newer computer. Sometimes I can cure the problem by moving the switch to another USB port (incidentally, I don't use a USB hub - these connections are all made directly to USB ports). I've also tried removing the individual keyboard and mouse USB leads from the switch and that sometimes works. But sometimes, no amount of swapping in any configuration works (even my USB-connected TonePort stops working too) and the only way I can solve the problem is by resorting to a forced shut-down by holding in the computer's 'on' button. I've tried updating the drivers for all the ports but Windows says they are all up to date. So, to summarise - it happens (apparently) randomly, and sometimes it's just one port that goes down and sometimes they all die. I'm asking now as it seems to be happening much more frequently. Any help and advice gratefully received 
post edited by SteveStrummerUK - 2012/08/03 15:05:42
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mgh
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:05:40
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i presume you have turned off power management to the ports in device manager Steve?
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:12:16
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mgh
i presume you have turned off power management to the ports in device manager Steve?
How would I do that Mark? All I can seem to find in there is a check box to "allow this device (mouse and keyboard) to wake the computer". There are no 'Power Management' tabs on any of the listed Human Interface Devices or the USB Input Devices.
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:19:23
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Hang about.... Would this be it Mark, I've gone direct to the Power Management settings and the USB Selective Suspend setting was Enabled.
I've just changed it to Disabled: 
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joakes
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:21:49
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Are there any dodgy websites in Worcester ???
Tried Malwarebytes, just in case ?
Seriously, keeping "Allow this device ... etc" is not an issue.
Have you tried deleting all USB ports and letting Windows re-discover them, by installing the drivers again ?
Cheers,
Jerry
Built by yours truely : I7-2600@3.4GHz, Asus P67Z68, W10x64 Creator Edition, 32GB RAM, 3 HD's, nVidia 760 GT, Focusrite 18i20 2,d Gen + Ti FW, Oxygen 61 iv Gen, and Edirol SD-20 (yes it works), CbB, Teles, Strats, LP's, Epi Riviera, etc
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joakes
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:23:57
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Double post, and you've found the issue !!! Cheers, Jerry
post edited by joakes - 2012/08/03 15:25:10
Built by yours truely : I7-2600@3.4GHz, Asus P67Z68, W10x64 Creator Edition, 32GB RAM, 3 HD's, nVidia 760 GT, Focusrite 18i20 2,d Gen + Ti FW, Oxygen 61 iv Gen, and Edirol SD-20 (yes it works), CbB, Teles, Strats, LP's, Epi Riviera, etc
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spacey
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:33:16
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Steve I've also had weird mouse and keyboard issues since using Windows 7. No freezes but sometimes letters won't work -randomly- have to use numbers on the number pad... Here is an opinion.
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:33:58
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Thanks Jerry, but I'm not sure I have cured it  It happened earlier (which prompted me to post this) and I've just tried plugging my keyboard back into the port that 'failed'. The keys light up but it's not working. I then got this message appear:  I've put it back in another port to type this and it's working fine again. I run a full Malwarebytes scan every three or four days (in conjunction with rKill) and it's not found anything in the time period involved here. I'll try a reboot to see if it needs that for the change to take place. I might have to wait a while to find out because a reboot always solves the problem. Ports that die are always working again when I fire up the PC again. BTW, I'm loving your avatar Jerry - Róisín Dubh is one of my favourite Thin Lizzy albums
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spacey
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:35:52
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 15:38:11
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Thanks Mike, I'm running Eusing Registry Cleaner right now.
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bapu
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 16:25:11
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Steve, random thought. Are there any MOBO driver updates?
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bitflipper
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 17:56:06
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USB drivers (the chips, not the software) do fail sometimes. I've seen it happen twice that I can recall, requiring the installation of an add-on USB card. There is also an internal cable that connects the case-mounted socket to the motherboard. I once solved an intermittent USB port problem after discovering the cable was not seated properly.
 All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. My Stuff
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Jonbouy
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 20:50:53
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There is also an internal cable that connects the case-mounted socket to the motherboard. I once solved an intermittent USB port problem after discovering the cable was not seated properly. This ^^^^^ Another thing that can cause it is hidden device references causing conflicts with currently active drivers. To find out if you have a load of those interfering with your current (software) driivers, do this: Open a Command Prompt window. Copy and paste this text into it. set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 start devmgmt.msc Press Return. Then from the View Menu in the resultant Device Manager select Show Hidden Devices. Check for any 'greyed out' devices under USB controllers 'right click' on any of those and select uninstall for each greyed out entry. Do the same for hidden devices under 'Human Interface Devices', 'Keyboards' and 'Mice and other pointing devices'. Also check 'Sound video and game controllers' but don't uninstall any of the greyed devices in there unless you know they relate specifically to any old audio interfaces you no longer use or they are just duplicated old TonePort drivers. Leave any Microsoft entries alone. Reboot afterwards and check again to see if everything is working OK.
post edited by Jonbouy - 2012/08/03 21:33:42
"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/03 21:02:15
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Thanks Ed/Dave/Jon It's a bit too late for me to start fiddling about with this kind of stuff now, but I'll check it all out tomorrow.
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Beagle
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/04 07:58:18
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my previous DAW would FRY any USB device plugged into the front ports. I checked the cables, made sure they were seated correctly and not turned the wrong direction (which shouldn't be possible, but worse things have happened) - could not figure it out. decided it must have been a problem on the motherboard.
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 14:41:26
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Jonbouy
There is also an internal cable that connects the case-mounted socket to the motherboard. I once solved an intermittent USB port problem after discovering the cable was not seated properly.
This ^^^^^
Gents, is this a relatively 'easy' procedure for someone who's never even taken the back off a PC before? Or would I maybe be better advised to pay someone to take a look at this problem? I really need to get this sorted as it's now happening two or three times a day (or more) - a right royal PITA  Just to clarify, the problem isn't really intermittent as such - once one of the USB ports has 'failed', it has never started working again in the same session. I sometimes hear the standard Windows USB detection/disconnection sound and then the device attached stops responding. However, the device is still 'connected' to my computer because, for instance, my backlit keyboard stays lit, and the meters on my TonePort are still lit. Sometimes a single slot will stop working, and I can plug the device into a free port and it will start working immediately. Sometimes, all the USB's go down together. However, when I do get a failure, rebooting my PC (and even leaving all the devices connected to the slots they are in when failure occurs) solves the problem every time. All USB ports work fine immediately after a reboot. The time it takes between that and the next failure has been as short as a few minutes, up to several hours.
Jonbouy
Another thing that can cause it is hidden device references causing conflicts with currently active drivers.
To find out if you have a load of those interfering with your current (software) driivers, do this:
Open a Command Prompt window. Copy and paste this text into it.
set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
start devmgmt.msc
Press Return.
Then from the View Menu in the resultant Device Manager select Show Hidden Devices.
Check for any 'greyed out' devices under USB controllers 'right click' on any of those and select uninstall for each greyed out entry. Do the same for hidden devices under 'Human Interface Devices', 'Keyboards' and 'Mice and other pointing devices'.
Also check 'Sound video and game controllers' but don't uninstall any of the greyed devices in there unless you know they relate specifically to any old audio interfaces you no longer use or they are just duplicated old TonePort drivers. Leave any Microsoft entries alone.
Reboot afterwards and check again to see if everything is working OK.
Jon, I tried doing this, but the Command Prompt won't allow me to paste anything into it. I tried typing what you showed me in there but when I press Enter, nothing happens; except for a new command line appears:  I have opened Device Manager from the Control Panel and clicked on View > Show Hidden Devices. I've shown everything that's there (and expanded the fields that might be important?) in these screenshots; Incidentally, the only 'Hidden' devices that show up are the "Non-Plug and Play Drivers" I've highlighted:   Nothing seems to be greyed out as far as I can tell. Here's the complete list of what's inside when I expand the Non-Plug and Play category:   Thanks again in advance
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Jonbouy
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 15:50:36
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Steve you need to type those commands in on separate lines. set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 Is the important line, press return after that. The other line just starts the device manager, you can do that manually like you did here as long as you've entered the Environment Variable as above. Don't worry about any of the Device Manager devices unless they are in the locations I've already specified. DONT touch anything under Non Plug and Play Devices. If you ever want to paste text into a command prompt Ctrl/v is the key combination to do that.
post edited by Jonbouy - 2012/08/07 15:55:15
"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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Jonbouy
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 15:56:58
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What we want to do here is to eliminate any software problems that might be causing issues before resorting to having to pay for a fix.
"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 16:10:19
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Hey Jon, thanks for sticking with me mate Ctr+V is still not working for the Command Prompt, but I typed in the first line and clicked Enter and again, all I get is another command line open up:  When I hit Enter:  Should something actually happen to confirm that I've 'done something'. The line to open the Device Manager did work BTW, but when I hit the show 'hidden devices' the list is identical to what I got before. And thanks for bearing in mind I'm fumbling around in the dark here mate, none of this really means anything to me 
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Jonbouy
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 16:14:56
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No you've got it right. It just confirms you have no hidden devices. You seem to have plenty of input devices though. Try just with your keyboard, mouse and audio interface and unplug any thing else that isn't necessary, reboot and see what happens from there. Also if you can let us see what you have under Mice and Keyboards.
post edited by Jonbouy - 2012/08/07 16:17:19
"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 16:19:41
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Bristol_Jonesey
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 16:39:54
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Just a random thought, and I'm probably well wide of the mark, but could it possibly be due to a failing MOBO battery?
You'll know for sure Jon.
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Beagle
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 16:51:48
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SteveStrummerUK
Ctr+V is still not working for the Command Prompt, but I typed in the first line and clicked Enter and again, all I get is another command line open up:
Steve - "CTRL-V" does not work in the command window. you have to RIGHT CLICK and a menu will pop up and you can then choose PASTE and that will work.
post edited by Beagle - 2012/08/07 16:58:03
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 17:05:06
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I'm back, and thanks for chipping in Col. Jon, there were three devices other than my mouse, keyboard and TonePort plugged in: - The Belkin switch device I mentioned above
- My printer
- A 1TB exterior storage drive (to which my weekly Acronis back-ups are sent)
I've done the Command Prompt thing again with the same result, nothing greyed out and the list in Device Manager is the same. This is what I see under Mice and Keyboards:  For both devices, the Properties are: - GENERAL: This device is working properly
- DRIVERS: Windows has determined the driver is up to date
- DETAILS: HID compliant mouse/HID keyboard device
- POWER MANAGEMENT: Allow this device to wake the computer (the option to 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' is greyed out)
-
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 17:21:20
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Thanks Beag, that would have saved me some typing!
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zungle
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 17:34:41
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Steve,It looks like your getting god help here,just wanted to share my experience.
I had problems similar to yours eventually one of the USB ports went out /failed permanently.
Just weeks after another one bit the dust.
Talking with a tech ,he said it is a common problem on some MOBO's
Generally leading to eventual MOBO failure.
Because I didn't want to mess with a new MOBO,he suggested installing a PCI/PCIE usb card,so I went that route.
Easy to install.
These ports have been working rock solid for about 2 years now and seem a bit faster than the onboard ports.
I think it cost me $25.00 U.S.
I hope you get it fixed.
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 17:39:57
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Thanks for the input Jason.
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Jonbouy
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/07 18:28:15
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Because I didn't want to mess with a new MOBO,he suggested installing a PCI/PCIE usb card,so I went that route. This would be a good solution as it looks like your drivers are all working fine and you have no hidden drivers installed. Those Belkin switches are often troublesome so a card like this that will give you extra USB ports is a good idea and save a costly fix if the onboard USB has failed.
"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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SteveStrummerUK
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/08 09:00:38
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Thanks for walking me through that Jon I'll let you know how I get on mate.
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Old55
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Re:Can anybody help - my PC's USB ports keep randomly failing.
2012/08/08 09:09:22
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That should do the trick. I hope it goes smoothly, Strummy.
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