USB Ports not working

[Ragdoll]

Gateway Laptop MX6450
Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002   SP2
AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology ML-37 1.99GHz
1GB RAM

Has four usb ports on the right hand side. Two towards the front work fine, two towards the back do not.

The machine has been cleaned of spyware, had disk cleanup and defrag
Have tried unplugging and removing battery.
Has all windows updates
Have gotten the most recent motherboard driver updates
Tried uninstalling then reinstalling usb controllers in device manager

When I insert my flash drive into either usb port the light starts to come on then goes out as if there is power there but then lost. The machine does not see it as new hardware either. 

Any advice?  :)

[PCBruiser]

Can you see the USB ports in Device Manager?  If not, then you have a hardware failure.  Now, there are several things it could be, one easy to fix, the others requiring a motherboard replacement, which is an expensive repair if the system is not under warranty. 

The easy one is if the rear USB ports use a cable to connect to the motherboard.  If so, that cable may have either failed or come loose.  Replacing that cable, or simply plugging it firmly onto the motherboard USB header is fast and inexpensive to have done.  Unless you are an expert, opening up a laptop yourself is not recommended.

If the USB ports are either directly attached to the motherboard (soldered in place) then either the solder joint has broken or the USB controller for the rear ports is shot.  Fixing the solder joint is a job for an expert, and often fails anyway.  If the controller is shot, or the broken solder joint cannot be repaired, you are looking at a replacement of the motherboard, and that will cost probably more than the system is worth.

My suggestion if you really need additional ports is to buy a USB hub for a few dollars and forget about the rear ports.

[Ragdoll]

Thank you for the prompt response PCBruiser.


USB Ports are listed in device manager as follows:

Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Unknown Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

The only usb device that is plugged into this machine at this time is a Microsoft optical mouse and it is recognized under mice and other pointing devices.

Both rear usb ports do have power, I was able to plug a laptop cooling unit into it and it spins the fan up, if that makes any difference.

Wiill have to check with the boss when he returns about opening up the laptop, he is a far more experienced tech than I when it comes to laptop repair. 

[PCBruiser]

Does this laptop have USB2?  If so, it looks like either the USB2 driver has failed, and that is included in the operating system starting with XP with SP1, or the USB2 controller itself is shot.  I think that's what that unknown device is in all likelihood.  If that has failed, then this is definitely a motherboard issue.  That means that you would be limited to USB1.1 speeds for all devices, including USB2 devices which should work, just very lowly, and only with the two front ports.  Getting power doesn't mean anything if the controller is shot.  Devices could be powered, but still wouldn't work.

[Ragdoll]

Alrighty, thanks for the new info.

And yes, I do believe that it does have USB2.

[RoHe]

The "enhanced" entry is your USB2 software driver, and it seems to be ok since it's listed, though that doesn't prove the hardware is working correctly.

Could that Unknown device be a mouse ? Did you accidently unplug some USB device without using the "Safely Remove" icon in the system tray?  Or did some USB device freeze while you were using it?

Manually set a Windows System Restore point and then right-click that Unknown device and uninstall it. Exit Device Manager and reboot. Windows should reinstall that USB root hub. See if that fixes it.

Ron