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Help! Mobo's USB ports keep conking out on Mouse & KB

TehMac

TehMac

Diamond Member
For background, the summer was very hot and my four year old computer's fan was producing an unbearable racket, so I'd occasionally hit the back of the chassis where the fan was with my open hand, reducing noise.

After one of these bouts in the last few weeks, the mouse stopped responding-- it's LED light was still on, but the cursor was not responding to mouse input. The keyboard no longer responded either. If not hard-rebooted, the computer then shuts down, although the motherboard LED remains on.

So couple questions:

1) Wtf is going on with my computer?

and

2) If I get a new motherboard and computer parts, will it wipe the hard drive (1TB sATA)?
 
I'd open up the case and re-seat all of the power connectors (i.e. maybe you knocked something loose when you hit it).

Also, where was the fan located which was making the racket? Was it the CPU fan, a case fan, or a fan in the power supply unit itself? If it was a power supply fan, it would probably be a good idea to try swapping out the power supply for a new one as a failing power supply can affect the USB ports.
 
As far as I can tell, the noise was coming from the case's 1 rear 120mm fan, not the PSU fan, although the comp may very well have been struggling from PSU issues as well.

What power cords specifically would you recommend checking?
 
TehMac said:
As far as I can tell, the noise was coming from the case's 1 rear 120mm fan, not the PSU fan, although the comp may very well have been struggling from PSU issues as well.

What power cords specifically would you recommend checking?
Click to expand...

Trace each power cable from the power supply to the motherboard or component where it is connected. Firmly re-seat each one. If the power supply is modular, make sure to re-seat the cables at both ends. Also, make sure you re-seat all of your memory modules.

Another thing you probably need to do is to download a bootable ISO from the hard drive manufacturer and run a check on your hard drive. It is possible that all this could be a coincidence and your hard drive could simply have developed a fault. It also wouldn't hurt to download and burn a bootable MEMTEST86+ ISO to test for a failing memory module.

How long has it been since you blew the dust out of the machine? It probably wouldn't hurt to download software like Speedfan or HWmonitor to check some system temps to ensure something isn't overheating.

What is the list of your components (i.e. processor, memory, hard drive, GPU, power supply, etc) and how old are they?
 
Good thinking, am doing this.

All my components are pretty much 4+ years old (built this rig in June 2009). I just took a big round of compressed air to the whole thing (and figured out how to get dust out of the CPU heatsink below the fan with a straw...never managed that before).

AMD Phenom II X4 2.6GHz AM3 quad core
EVGA GTX 260 super clocked edition
4GB G.Skill DDR3
Asus M4A78T-E AM3
Cooler Master RC-690
Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver2.2 EPS12V
 
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