My front panel usb ports are not working

[heathersweater]

I have 2 3.0 usb ports and 2 2.0 usb ports in the front. All of them stopped working for some strange reason. I tried using them to boot off a linux usb and it doesn't work. Strangely, if I have 2 USB ports occupied in the front and I plug another device into one of the remaining 2 USB ports in the front, that USB device starts working. The front USB ports don't work in safe mode either. I have my bios updated to the latest and my chipset for my motherboard updated to the latest as well. Any ideas what may be the issue? Would a power supply affect my front usb ports? My rear usb ports are working no problem. I'm running windows 8.1

 

[VirtualLarry]

Would a power supply affect my front usb ports?

It could.

 

[denis280]

It could.

+1 what power supply are you using,and how old is it

 

[heathersweater]

I have a 460w psu and the computer is only a year old. The front ports were working okay until one day it just stopped.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have a 460w psu and the computer is only a year old. The front ports were working okay until one day it just stopped.

What brand and model? "460W" isn't very descriptive. Or if an OEM system, brand and model of entire PC.

 

[heathersweater]

The model of my computer is the Dell XPS 8700. I don't see a specific model on the power supply, it just says dell.

 

[denis280]

this http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc..._re=antec_power_supply-_-17-371-045-_-Product

 

[LTC8K6]

Did you recently upgrade to 8.1?
In this thread, a BIOS update seems to have fixed front USB port problems in 8.1?

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19582818?pi21953=6

 

[heathersweater]

I was always on Windows 8.1. I updated my bios to a later version than the one mentioned in the dell community thread. Should I downgrade my bios version?

Ok, I downgraded and it still doesn't work.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Some mobos have the USB and PS/2 ports on a self-resetting polyfuse, for safety reasons. If this is true, in order to reset it, you have to remove ALL power. Shut down the PC, then unplug it, and let it sit for a couple of hours, then plug it back in, power it up, and test the USB ports again.

Did you do anything inside the PC case? Could the front-panel USB ports have gotten unplugged (even slightly) from the mobo connector?

 

[heathersweater]

Thanks but that didn't work either, I guess my usb ports are done.

 

[Steltek]

You said the machine is about a year old. Is the machine still under warranty? You can check at Dell's website:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04

Enter your system's service tag in the indicated box, click submit. Then, when your system comes up, click on the warranty tab (you may have to do a captcha there to prove you are a person, I dimly recall).