USB Controller Toast. Is a PCI card the answer?

[fwtong]

According to my friend, my USB controller on my motherboard is toast. When I try to boot my computer with any USB peripheral plugged in, it hangs at the motherboard logo screen. When I boot it without any USB peripherals plugged in, it starts. If my USB controller is toast, will a USB PCI card overcome my toasted motherboard USB controller? My friend said that USB cards might use the motherboard's USB controller, but he's not sure. I know that a new motherboard will fix the problem, but I want to try to squeeze as much life out of my current machine as possible, especially since a USB PCI card is a lot cheaper than a new motherboard.

Thanks in advance.

 

[footballrunner800]

try updating and resetting the bios first. Does USB work after you boot to windows?

 

[fwtong]

USB doesn't work after my computer boots. In order for me to update and reset the BIOS, I'm going to have to dig around and see if I can find a PS/2 keyboard (or my USB adapter) since my current keyboard is a USB. I'm not sure if that'll work though, since I've been running my system with little changes for the past two years though. The only change was going to Vista 64 a few months ago.

 

[lopri]

What's toasted not likely the USB controller in the south bridge but the USB ports on the board (or other electrical traces that carries power/data signal) are damaged. You can check the Device Manager to see whether your USB controller is in trouble.

In any case, a PCI or PCIe add-in card should work. Depending on which controllers, you may need to install drivers but Windows Update should take care of that.

 

[lopri]

For example:



If the device manager shows everything normal yet the ports are not functional, then yeah the ports are dead/dying.