pluggin in usb device causes reboot ?

X

xappie

[H]ard|Gawd
2FA
Joined
Dec 13, 2000
Messages
1,378
Hi all

Recently I have been having a problem where when I plug in a usb device such as my digital camera, my computer reboots. This is a new problem, and it happens when I plug in the device to the USB ports on the front of my stacker 830 case. This is not a new system, and I have never had this problem before. What is new is that I now have more fans installed than before and so I am thinking this is a power issue. Maybe when I plug in my camera it causes the power in my system to drop too low and the computer reboots?

I am using a Vantec Stealth 470 watt, and I now have the following gear running off it, everything at stock voltage:

- AMD X2 4200
- 2GB OCZ Platinum EL
- ATI radeon x800XT AIW with arctic cooling silencer
- soundblaster xfi xtrememusic
- 2 WD Raptor drives (1x36GB and 1x74GB)
- 1 WD 150GB sata
- 1 liteon DVDRW drive
- 4 120mm fans (2 silenx, 2 that came with my case)
- 1 92mm silenx fan
- usb keyboard (logitech g15)
- usb mouse (logitech g5)
- ATI remote wonder USB reciever
- logitech cordless rumblepad reciever

So you can see that is alot of stuff. The only change from my previous build is the case itself (with usb hub) and the addition of 2 of the 120mm fans. I never had this particular problem before...

Is it possible that those 2 new fans and the new usb hub put me over the edge in terms of what my power supply can deliver? Would a power issue cause the system to reboot like that when a new usb device is plugged in?

Any advice is appreciated, sorry for the lengthy post.


edit: here are the specs for my power supply:
+3.3V 26A
+5V 47A
+12V 28A
-12V 1.0A
-5V 0.8A
+5VSB 2.5A
 
Update your motherboard's BIOS. Also, make sure your OS is up-to-date. If you can, flash the camera to it's latest software revision. You might be (and I hate to say this) SOL, however, because it is hard for manufacturers to test every single hardware combination out there, and they may not have the fix yet. Also, it could be a hotfix that's causing the BSODs. This is the case with the servers at work; they crash any time we connect a USB hard drive to them which uses a SiI chipset, but we need the patch over the drives. And they're Dells. You might just have to be patient.

However, there is another way to get your pictures off your camera: pop out the memory card and stick it into a card reader. They're cheaper than the cards themselves if you don't have one, and generally move the files off the thing faster than the camera.

It's not likely a power problem.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have the latest BIOS and service packs installed.

The odd thing is I have used this camera with this motherboard before, many times. This only started happening when I moved the gear into a new case. So the only thing that is different now is that I have more fans, and I am using a different physical USB port on my motherboard, via the chasis front panel connections.
 
Try to remove a few things, to use a little bit less power, then try again. Like a couple fans, the reciever for your wireless controler, stuff like that.
 
My front USB ports do this as well, only they don't do it all the time.
I am attributing mine to a short some where. I didn't think about the power issue.
 
Yeah, I thought about a short somewhere too - but I don't really know how to test for that. And I have managed to get the thing plugged in a few times and transfer images from it - so the USB port does work - when it works.
 
OH!
I just remembered - it happens even when I just plug in the USB cable, with no camera attached to it! So maybe that really does mean its a short circuit?
 
Is the front USB hub attached to the kind of header plug that's a big bunch of separate pins or is it the single plug for two ports (connecting the + and - pins backwards would explain it)? Are you daisy-chaining anything else with the camera now that you've re-assembled the whole thing?
 
Its a solid plug with a blocked out hole where the missing pin on the mobo connector is, so it can't really go on the wrong way. And it does work sometimes, so it does actually work as a usb connection - sometimes. Maybe the wires inside the plug on the case connector are wired incorrectly for my mobo? Like it has the ground in the wrong spot or something? I will try and compare how that connector is wired to how my mobo manual lays out the connection tonight...

No daisy chaining.
 
Axman said:
Is the front USB hub attached to the kind of header plug that's a big bunch of separate pins or is it the single plug for two ports (connecting the + and - pins backwards would explain it)? Are you daisy-chaining anything else with the camera now that you've re-assembled the whole thing?
Click to expand...

yeah - make sure the USB ports on the front panel are properly attached to the USB header on mobo...
 
Well, like I said the plug can only go on one way - so unless it's not wired correctly for my motherboard...
 
Make sure that there's nothing on the component side of the board (the back side) that's shorting out the header. Or inside the header, for that fact. Also, if you have a different header, try it. (Does the camera work if you plug it into the USB ports on the backplane?) If you can get a layout of the board, and the header is operated by say, a secondary disk controller, try testing that disk controller with a hard drive or two. I for a while thought that I was having USB problems that were caused by a failed SiI SATA controller on my MSI board. Had to RMA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top