"Power Surge on Hub Port"

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gi0 220

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Jan 31, 2007
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notification has been popping up for a few days now that tells me i have a power surge on my USB hub port. Says i have exceeded the power limits of its hub port. however, i have NOTHING plugged into any of my usb ports. The window after i click the notification shows my hub with 7 unused ports and one used by "Unknown USB Device." questions? thoughts? ideas? opinions?

Thanks all,

gio
 
Do you have a card reader? Do you have anything plugged into the USB on-board headers? Something may be shorting your pins out.
 
means theres too many connections and you need to make space. move your usbs around where its evenly distributing power so that it runs and whatnot.
 
One of two things - the unknown device is using too much current, or a USB port is broken and possibly shorting on itself.

Make sure what devices you have plugged in, if you don't, then I reckon it would be a broken USB port somewhere on the backplate or frontplate.
 
i really hate this cause theres like a limited amount that you can plug in. does anyone know how to get rid of it where all ports are open and able to use without any problems.

gonna keep this going just for my future reference.
 
yea, nothing is plugged in so the USB port must be shorting out on its own. Any way to get rid of the error messge so i dont have to deal with it on ym screen all the time?
 
is this a mobo-mounted port or a front-panel mounted port (ie, from an expansion bracket?). I've seen things like this happen with crappy-made expansion port headers.

also, you might want to check the PSU. Due to how USB calculates the "over-current" condition you could also see this if the Vusb (5.0V) rail is dipping too low.
 
this is a HP laptop computer, i assume the USBs are on the mobo. Im not sure about the "over-current" condition via PSU or how i would check that.
 
gi0 220 said:
this is a HP laptop computer, i assume the USBs are on the mobo. Im not sure about the "over-current" condition via PSU or how i would check that.
Click to expand...

Being a lappy changes everything. The AC conversion is being done in the brick and the supplied as DC into the computer.

As a lappy, the ports are going to be soldered to the mainboard, so that mitigates that.

Do you have a voltmeter/multimeter, you could see if you've got a floating ground by checking the potential between the metal shielding of the port (_NOT_ the USB pins themselves -- just the shielding) and GND. If you see a voltage there, then you've got a floating ground which could also be causing problems.

edit: does your lappy have bluetooth? most laptop bluetooth adapters on the mobo are actually USB bluetooth adapters with the USB pins hardwired on the mainboard.
 
Svet-am makes some good points.
I'll go a little further to suggest that the power surge message might be referring to the external USB ports being over volted.
Check the power supply on the hub to see how many volts it is giving out and check how many volts the hub is rated for.

Just recently I found 2 of my own little PSUs for an LED lamp and my 3D glasses were both giving out double the voltage they are rated for!
I was lucky nothing was damaged, I only spotted the LED lamps problem after it started to flicker, its fine now :)
 
let me clarify, are these ports ALL part of the PC or do you have an external, powered (or even passive) USB hub attached as well?
 
nothing is attached, they are all part of the laptop. no hubs running and nothing else plugged into the usb ports. Message box pops up usually a min or so into use of the computer so its not instant once i start it up. appreciate all the help so far this box is really annoying me
 
gi0 220 said:
nothing is attached, they are all part of the laptop. no hubs running and nothing else plugged into the usb ports. Message box pops up usually a min or so into use of the computer so its not instant once i start it up. appreciate all the help so far this box is really annoying me
Click to expand...

Okay, then. If possible, check the voltages as I described above. USB uses voltages (or the lack thereof) for damn near all of its event checking.
 
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