usb ? does it work ?
Community Forums/General Help/usb ? does it work ?
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| Hi guys. This post will probably show how clueless I am when it comes to hardware but.... Ive had a decent new pc running windows 7 for about a year. It has oodles of usb ports - back and front. One of the front ones has never worked as far as I am aware. Now...silly me thought that one (because it was blue plastic) was just "for show/a spare empty place holder slot" (like you used to get on the dash of some cars with unmarked buttons). Turns out it is a usb 3 port. However - as said ive never seen it respond to anything being plugged in. (Ive only ever tried the mouse and my phone). Is there anything special I need to do to activate it? Is there a way in the windows panel to identify this port somehow. I do feel a bit silly now. |
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| As I just learned from Google there is no USB 3 driver pre-installed with Windows 7. You should probably check the manufacturer's web site. It seems like they would have set it up properly, so maybe the hardware is just broken. I have an older desktop with Windows 7 but no USB 3 ports and a newer laptop with Windows 8.1 so this problem never came up. |
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| Thanks Floyd (I had a brief look on google earlier - but it is good to know - given I reformatted about 6 or 7 months ago and have used the machine offline in that time it probably does just need a driver update) |
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| However - as said ive never seen it respond to anything being plugged in. (Ive only ever tried the mouse and my phone). Is there anything special I need to do to activate it? Typically it should 'just work', although: is this a big box manufacturer's PC, or a no-name whitebox? USB3 has a different connector on the motherboard than USB2 does -- there should be a (typically blue) cable form the front header to somewhere on the motherboard. Obviously the port isn't going to work if that cable isn't connected. If it IS connected and it's a driver problem, then you should see a warning sign pictured next to it in the windows device manager screen. If you see no references to USB3 in the device manager (and no unknown devices either), AND the header is physically connected to the motherboard, then you may want to check your BIOS -- most motherboardws have the ability to disable the onboard and/or expansion USB ports in the BIOS configuration. They may be disabled. If everything is plugged in, nothing is disabled, and all drivers are installed, then it could be any of the following: - USB port itself is shot - The USB controller on the motherboard is shot (there can be half a dozen different USB controllers on a modern motherboard, so one dead one doesn't necessarily prevent other USB ports from working) - Could be a bad cable connecting the USB header to the motherboard something else that may tell you a little more: If it's just a driver issue that prevents your computer from communicating with the device, then the port should still provide voltage. If you plug in a phone or something, does it say it's charging? |
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| Thanks xlsior - ill have a look when I get to the pc. V. Detailed info. Thanks. |
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