"Flickering" USB ports

**timikoy** · 05-30-08, 03:08 AM

I just got a new computer (or most of one), and put Vista on it. My mouse and headset are both USB, and when gaming I am noticing that they both will randomly reset... For the headset this just means the mic gets muted, and the mouse will momentarily turn off. Neither of these are different from what I was using on my last machine, which was running XP.

Any ideas what might be the cause? I have been trying out each available 6 USB ports, and so far no luck.

**SapiensErus** · 05-30-08, 09:49 AM

How old is the mobo?

I had a laptop that started doing this and it got worse and worse. Turns out the USB root on the mobo was shorting every once in awhile causing all the UDB devices to momentarily cease working, eentually it got really bad and became unusable.

Have you installed the latest USB drivers for your system?

**timikoy** · 05-30-08, 10:37 AM

Mobo is brand new, had it for about a week. Newest drivers are installed, so I doubt that is the issue (or rather hope it isn't).

**TexRyker** · 05-30-08, 11:53 AM

If its new... I'd say go swap it assuming its not a big deal to do so. Might save you a big headache. If it still does not fix it then you know its either the OS or something not hooked up right.

**investigater** · 05-30-08, 01:00 PM

Give up the USB, go get you a $20 headset and $20 mouse made to connect to the on-board sound and mouse port. Problem solved.

EDIT: Doesn't necessarily have to be $20, but you get the idea.

**ic0n** · 05-30-08, 05:29 PM

Sounds like a hardware problem most likely the motherboard as was stated above. You could aways buy a USB card for 20bucks an see if it fixes the problem.

**draco7891** · 05-30-08, 08:27 PM

If the same devices are exhibiting the same behavior on a different mobo, I'd say you should look at the cables themselves, make sure the connectors aren't deformed, that the little clicky bits make positive contact, that the contacts are not worn/dirty/damaged, the connector seats all the way into the port, that sort of thing.

I had a USB mouse that would work as long as the cable was bent in a certain direction; unbend it and it would lose all power. It turns out the way I moused was funny, and over time I had broken one of the internal wires just so.

Draco

**timikoy** · 05-31-08, 01:28 PM

I am trying to see if I can figure out what is wrong before I start throwing money at this. Would be odd timing if it is a problem with the devices themselves that are malfunctioning, but I will start doing some hardware swapping to check it out.

anglasyandext9988 · 11-05-12, 06:12 AM

ALERT!

Someone has tried to register using the IP Address 221.6.15.156 which is MATCHED IN THE RBL DATABASE of the proxies.dnsbl.sorbs.net RBL.

This registration attempt has been allowed and the account has been permanently banned.

Registration Details: anglasyandext9988 ( anglasyandext@e-mail.com )