Front USB is causing start up power failure...

[Former Member]

So, I have to unplug all my USBs which include my hotspot. During a restart, or a startup for the day.

My computer will turn on, 10s later, turn off.

I've tried looking up online what could cause it for month. Last night, decided to open it up, dismantle it (I built it) and rebuild it. Cleaned up wires and removed an unnecessary VGA wire! So it looks good inside.

I have an ATX mobo, and a corsair mid size case. I can look up the details if need be.

(Before I figured out it was my front usb) I figured it was my PSU. So I unplugged everything, monitors and all. Started right up. Shut it down, and started plugging in the 3 monitors, that worked, plugged in mouse keyboard, that worked! Plugged in headset (front panel) that worked. Plugged in a USB into the 2.0 port shut down. Plugged into the 3.0 port. Shut down.

So skip months ahead, and last night like I said. Dismantled it. Checked ALL cords. No issues. No loose cords front and back. Cleaned out all the dust from behind the mobo, etc.

Plugged the front panel LED lights into the mobo in their proper marked areas. (Only one never had an LED, and that's the restart button. Even though it can but lit. And the button does work) FP USB plugged in snug. Works just fine when computer is on. No issues, driver or physicality. Just on start.


Sorry I got into a whole book here!

[Derek‽]

You didn’t specify what was being plugged into the front USB ports. That’s important to know, because not all devices are created equally. An external hard drive draws a lot more power than a flash drive, for instance, and you may be overtaxing your PSU with the sudden strain of the power draw during startup through the USB socket. (I’m leaning towards this explanation.)

The front USB ports are typically the last in the chain of ports to draw power, so they often appear to be at fault when the reality is that the PSU’s bouncer is closing the velvet rope right in their faces.

The best way to determine if it’s the PSU or USB ports is to unplug everything that draws power except for whatever is going into the problematic USB port and start it up. If it’s still shutting down, it’s more likely a fault in the USB; if it manages to keep chugging for a few minutes, it’s probably the PSU. (It wasn’t clear if this is how you conducted your tests or if you were just piling onto the load each time, ending with the USB devices.)

If you determine it’s definitely the USB socket that’s the problem, well, either replace it or keep everything unplugged until after each startup. Likewise with the PSU; replace it or wait it out. There’s nothing else to be done. This is one of those “it hurts when I do this” “so don’t do that” situations. It’s not going to get better on its own, but unless it starts to get worse it’s just a minor annoyance.

[Former Member]

Jan 19, 2020 14:08:49 GMT -8 Derek‽ said:

You didn’t specify what was being plugged into the front USB ports. That’s important to know, because not all devices are created equally. An external hard drive draws a lot more power than a flash drive, for instance, and you may be overtaxing your PSU with the sudden strain of the power draw during startup through the USB socket. (I’m leaning towards this explanation.)

The front USB ports are typically the last in the chain of ports to draw power, so they often appear to be at fault when the reality is that the PSU’s bouncer is closing the velvet rope right in their faces.

The best way to determine if it’s the PSU or USB ports is to unplug everything that draws power except for whatever is going into the problematic USB port and start it up. If it’s still shutting down, it’s more likely a fault in the USB; if it manages to keep chugging for a few minutes, it’s probably the PSU. (It wasn’t clear if this is how you conducted your tests or if you were just piling onto the load each time, ending with the USB devices.)

If you determine it’s definitely the USB socket that’s the problem, well, either replace it or keep everything unplugged until after each startup. Likewise with the PSU; replace it or wait it out. There’s nothing else to be done. This is one of those “it hurts when I do this” “so don’t do that” situations. It’s not going to get better on its own, but unless it starts to get worse it’s just a minor annoyance.

Sorry! Anything can be plugged into the USB port in the front, from a lone usb charge wire with nothing plugged into it. 

2 ports on the back are causing issues too. With nothing in the front, the 2 had my mouse and keyboard, those are directly on the motherboard. 

should have mentioned my proper specs shouldn't I? 

I have an 850w PSU, so and overload doesn't seem likely. I decided on the bigger value, and it's got a 10 year EVGA warranty if this is the case. I bought it 3 years ago. EVGA Gold 850w

The mother board is a Gigabyte 970A-UD3P AM3+ Series. I plugged in one my one each of the USB's, mouse, keyboard, external Hard drive. I just moved the Mouse/Keyboard into the plugs above where they normally go into. 

[Derek‽]

Hmm. An unused USB cable still causing the shutdown would seem to suggest a circuit fault. If two of the rear onboard USB ports are also exhibiting this behavior the problem may lie with the motherboard itself.

Luckily, Gigabyte has a PB-hosted forum and their community may be able to provide further insight.

forum.gigabyte.us/

Still, we shouldn’t rule out the PSU completely since A) it's under warranty and will be free to replace; and B) the Gigabyte forum will almost certainly jump straight to inquiring about it. You’re correct in assuming it should be able to handle the load (I don’t know your full setup, but most gaming PCs can subsist on as little as 500w), but it could still be developing a fault in some manner.

Do you have a spare PSU you can swap into this problematic PC to see if the problem persists? (The alliteration was not intentional.)

What about a spare mobo? Preferably one with a speaker for POST codes?

If the above answers are negative and you can’t perform any further tests, that’s fine. The tests could provide valuable insight but that’s not even a guarantee.

[Former Member]

Jan 20, 2020 13:37:59 GMT -8 Derek‽ said:

Hmm. An unused USB cable still causing the shutdown would seem to suggest a circuit fault. If two of the rear onboard USB ports are also exhibiting this behavior the problem may lie with the motherboard itself.

Luckily, Gigabyte has a PB-hosted forum and their community may be able to provide further insight.

forum.gigabyte.us/

Still, we shouldn’t rule out the PSU completely since A) it's under warranty and will be free to replace; and B) the Gigabyte forum will almost certainly jump straight to inquiring about it. You’re correct in assuming it should be able to handle the load (I don’t know your full setup, but most gaming PCs can subsist on as little as 500w), but it could still be developing a fault in some manner.

Do you have a spare PSU you can swap into this problematic PC to see if the problem persists? (The alliteration was not intentional.)

What about a spare mobo? Preferably one with a speaker for POST codes?

If the above answers are negative and you can’t perform any further tests, that’s fine. The tests could provide valuable insight but that’s not even a guarantee.

Ohh! That's actually really cool! Knowing the gigabyte actually uses a PB forum is refreshing!

Unfortunately I dont have any spare parts. The only other computer i have is a 300w psu, my graphics card would overload that I'm sure. And an intel i3 second gen motherboard. So which of neither will work. I know that computer DOES work fine. But it's a huge step down from this computer.

My graphics card is a nvidia 1060FTW+ and the one in that is a nvidia 750 ti.

I got a video of it doing just that with a usb SD reader plugged in, and poof. What's funny. I have my headphones plugged into the FP jack and it's fine with that...! Just the USB 2.0 and 3.0 are bad. I have 3 FP ports on the motherboard. I tried 1 and 2 to no avail. About to put it into the 3rd one to see if that works.



Edit: where the one wire is above the psu, that is the USB cord for the front panel.

[Former Member]

Well, found out 1 of my RAM sticks are bad, so that's nice! I can't have 1 to many USB's connected into the back or front otherwise it will cause the power failure, so that also leaves me that the motherboard could also be going bad.

My friend actually has almost the same parts as I do, different motherboard, Asus, while mine is Gigabyte, difference is, I'll have to pay for windows pro again. License should transfer and deactivated for the last computer honestly...

But, he gave me a new PSU same one kind of like mine. BUt it doesn't have SATA ports or VGA ports, it's all, already connected inside the PSU, and then the same exact processor. So I will be most likely switching these parts out and testing them individually. A whole new motherboard might just be the solution.

[Bennett 🚀]

Jan 24, 2020 8:28:58 GMT -8 @nickbean said:

Well, found out 1 of my RAM sticks are bad, so that's nice! I can't have 1 to many USB's connected into the back or front otherwise it will cause the power failure, so that also leaves me that the motherboard could also be going bad.

My friend actually has almost the same parts as I do, different motherboard, Asus, while mine is Gigabyte, difference is, I'll have to pay for windows pro again. License should transfer and deactivated for the last computer honestly...

But, he gave me a new PSU same one kind of like mine. BUt it doesn't have SATA ports or VGA ports, it's all, already connected inside the PSU, and then the same exact processor. So I will be most likely switching these parts out and testing them individually. A whole new motherboard might just be the solution.

Where did you buy your Windows key from? If you bought through Microsoft Store, you are able to re-assign the key to a different machine by logging into your account and looking for the product key in your orders. The action to do so is on that page.