Any Plug and Play device shuts down PC

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Guest

My computer has been working quite well....
3.2Ghz 1Gb Ram with XP Pro.
Recently it has begun having issues with any plug and play device.
Namely, the PC performs an instant hard reboot.
The moment I touch a USB drive to the plug (not even plugging it in), or the
moment I insert a flash card in the built in reader, or the moment I touch my
headphone plug to the jack....anything at all causes the computer to
instantly shutoff and reboot.
However, if I plug something in while the computer is turned off, it works
fine and as it should, I can even unplug it and it still works fine....the
moment I try to plug it back in I encounter the original problem.
I recently added a RAID card (setup as RAID 1 and as the boot drive), which
was working well, but after a few of these spastic reboots the RAID card
doesn't recognize the two attached drives and I have had to go back to just
using one.

Any ideas on what is going on or how to fix it?
 
Junglethorn,

I had this problem not too long ago with an Antec Performance TX case.
Everytime I would plug in a USB deivce, my PC would instantly restart (I
usually didn't even have to plug in the device - just had to touch the port).

I'm assuming you are using the front panel connectors on the case (please
correct me if I am wrong). The problem with me was that the front panel
connectors that I was plugging into were not properly grounded. So, if there
was a static charge on the device I was plugging in, that charge would not be
dissipated properly - the southbridge chipset would absorb the charge instead
(not good!!). Although there are ground wires on each of the USB/1394/MIC
connectors, there was nothing to ground the housing of the port. I looked at
a few different computer cases and found that most other brands would have a
separate gound wire that was to ground the port housing. I ended up buying a
new case (Thermaltake Armor). On this case, there is a distinct wire labled
'SHEILD'. Theremaltake says this to absorb any static charge that may be
dissipated on the front panel I/O shield or the port housing. Sure enough,
with the new case, I could hot plug anything into the front ports and my
computer would remain running as normal - it works everytime! However, with
my old case 4 out of 5 times any USB/1394/mic device would cause my system to
reboot.

You should have a look inside your computer and see if the font panel
connectors are properly grounded. If you need help determining this, just
post back.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the idea, it is the front connectors that I am having issues with.
Is there a simple way to check it? or do I need to break out a multimeter
and check resistances?
 
I called microsoft and the 899588 they said did not have a hotfix (did have a
security update related to it).
The 894391 they had listed as solving a message error that shows after
rebooting.
.....I'll try to see if it is an issue with grounding the front panel
connectors and see if that works.
 
Hello Junglethorn,

No need to use a multimeter...you just need to confirm the wiring. Usually
the front I/O sheild ground wire goes to pin #9 on the USB header (see my
crude schematic below).

1 3 5 7 9
X X X X X
X X X X
2 4 6 8

Where 'X' represents each pin on the USB header.

Have a look at the header where it connects to the mohterboard. Pins 1~8
should all be occupied (pins 1, 3, 5, 7 for USB1 and pins 2, 4, 6, 8 for
USB2). If pin 9 is not occupied, either the front sheild is not grounded or
the ground goes to the 1394 connector (Coolermaster usually does this).

The 1394 header should look similar to the USB header above. Pin 9 is
usually reserved for the I/O sheild ground (as with Coolermasater cases).
Pins 1~8 are used for the 1394 port and all should be occupied. If Pin 9 is
also not occupied, it's unlikely that the I/O shield is grounded. If this
is the case, you may want to contact the manufacturer of the case/computer
and see what they can do.

The only other thing that can be done is to adopt the way the rear port on
the motherboard are grounded. You may notice the rear I/O sheild usually
has a bent piece that makes contact with the port housing. This makes a
ground connection as the port is then grounded to the case, which is
grounded to the power supply. Similarly for the front, if you used a wire
or something similar you could make contact between the port housing and
something metal on the case (KEEP AWAY FROM THE MOTHERBOARD OR ANY OTHER
CARDS!!!!).

Hope this helps! Let us know how it works.
 
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