mac said:
I have a laptop (Toshiba) in which one of the USB ports seems to be
dead. Do USB ports can go independently bad or could it be a Windows 7
issue like a driver or such? I don't see any exclamation marks in the
device manager.
mac
The NEC USB2 chips are known for the odd, independent blowout.
People see that on PCI USB2 cards they buy.
Your laptop likely uses some other brand of hardware for that port.
The Intel ICH5/ICH5R blows out so bad, the chip can burn, and then
the computer stops booting. So that is the worst, USB induced failure
you can have. You are not likely to be using that chip either.
Another reason for a USB port to stop working, is if the power source
feeding the +5V pin, stops working. On desktop motherboards, the +5V
flows through a "Polyfuse", which is a fuse that is self-recovering
(after it cools off). On laptops, a "power bug", a silicon chip,
measures the power flow and cuts off power if there is too much.
If the "power bug" fails open circuit, that would also give you a
dead port.
In any case, "my laptop doesn't work", usually equals "you need a
new motherboard, and it'll cost XXX hundred dollars". So if you're
out of warranty, it's "the big ripoff" to get it fixed.
If you have a PCMCIA slot, a PCCard slot, an ExpressCard slot,
you can get a USB card for the slot, to replace the dead port.
You can also test the hardware using another OS. Boot a Ubuntu
CD on the computer (you don't have to install anything, the
OS runs from the CD itself). Don't click on anything that says
"install" ! Then, plug in a USB flash drive, into the dead port.
If Ubuntu sees it, then you know the port isn't broken.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
Paul
