Computer question - compy suddenly and without warning stops reading USB

[Chojin]

Originally Posted by Fathom Zero

Is it a front panel or the mobo that you're having trouble with?

Originally Posted by Chojin

I have tried all 4 of the onboard USB ports in the back and both of the USB ports connected through the front.

MM, where can I get an Ubuntu live CD? I'm terrible with linux.

Also, this computer is not even 6 months old and I built it from brand new parts from Newegg. I just don't understand why the USB controller would suddenly get ganon'd out of nowhere.

If I were to stick a PCI card full of USB slots in there, would that work? Or does the USB controller control those ports, too?

And here's the advice an electrical engineering friend sent me on aim:

SMbus isn't related to USB... it's another internal bus, usually used for temperature sensors and such on motherboards.

Might be worth trying an external USB card... it's not 100% impossible that all the USB ports got hosed somehow, though I'd love to know how.

Since the power supply is generally handled by external chips, that might explain why most devices still power on.

The liveCD option is probably a good one, too, though you'd probably need to be used to Linux to know what you're looking for.

[MetalMilitia]

Originally Posted by Chojin

MM, where can I get an Ubuntu live CD? I'm terrible with linux.

Yeah I'm not that great either, but I've used Ubuntu for troubleshooting before and it's pretty straight forward. Download the Live CD here.

One of the big features of Ubuntu is that it's supposed to behave more-or-less like Windows for common tasks like plug and play. At least that's what I'm told.
You should just be able to plug something in (flash drive etc.) and wait for the OS to begin installing it.