Funny Usb Ports!

[apprentice87]

Now, i have just managed to get my new computer sorted, only took 6 days... Having a few problems with usb ports though..

On the back are three ports, 2 for the keyboard and mouse and a third one i have the printer in. On the front are 2 more but they are apparently "SS" ones???

Now, i plugged a usb memory stick in one of the front ones, worked perfect.

I plugged one of them "caddy"???? things into one of the front ones so i could connect up an old IDE drive with my data on. Worked perfect.

Plugged my camera into one of the front ones and the display on the camera flashed and the computer made beeping noises and could not find the camera properly.

Next i tried an external usb hard drive in one of the front ones. Light on the external drive flashed on and off at about one second intervals, and after about ten seconds the computer shut itself down, [in an orderly fashion mind] did not crash or anything.

I tried the external usb hard drive in one of the rear "ordinary" usb ports and it worked perfectly.

Tried the camera in a rear port, same thing happens.... [Does not work]

First question; What is happening here??

Second question; When I plugged the drive into the front port and the light flashed and the computer shut down, could i have caused any damage?? Why did it shut down??

Third question; How am i supposed to know what you can plug into what port as the ports themselves look identical apart from it says "SS" How are you supposed to know which devices can go in any port [like the memory stick] and which can only go in the rear "ordinary" ones, like usb hard drive......

Well confused...

john..

 

[OnOff]

SS stands for "super speed" - seriously. I think the SS ones are USB 3.0 which is about x10 faster than USB 2.0. 5Gbps vs 480Gps. Guess it's a compatibility issue but I though that USB 3.0 ports were backward compatible with 2.0 equipment. Have a Google ref your particular devices USB 3.0 compatibility etc.

 

[Doc Hudson]

USB 3.0 ports Super Speed SS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0.  ( OnOff posting at the same time )

Doc H.

 

[ProDave]

If the back one works for some devices that won't work in the front, get an extension cable and leave it plugged in for easy access to that port.

We have a USB HDD for backups and that needs to be plugged into TWO usb ports simultaneously (double ended lead came with it) as it's power requirements exceed what can be delivered by one USB port. could that be your issue with that one?

 

[Doc Hudson]

When the computer shut down did you have all of these USB ports in use simultaneously and how many of the devices draw their power from the computers USB. Could it be a power supply issue?

Doc H.

 

[OnOff]

Your pc specs should say how much power the USB ports can supply to the device. Guessing you're using a "self powered" hard drive when it shuts the pc down? It might be that it's drawing too much and the pc shuts down to self protect. Some self powered devices have a DC input jack which you can use with a mains adapter though it's a PITA and doesn't do much for portability. You'll often see this on hubs. Actually a hub might be the way to go to free up ports.

Looks like we're all guessing at power draw issues............concurrently............. :coat

 

[apprentice87]

Ahhhhh, Now then... The external usb hard drive [i have had it a few years] came with a "Y" shaped lead and the instructions said you might have to plug it into two ports at the same time.. It always worked ok on the one port on the old computer though. I should try it plugged into two ports at the same time although i am scared now as to what might happen... Could i damage the computer??? At the moment it has just finished formatting an external drive that has USB2 written on it although it is in a USB3 port, but this drive has its own power supply, whereas the one that did not work, did not...

You all might be onto something here......!!!

john..

 

[Joseph Howarth]

Hi John,

             SS stands for super speed (USB3.0 basically). I can only assume that the current requirements of the camera and portable hard drive are too much for the USB ports on the front so it gets enough power to light up but not enough for a stable connection.

I've had an issue before where the portable Hard Drive 'led' would light up, but when the motor began to spin up the platters inside; the usb wasn't sending enough juice so the connection would disappear, the appear then disappear.

With regards the shutdown, I have never had that problem from a USB slot, if there was an issue it would immediately shutdown, not 'soft' shutdown.

Something to look for; the USB headers for the front panel are sometimes coloured differently, one for high current like the picture below (the two blacks are normal, the yellow is high current)

 

[OnOff]

I actually thought that USB 3.0 ports offered more power than USB 2.0 to enable charging of modern devices like phones etc.............................maybe try plugging in the devices one at a time i.e. with nothing or else the bare minimum plugged in.

Btw is this a laptop or desktop?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

On the back are three ports, 2 for the keyboard and mouse and a third one i have the printer in. On the front are 2 more but they are apparently "SS" ones???

Slight tangent, but....

have you thought about using a wireless printer instead of USB hard wired one??

It would free up one of your ports for other use....

We haven't used a wired printer for a long time now...

more convenient for my work desktop & laptop..

and the wife & kids laptops & ipads etc.....

We can all just print to the same common 'house printer' from wherever they are. 

:coffee

 

[apprentice87]

Hi Onoff,

It is a ASUS M32 something or other desktop.

Hi Special Location,

That is a good idea, i wonder if i could make my current printer wireless somehow...

john..

 

[apprentice87]

Further to my computer problems, i looked in the manual and it says; [the bit in blue i highlighted, not them!]

USB 3.0 ports.

These Universal Serial Bus 3.0 (USB 3.0) ports connect to USB

3.0 devices such as a mouse, printer, scanner, camera, PDA, and others.

DO NOT connect a keyboard / mouse to any USB 3.0 port when installing Windows operating system.

•

Due to USB 3.0 controller limitation, USB 3.0 devices can only be used under

Windows OS environment and after the USB 3.0 driver installation.

•

USB 3.0 devices can only be used as data storage only.

•

We strongly recommend that you connect USB 3.0 devices to USB 3.0 ports for

faster and better performance for your USB 3.0 devices.

What does that mean??

As regards my external drive, i looked in the manual and it says peak power required is 4.75W Now, as a usb port is i think 5V that gives a current of 950mA which is i presume, why it needs to be connected to two usb ports at once. I will try it in a second!!

john,,,

 

[OnOff]

Found this ref mA on 2.0/3.0 ports:

http://usb3pcicard.com/usb-3-0-outputs-more-power-than-usb-2-0/

 

[Joseph Howarth]

USB 3.0 devices can only be used as data storage only.

It means you will only see the benefits of USB3.0 when transferring data.

The speed of the port matters not to printers/keyboards etc.... 

 

[apprentice87]

Thanks all!!!!

I tried the external drive with the "Y" shaped cable, and it works great now, so it was a power issue, it draws 4.75W which is too much for even a USB3 port.

Trying to set up directories [or folders as they now call them] in windows 8.1 is terrible. You start off with a folder called "documents".  c:\users\john\documents is the path i think. Anyway, you can move this so i moved it to D:\ and renamed it "Data" or something. Sure enough, it works, and whenever you create a document in word or whatever, it saves it there.

Earlier i tried to save an email attachment. Could not find it... Turns out that the original c:\users\john\documents is still there, just that when you open "file explorer" you cannot see it there anymore. ******* crap OS

john...

 

[Steve3948]

You should have generated a new folder called Data if thats what you wanted and left Documents alone.

You can move Documents to a new location and point programs to it.

A lot of windows programs look for the Documents foldef by default, so renaming it will cause problems.

For instance OneDrive sync's to User/Documents.

 

[Sidewinder]

You can relocate your "user" "documents" folder and get windoze to go there but, it has to be done the M$ way, but, if you do it the M$ way it does work.

 

[apprentice87]

Think i have got it now, as, anything i save, be it word, excel, email attachments, whatever, all end up in with my documents on D:\

At one time they ended up in two places, must be that crappy "library" nonsense. I saw all that "one drive" thing... No thanks, think i would rather my backups be on my own separate hard drive...

The thing itself is a I5 powered thing whatever that is..

john..