Static Discharge Causing PC to Freeze?

[TheAshigaru]

I'm having a problem with my front connection panel for the USB/Firewire/mic/speaker ports.

Sometimes when I go to plug in a device, the computer will freeze completely. I can't move the mouse, can't Ctrl/Alt/Delete or anything.

I believe that it is related to static discharge from the wires I plug in, so I'm guessing that the front connection panel isn't grounded properly?

My question is how can I ground the front panel to the case? I assumed that the two pin connectors that run to the motherboard would take care of the grounding, but it doesn't seem to help.

The case is a Silverstone Kublai KL03 and the motherboard is an ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3.

I built this PC myself, and I never used to have an issue with any freezing, but it just started happening recently. I opened the box up and checked all the connections, and they seem to be ok. I could be getting confused though, as there are a lot of ways to connect those two pin wires.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[skit75]

There should be a PCB board behind the front panel bezel. It is likely attached to the plastic bezel using a single screw, sometimes two screws. The PCB front panel board will likely provide continuity to ground using a trace to that screw. Problem is, that screw is rarely touching your metal chassis. You can alligator clip it to the chassis or use an eye-loop wire from that screw to connect it to your chassis anywhere and closer to the PCB is better.

You could also just try running a - wire(negative wire) from your front panel header to the screw or another - wire on the front panel PCB, if there is one.

Try grounding or discharging the input device to your metal chassis right before inserting into the receptor.

Are you using fiber spacers on your motherboard mounting screws?

 

[TheAshigaru]

Thanks for the answer. I'll give it a shot to see if it works out.

Also, yes, I am using the fiber spacers between the motherboard and the screws.