Usb 2.0 ports stop working after a while (in Windows and Linux)

[wonxsw]

The title says it all. It started happening a couple weeks ago. My usb 2.0 ports stop working after a while, usually a few hours, but sometimes it happens after just 30 minutes. Basically my keyboard and mouse stop working. If it happens during a key press or a mouse click, that key/click will stay pushed forever (until I reboot). However, usb 3.0 ports keep working correctly.

Unplugging and plugging the devices do not work. I plug another keyboard and mouse to a usb 3.0 and keep using the computer as a workaround. If I suspend and wake up the computer the usb 2.0 ports work again. Restarting works too. At least for a few hours.

Btw, all usb 2.0 stop working, even those in the front of the case, even if there was nothing connected there before the "crash".

At first I thought it was caused by some windows update, but now I tried it in a Linux live cd, and it happened as well, so it seems to be a hardware related issue.

What could be causing it? Is there any way to troubleshoot this behavior?

Btw, I'm using a Dell Optiplex 7010, with a core i5-3470 and 16gb of ram.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Grobe]

That is maybee due to a physical damage to the mainboard. You've already ruled out software issues.

Do you notice any other issue to the computer exept from that usb issue.

Anyway - I recommend you to run Memtest, because it's not practically possible to predict what kind of issues that will appear because of faulty RAM.

 

[wonxsw]

Thanks for your answer. No, the computer works perfectly otherwise. Sometimes it doesn't happen for a day and a half, but usually it happens around after 3-9 hours of use.

Could it be a power issue? Maybe for a moment the computer is unable to provide enough power for all devices and there's a momentarily power cut, disabling usb 2.0 ports? I think I noticed the red light on the mouse blinking right before it stops working.

If it's really an issue with the motherboard, I guess the only workaround would be using a usb hub on a usb 3.0 port and connect my mouse and keyboard there.

I will now run memtest, just in case.

 

[wonxsw]

Just a heads up. I ran memtest all night long (around 9 hours), without one single error (and the usb ports worked just fine all that time). The diagnostics tool in the BIOS/UEFI said everything was fine too. Apart from that, I've been using a linux liveusb for 10 hours today with the hope of capturing the error when the usb failure happened. But it didn't.

Coincidentally, today I have not charged a usb speaker like other days. Maybe it could be interferring? I'm clueless.

 

[Grobe]

Well - there is a limit on how much current the usb ports can provide.

 

[julien97]

Hey there,

Did you figure out what the problem was ?

I think I'm running into the same issue on a desktop computer :

• Keyboard and mouse suddenly stop responding (the decoration lights on the mouse blinker but no response from anything).
• Since I use an ethernet cable I notice that the ethernet port seems to experience the same issue (ping goes trough the roof)
• The front USB and jack weren't affected.

After a restart, everything went back to normal, as if nothing had happend. But since it happend a few times already I'm fearing an issue with the motherboard (back panel). However, the fact that it doesn't happen before a while does lose me.

So far it always happend as I was playing R6 and so as the computer was somewhere near full charge.

Thank you for your time !

Julien