Optiplex GX 260 how to remove front USB hub

Sounds like you answered your own question. If you disconnect the front panel, it won't boot.

What form factor is the system, small form factor, desktop or minitower?

What specific "problems" and "conflicts" do you mean, and why do you think the front panel USB ports are causing them?

Hello RoHe and thanks for your answer! And a Happy New Year to  you and your dear ones!

To answer to your questions, all I can say is that I have a low profile desktop PC, it is exactly like this one:

http://gyancomputers.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/dell-optiplex-gx260.50224036_std.jpg.

When I go to BIOS setup, by the way I have the latest BIOS as provided by Dell support, I cannot change the IRQs for different hardware components because they are shared IRQs, and most of the IRQs are blocked by those USB ports. Whenever I change the IRQ for Network Card, let us say, one or more USB change to the same IRQ also. And the same goes for my AGP video card or the sound card and so on.

And this is why they generate so many conflicts every time I am using more than 2 USB ports or even 1 only. Most of the times it is only an error for USB camera or USB mouse which I can solve by simply unplug and plugin the hardware but other times it can crash my network connection and getting errors like "network cable unpluged" and so on.

I know that if there is any way to remove the 2 front USB ports which are connected to the motherboard through a cable I can free some resources and finally get rid of these problems but I havent figured it out yet how to do it.

Maybe you or someone else can help me at least with changing the BIOS settings and be able to assign a different IRQ for most important pieces of hardware (video, sound and network) and assign other IRQs for the USB bus and ports. It is funny, but there are many available IRQs as shown in BIOS (12, 13, 14, 15 ....) and only one is RESERVED (5) but they are not all shown on the page where I have to change these horrible addresses.

Assigning IRQs is something best left to BIOS, Windows, and hardware drivers. It's not for the feint of heart!

Is the network connection using a USB dongle or is it connected via onboard ethernet to a modem (or router)?

What version of Windows are you using? You may need to think about repairing or reinstalling the OS.

And please delete that unacceptable word describing USB ports (beneath the image) from your post before the Moderators see it.  -Thanks.

BTW: If this typically happens when you're using a bunch of power hungry devices at the same time, eg, camera, printer, etc, I wonder if this is a power issue. In that case, an externally powered USB hub might solve the problem.

Connect the hub's power brick to the wall and the hub to a rear USB port. Connect those power hungry devices through the hub.

Thanks for the advice again. I am using dual boot, Win XP and VIsta. Vista is working better with avoiding serious hardware issues, except for the USB errors I am getting whenever I plugin more than 2 devices.

My network card is great, onboard 1 gb, latest drivers available. While using a former Internet provider services I had no big issues with XP and USB ports but I had to relocate and changed the Internet provider and they are using some ugly PPPOE protocol, paasword and user and all that. No modem, no router involved.

Did that already, with the external USB hub, but i kept getting errors like not enough power for the USB and stuff like that even when the hub was charged to the wall.

I guess I need a new PC, and I'll get one soon, definitely not another Dell PC, but I kind of liked this ancient Dell machine of mine, we went through a lot together and it was a good pal no mather the problems.

So, if there is nothing I can do to remove the front USB ports then i'll have to say to you again thank you and good bye. Sorry for the trouble and thanks again for your efforts to help me with this one!

Max power available on USB is 500 mA. Open Device Manager and expand list under USB. Double-click on each USB root hub and click its Power tab. See how much power each root hub is drawing when your all devices are connected.

If you can, move devices to different USB ports so you even out the power being drawn on all root hubs. Power hungry devices should all be connected to rear USB ports; mouse and keyboard should also be connected to rear USB ports. Some USB devices (eg, external hard drives) may require a Y-cable that connects to 2 USB ports on the PC to provide enough power. I use a Y-cable with my Seagate GoFlex USB hard drive, otherwise it drops out randomly from time to time when connected to only one USB port.

You might also try this, in both XP and Vista:

1. Manually set a System Restore point, just to be safe
2. Disconnect all USB devices, except mouse and keyboard
3. Open Device Manager and expand the USB list
4. Right-click and Uninstall all USB entries*
5. Reboot and let Windows reinstall the USB drivers

*Note: When you delete the USB root hubs where mouse and keyboard are attached, they'll stop working, so save them for last and then power down by pushing the power button. Then reboot...

I suppose you might have a lame power supply. It may be a custom PSU in the small case, so replacement options may be limited. And only you can decide if you want to put any $$ into this system. 

Good luck whichever way you go.

Thanks for your advice! I did all that you've mentioned above prior to contacting people on this forum. I never used and dont plan to use on my dell pc any power hungry devices because the power supply is only 180w, which is good ecologically speaking, but not enough for using any of the power hungry devices on the market, which in my opinion are not worth the efforts and the money anyway.

I never used and do not plan to use no USB keyboard either. There are only some USB mouse (which I plan to change for a PS2 nice mouse) and my USB camera, that is all I use on my USB prts except for either a pendrive, rarely, or a cable adaptor to charge my E-cigar from time to time.

I have been getting these kind of USB errors ever since I gave up the onboard video and upgraded to an AGP video card, nothing fancy but power hungry, I suppose. I also completely removed that ugly PCI card holder which generated a lot of heat inside the case and never been of any use for me, and so I freed more resources.

The question is why would Dell engineers place a 180w power supply on a 2000mhz CPU machine instead of something else, say at least 250w? It was really lucky for me to be able to upgrade my video card. Also, I wonder why isn't there any solution to remove the USB front ports and keep using the rest of them which are located in the rear.

I am sure there is a solution for my problem but dell support is really difficult to contact via email, and if I am trying to contact by phone the local dell support people, in Romania, I am sure I wont get no decent answer either.

This forum was kind of a last resource for trying to get an answer,  and I was not expecting a miracle. But your advice was really professional, because it is exactly what I have tried before, asking around people who are trained IT pros.

Thanks again and not to worry, I awill keep using my PC at its best, and I am not at all dissapointed so far because I am not a demanding user.

All the best to you and the rest of the guys in here who offer tech support to beginners like me.

Luci B.