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how to disable USB ports or ignore boot error on a Dell optiplex 380 desktop?
Hello, my motherboard has a problem, the USB-port are broken, the system does not recognize USB ports. Front or rear. I want to disable USB ports from the mainboard using a jumper or something like this. I have inserted an PCI card with USB ports on it, but the computer is still booting from the standard USB ports. Can you guyz give me any help and ideas? :)
cathaleen
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January 31st, 2014 20:00
It seems highly unusual that all of the original USB ports on you system have failed. I would first suggest that you disconnect anything that you may haveplugged I into them as a defective USB device can create problems for the entire USB chain. Also look into each of the USB ports with a flashlight to check that they look normal of if perhaps ther is any debris in tany of he sockets or damage that may becausing a short (USB ports have a 5 volts of current). Sometimes a USB cable is forced into a USB socket when upside down and it results in bending the off center toung of the connector and making it touch the wall of the socket and causes a short. Other than that it could be a oft ware issue. But your comment about booting makes me think that it is probably a damaged port that is shorted asTyohaste aproblem before the unkown operating system is even booted. If those suggestions do not solve the issue then I woud next do the following... If I understand you correctly that you see an error at boot i suspect that the problem is that booting from the usb port is one of the devices the system is configured to try to boot from befire that gard dusk. You can enter the system bios and change the boot sequence to euther remove booting from USB as an option or just push it down the list to appearsafer the hard drive.
db16
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February 5th, 2014 04:00
Thank you for your reply CATHALEEN!
I have tried to disconnect all the devices plugged in the USB devices but it does not work. The USB ports were not forced. I can't acces the system bios... this is because the PC does not recognizes anything on the original USB ports and i can't use the keyboard. :( with the 5volts test, i can only say that if i connect a USB mouse, it doesn't receive any power at all. After the computer starts, I receive a message that sounds like: "Keyboard not found, please insert keyboard in the USB port. Press F1 for.... and F5 for......." and that's all. It will not boot from the HDD, it's stuck here. This is the reason why i would like to try to disable all USB ports from the computer directly from mainboard with a jumper or so. And i don't know if it's posible... i have read a lot of documentation about this desktop model and the motherboard, but until now i had no succes.
RoHe
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February 5th, 2014 11:00
You can try this:
If that doesn't help, you can try using an externally powered USB hub. With PC off, connect the hub's power brick to the wall and the hub to a rear USB port. Connect mouse and keyboard through the powered hub. Power on and boot PC.
If M and K work, power down normally. Disconnect K from the hub but leave the hub with M connected. Connect K to different rear USB port. Reboot. If K is recognized, power off and repeat the process, moving M to a differrent rear USB port. With powered hub still connected, and M and K connected to different USB ports. Reboot again. If M and K work, power off normally and reboot again. If they still work, power off and disconnect the powered hub. Reboot. If you're lucky. M+K will work again.
If M+K only work while connected through the powered hub, you have a work-around that's less expensive than a new motherboard or new PC.
EDITED
RoHe
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February 5th, 2014 12:00
BTW: You didn't say what form factor this system is, but there are options in BIOS to disable the USB ports, at least on the mini-tower version. You'd still need a keyboard to access BIOS setup.
The mini-tower has serial and parallel ports, so you'd need a keyboard that connects to one of those ports in order to get into BIOS setup if USB isn't working...
db16
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February 6th, 2014 00:00
Thank you for your answer ROHE!
I have tried the thing with the bios battery, but still no succes. The optiplex 380 is the tower variant, and it doesn't have any PS2 connectors, just USB, front and back.
http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/538/431538_101225163301_Dell_Optiplex.jpg
Without an active keyboard I can not deactivate de USB ports....
RoHe
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February 6th, 2014 10:00
Are you sure that battery is any good?
You can try an externally powered USB hub. Maybe you can borrow one from somebody to try, but I see them on the net for as little as ~$6 so it might not be a big investment if it rescues your motherboard.
db16
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February 7th, 2014 01:00
Yes the bios battery is ok. I have discussed with and technical engineer and he suggested that i should test the southbridge, if it is getting really hot after a few seconds after starting the computer, that means that the southbridge is broken.... i did this and yes, that is the problem(it's getting really hot in short time).... Thank you one more time for you suggestions Rohe :) wish you all the best!
RoHe
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February 7th, 2014 11:00
Are you talking about the CPU or the chipset? Are the fans all working?
You may need to remove the CPU's heatsink, carefully clean both surfaces and apply some fresh thermal paste (eg, Arctic Silver) then reinstall the heatsink.