Be careful when fixing other peoples computers!

[DannyM]

I was fixing a computer for a friend of the family, I loaded all the drivers I needed onto my USB drive (16GB Corsair FlashVoyager), popped it n the front of the computer, nothing happened, I just assumed the front USB ports weren't wired up, I connected it to the back, again nothing happened, no lights, no recognition in Windows.

At this time I'm a little puzzled.

I put it into my main machine and again nothing happened. I thought GREAT! (/sarcasm)

I looked inside the case and the only conclusion I could come to was the front USB ports were not wired up correctly and it had fried my USB drive!

So to all you out there that fix computers, be careful!

At least now I know to by myself a cheap USB drive for this instead of using one I paid £30 for which had some personal stuff on! Ah well, at leasr Corsair have offered to replace it once I RMA it.

[Behemoth]

It happens sometimes.

I remeber helping fix a mates new PC once with my head sctually inside it the whole thing blew up !

[funke_munke]

My mothers computer fried my old usb drive aswell, feel for you bro!

[PeterStoba]

Interesting, similiar thing happened to me with my drive, never realised this was the reason.

I'll have to be more careful.

[Timmy!!!]

Most probably due to the size and speed of the usb drive you were using. USB devices these days consume quite a bit more power than they did a few years ago and older motherboards can't handle this. This is especially true with older laptops.

It's best to either use a powered usb hard drive or a very slow/lower capacity usb thumb drive (on older machines)

[lodore]

this is a good reminder to everyone to backup any important data.
since im sorting out a computer for a client tomoz im gonna backup my usb pen now.

[MadduckUK]

Most probably due to the size and speed of the usb drive you were using. USB devices these days consume quite a bit more power than they did a few years ago and older motherboards can't handle this. This is especially true with older laptops.

usb devices as in flash drives? really? well i wouldnt have thaught that you sure? how do they get certified if they are out of spec

[TheAnimus]

more than the 250mah? No chance.

to be certified you have to request the power to use, not just start using it. Given the brand, its unlikely that step was skipped.

[Timmy!!!]

more than the 250mah? No chance.

to be certified you have to request the power to use, not just start using it. Given the brand, its unlikely that step was skipped.

Would be nice if all usb devices did ask for it before trying to take large amounts of power, unfortunately not the case with the WD passport drive I have - it competely destroyed my laptop's motherboard by trying to draw a few watts on hard drive spinup. This is also the case with a 4 gig stick on my current laptop, it simply wont work even though the light is on. Power is getting to it and it gets quite warm but nothing shows in my computer/device manager. Perhaps some usb controlelrs say yes to the extra juice required and then can't provide the current? Would explain how my laptop died.

It could also be due to a large number of USB devices attached - if each socket is draining say 500mah and there are 4 sockets, thats 2 amps of power the motherboard has to provide. I've noticed my mp3 player and phone take longer to charge if they are both plugged in at the same time.

[MadduckUK]

WD passport drive I have

usb sticks are a million miles away from HDD's you cant think the reasons are related

[Timmy!!!]

usb sticks are a million miles away from HDD's you cant think the reasons are related

Yep I understand that, I'm simply stating that old computers can't provide as much usb current as new ones. Enough so that even thumb drives can be affected, for example my 4 gig kingston drive doesn't work in computers usually older than 3-4 years.

The USB 2.0 Spec has evolved over time to include higher drain appliances. As you can see here there have been a load of changes since usb 2.0 came out in 2000. For example the battery charging specification in 2007, which allows up to 1.8 amps per socket. Before this some usb sockets will not have been able to provide anywhere near this much current, which could cause problems for newer devices including high performance flash drives that use more than 500mah.

[Zak33]

I did this exact thing on Dak's PC....his USB hub fried my USB pen drive, but luckily was old cheap one

[TheAnimus]

if you really want to know how much power a device is drawing, there are apps ment for USB developers that tell you.

The name of one eludes me, but i'm sure you can google up one. (I *think* their might have been one in the win DDK)

[kalniel]

It happens sometimes.

I remeber helping fix a mates new PC once with my head sctually inside it the whole thing blew up !

You should really get a voltmeter Behemoth - using your tongue is a bit old fashioned.

[Vimeous]

And there was me thinking 500mah was the max for all USB devices.

If you'll cast your minds back to the early days of two USB ports on your motherboard you'll remember endless support issues where the boards couldn't deliver the required power. Mostly this turned lights on but noone was home. In many cases though there was just enough power to get a flash drive working before flaking out and corrupting the data. Of course the general reliability of the drives didn't really help either nor the OS's of the time.
We still have Dell Latitude D600's here of which some will run USB-powered hard drives and some that won't. There's no rhyme or reason for the variance. It's also worth noting that if the connection to these types of devices fail XP will disable the USB port they're attached to which makes trouble shooting a real pain!

When it comes to USB ports on somewhat newer machines (usually homebuilds) many of you will remember older cases and motherboards not exactly helping to wire the USB ports up. Years ago I blew (smoking) a USB controller getting that wrong!

Oh the trials and tribulations of USB

[nightkhaos]

Oh the trials and tribulations of USB

Yep, the trials and tribulations of the UnServiceable Bus.