USB2/ NForce 405 problem

[WESSIE]

Hello,

Been asked to look at an Acer Aspire T180 which is a Foxconn-based, NForce 405 MOBO running XP Pro. Whenever a USB Memory stick is inserted and the OS is running, it blue screens and dies (i.e. PSU switches off). Same thing happens if inserted prior to boot up.

At first I thought a short circuit, but if I go into the BIOS and turn off USB2 it all works fine. Have tried several memory sticks none of which work. The person recently bought a Trust wireless mouse/kb so rolled back and used PS2 kb/mouse but to no avail (they hadn't used memory sticks in that PC before so I don't know if it's a recent prob).D/led latest NForce drivers from NVidia website but still no joy.

Short of re-installing Windows, has anyone experienced this before? Reminds me of an old Cyrix chip I had which would only run Windows if I disabled Cache! Boy, was it slow.

Would be grateful for any advice. Ta.

[Emu76]

It is probably a power problem, USB memory sticks power themselves from your USB slot so if your motherboard cannot supply the voltage then either it is at fault or the PSU is at fault. Did you say your mouse wouldn't work either? If that is the case then it is almost certainly a power issue. The slot could even be drawing more power than it is supposed to when you insert a peripheral, although if they all do it I would think it was the mobo or PSU.
Re-installing Windows will almost certainly NOT solve the problem sadly.

[WESSIE]

Thanks for replying.

I did think of a PSU problem initially but because it works when the BIOS is changed to USB1 only, had discounted it. Forgot to say that the Wireless KB/Mouse combo is USB and seems to work perfectly.

I may swap it out for a spare Antec PSU to try it but I still think it may be an XP/driver issue.

Ta for the help.