View Full Version : A sort of warning story!
wonderlust
05-02-10, 20:46
I sold a 2nd hand system about three months ago to an unemployed friend of a friend.
Silverstone TJ05
Asrock 939SLI-Esata2
Opteron 165 (iirc)
1.5Gb DDR400
HD3650 256MB
120Gb Sata
IDE CDrom
IDE DVD Burner
about a week ago the person that bought it contacted me to advise that it had died.
I did a few quick diagnostics over the phone including them swapping the PSU and swapping the rest with the power switch etc.
Feeling a little guilty (rightly or wrongly) I asked for them to ship it from Luton to Kent.
It arrived today and I tested it out.
Power button did nothing....
So I started to disconnect everythign from the PSU and tested the PSU with my tester. Passed...
plugged it back into the motherboard, still no signs of life.
SO at this point I decided to unplug everything from the board one at a time then suddenly.... IT LIVES!
The last thing that I had unplugged was the one of the front USB ports.
So time to check the ports.... This is what I found :-
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll177/teddyformandy/SDC10134.jpg
So next time someone has a suddenly dead PC it may pay to ask if them to check the USB ports all look good!
Wow. That USB is the definition of FUBAR :|
Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like a USB plug still in the socket?
Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like a USB plug still in the socket?
Nah, looks like somebody ripped a USB device out sideways. (Click the pic for a bigger view).
wonderlust
05-02-10, 21:03
It's been ripped out sideways.
I have suggested they contact Silvestone for a replacement!
Glad that I haven't got a lot to do to fix it (read that as straighten divider and leave disconnected)
At least you can feel relieved that conscience is completely clear, but dear me, what kind of ham fisted muppet does it take to do that to a USB socket?
im guessing they have kicked/snagged the wire and thats done it.
wonderlust
05-02-10, 21:41
looks that way, most cases would probably move but the TJ05 no way! these things weigh a ton!
Nice post. Something to look out for in future. Cheers
That reminds me of the USB ports onthe front of my brother's first computer build. Yes I know, I keep going on about how he buggers up every computer he ever uses and somehow figures out that it was my fault all along...
At the moment, I'm using the old keyboard from a Windows 95 machine because he's taken my keyboard, because he broke his while shouting at WoW.
theelusiveyoda
05-02-10, 22:36
the reason it wont start is probarbly because the usb pins are touching the pins on the other side
wonderlust
05-02-10, 22:41
no lol they were touching the divider.
I was just posting to advise other people that it may be a reason for a system to not start
theelusiveyoda
05-02-10, 22:43
oops thats what i meant to say its basically grounding itself right?
wonderlust
05-02-10, 22:46
yes shorting the PSU, luckily either the two PSUs in use 1 x Jeantec 400W and 1 x octogen (ewww) 300w or the motherboard have short protection!
theelusiveyoda
05-02-10, 22:50
i wouldn't touch either of those psu's with a mile long pole lol.
wonderlust
05-02-10, 22:54
The Jeantec 450w feels like a quality PSU. It is heavy and the inside built is tidy and there are quality japanese caps.
The only issue I had before I sold it on was the 120mm fan got very noisy. A quick fan change cured that.
Never seen a USB port like that.
Taken some force to bend that :eek:
I can only imagine what he was doing with the machine to make that happen ...
wonderlust
06-02-10, 08:58
Well it's a she's PC :D
I guess someone clipped what ever waas plugged into it, the TJ05 is so heavy it wouldn't have moved so something had to give way, the usb port!
I used to love the old Qtec PSU's. Pure quality!! lol
I've had that happen to 2 cases of mine niether of which have been cheap and one of which was a Silverstone, the TJ08. In both cases the machines and PSUs survived. What happened in mine is the plastic bit in the slot which the 4 contacts rest against broke off when I pulled a cable out. Then when i've gone to plug in another device without noticing while attempting to plug it in i've bend the pin so they short either against another pin or against the outer surround. Both times i've only noticed when I've gone to turn my PC on and nothing has happened.
That happened on my old packard bell computer. It had a 1.1GHz celeron :D woo woo
Anyway yeh the USB port will still work but the plug might need to be held in :D
Tinkernology
12-02-10, 21:31
It looks like a toddler tried to plug one of his sisters pencils in it or a spoon handle even. Maybe though it was just rough handling. I remember when I was very young every saturday night a neighbour would kick his tv set if it did not warm up quick enough. My dad would fix it every sunday morning. It was magical watching the valves slowly start to glow as it warmed up once more. The technology bug had bitten me even then if only I could understand what it all did :chuckle:
I went round to fix someones laptop a while ago. They said they had plugged in their USB mouse and printer into the right 'holes' but nothing was working. After doing some over the phone diagnosis, it did appear that somehow, neither device was working so I said I'd go and try and sort it out and stop off on my way home.
Well, nothing was broken, but I did discover that an Ethernet port is almost exactly the same size as 2 USB connections put together :lol: She had plugged them both into the Ethernet port :lol:
Thar actually happened to me once. I bought a brand new case from another company, they all looked fine but it just wouldn't boot with the usb header connected.
it just wouldn't boot with the usb header connected.
I have seen several Mobos that will not boot from the hard drive with a USB disk or flash card inserted
I went round to fix someones laptop a while ago. They said they had plugged in their USB mouse and printer into the right 'holes' but nothing was working. After doing some over the phone diagnosis, it did appear that somehow, neither device was working so I said I'd go and try and sort it out and stop off on my way home.
Well, nothing was broken, but I did discover that an Ethernet port is almost exactly the same size as 2 USB connections put together :lol: She had plugged them both into the Ethernet port :lol:
I bet that was a surprise. Classic. :D
wonderlust
14-02-10, 18:54
I have done this myself before, took me asecond to work out why the mouse wasn't working
I guess the USB might be short-circuited or burnt.
wonderlust
15-02-10, 13:06
As you can see from the picture it is being short circuited, once straight all was ok
I went round to fix someones laptop a while ago. They said they had plugged in their USB mouse and printer into the right 'holes' but nothing was working. After doing some over the phone diagnosis, it did appear that somehow, neither device was working so I said I'd go and try and sort it out and stop off on my way home.
Well, nothing was broken, but I did discover that an Ethernet port is almost exactly the same size as 2 USB connections put together :lol: She had plugged them both into the Ethernet port :lol:
OMG that classic! :popcorn:
In my experience friends and family who do not no anything about computers blame the hardware or software.... 90% of the time it ends up its the user who's messed up.
That connection is screwed! :P
antipacker
15-02-10, 18:52
this is a shock
nessundorma
16-02-10, 19:43
Nice story, thanks. The message is: don't overlook a single thing!
Looking a some of the cheaper moboards around it looks like this could be an issue if you're not gentle with USB plug. Wonder if USB3 will be more robust.
Used to work for a defence electronics company and we had to make sure our equipment's connectors (as well as the controls) were "squaddie proof", which is why often if you see defence equip ment it often has huge reinfoced connectors and cables for only a few pins!
Had an ex-army sales guy in another company who was forever breaking the VGA connector on his laptop.
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