Computer is frying all USB devices that are connected

Question

My computer specs are as follows. The computer is almost 1 year old. It is custom built:

Motherboard: ASUS h510m-a
OS: Windows 11
PSU: EVGA 500BR

In the past hour, I have connected multiple mice and one keyboard, and they have all been fried. After some time of using them, I received an error that the last USB device I have connected to this computer has malfunctioned, and they stopped working on all other devices. This applies to both wired and wireless keyboards and mice.

Several weeks ago, one of my RAM sticks randomly died, and I had to remove it otherwise my computer was stuck in a blue-screen loop. I think this might be connected somehow.

Why is this happening? What part is causing the issue and how can I fix it?

You can't just fry stuff without adding salt my man xD. On a serious note, you may have messed around with some wiring that's causing that — chx101, Mar 23 '23 at 11:05
Usually I would suggest to make sure your backup is up-to-date if your PC starts acting up, but, given your special situation, I suggest you do *not* connect the external hard drives you use for backups to this PC any more (because you have backups of your important data on external hard drives, right? RIGHT?) — Heinzi, Mar 23 '23 at 19:08
For whoever asked to close the question because there is not enough information, why? — stickynotememo, Mar 24 '23 at 05:02
That immediately rings the PSU GONE BAD BELL here! Check your 12V and 5V power!!! (Sorry, I just noticed, that you've found the issue already in a comment below) — Caeleste, Mar 24 '23 at 08:34
I knew had occasions where floppy drives destroyed diskette drives. Now it happens also with USBs.. — akostadinov, Mar 24 '23 at 10:23
"This applies to both wired **and wireless** keyboards and mice." - ? Are you referring to a USB/wireless _dongle_? — MrWhite, Mar 24 '23 at 13:28
You did not mention if the devices stop working on another PC? Or do you just _think_ they _might_ be fried? — Raf, Mar 24 '23 at 15:26
@Heinzi with the facilities I have (home+ work) I'd take out the HDD/SSD and clone it on known-good hardware, combining protecting your backup with protecting your original. — Chris H, Mar 24 '23 at 16:37
@MrWhite if a proprietary dongle is fried, it's rather hard to troubleshoot the wireless device, so while I'm sure you're right, it's hard to prove — Chris H, Mar 24 '23 at 16:38
@MrWhite Sorry, bad wording. I'm assuming it's the wireless dongle which is fried. — stickynotememo, Mar 25 '23 at 00:21
@Raf Yes they stopped working on another computer. That's how I assumed they were fried. — stickynotememo, Mar 25 '23 at 00:55
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this. Doctor: Don't do that! — Michael C, Mar 25 '23 at 03:08

score 60 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 23 '23 at 13:45

60

Stop using your computer and turn it off. There is definitely a hardware fault in your computer.

If these are USBv2 ports, then it definitely sounds like 12 or more volts is being sent through the USB power lines. This is what is frying your devices. It could be a short somewhere in the motherboard, the internal USB hub, or in the USB controller itself.

If it's USBv3... Well, I haven't heard of a USBv3 controller sending more power to something that has not negotiated for more. However, it's still probably a short.

First thing to do is contact the manufacturer and talk to their support. If it's under warranty, get the motherboard replaced.

If it is not under warranty, you can take it to a reputable computer repair shop. Depending on the issue, they might be able to repair it, but this is not likely. They will probably recommend a new motherboard or the advice in the following paragraph.

Another possibility is if it's just the USB bus that's the issue, stop using it and get a PCI/PCIe USB add-on card and only use its ports.

edited Mar 23 '23 at 13:45

Toby Speight

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answered Mar 23 '23 at 00:47

Keltari

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Since a RAM module was also (probably) fried, I'd rather think it's an issue with power distribution on the board or maybe in the power supply than an USB-only issue. – arne Mar 23 '23 at 09:59
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if the RAM was fried, its not likely the computer would work at all. It *could* be a power supply issue, but if more voltage was coming out of it on the 5v rail than its supposed to, there would be other much more serious problems occurring. – Keltari Mar 23 '23 at 14:13
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* If it's under warranty, get the motherboard replaced.* A problem on the 5V line is likely to be a problem with the power supply. The motherboard is probably damaged too, but a new one will go the same way if connected to the dodgy PSU – Chris H Mar 23 '23 at 14:45
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@ChrisH it appears to be a dodgy PSU which is giving 13.3v and 5.6v on the 12v and 5v lines respectively. If I RMA the PSU, do I need to get the mobo replaced also? – stickynotememo Mar 24 '23 at 07:36
@stickynotememo the mobo may have got lucky, but it may fail early as a result. For a home machine I'd risk but check my backups. If you rely on it working properly (e.g. if its your work machine) replace the motherboard and suspect the RAM too. – Chris H Mar 24 '23 at 08:03
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But note that testing a power supply with no load at all is a poor test. Hopefully you had something using power when you tested it, because the voltage specs only apply above a minimum current. This confused me recently when working on a very old machine - the -5V line was all over the place because the PCI card I'd removed for testing was the only load on that line – Chris H Mar 24 '23 at 08:49
@stickynotememo power supplies are cheaper than a new computer. If it is the power supply, better replace it, than risk more damage. – Keltari Mar 24 '23 at 18:22
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@ChrisH I had the computer running while I tested one of the (what I believe were) molex connectors. – stickynotememo Mar 25 '23 at 00:54
@ChrisH Every modern power supply made in last 10 years should easily hold the rated voltages when run dry. Its not retrocomputing site ;-). Given we suspected psu problem, I would not recommend measuring voltages with any load higher than iddle desktop. – Thomas Mar 27 '23 at 07:30
@Thomas Idle desktop would be more than enough for testing, even just the motherboard which is probably dead or dying already (it's almost certainly protecting the CPU). I've got enough electronics and automotive junk that I could put incandescent bulbs on the 5V and 12V lines (I've probably got suitable power resistors as well). That would be my preferred option, or a bunch of fans (some rewiring may be required) . In general, not just PCs, power supplies have a minimum load spec. – Chris H Mar 27 '23 at 09:09

score 42 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 24 '23 at 19:43

42

This sounds like a bad power supply.
Did you by chance buy a cheap non-quality brand and put it in a power-demanding machine? Could also be faulty unit.

Stop using the machine. If it already fried a RAM stick and now USB devices, something is horribly wrong.
Get a multimeter. Set to 20-volt range and shove the probes into free Molex/PCI-EX/CPU power jack. You want one yellow and one black wire slots. The reading should say 12V ±5%. 11.8V or 12.2V are fine, 10V or 14V are not. If anything is fishy, dump the PSU and get a replacement. You will have to power the PC for this measurement; shut it down afterwards.

Molex female connector

Next you want to measure the 5V rail. This is easiest done at legacy Molex connector, if your PSU has one, otherwise a SATA-Molex adapter is handy to have just for this. Measure between red wire and any of blacks. Should be 5V. I strongly suspect this will not be 5V or becomes something horribly wrong when using the machine.
If both 12V and 5V look fine, it could be a problem with motherboard itself. You need to measure the USB rail voltage. The measurement is done between two outer 'lips' in the USB socket, but this can easily cause short to chassis. If you have an old cheap USB 2.0 cable or anything throwaway with USB 2.0 plug, you can snip the cable, put the plug in, and measure voltages between each pair. You can try that on another USB device to find out which cables are the 5V rail. Measure your PC USB, it should be 5V per spec.
If you're not good with multimeter, try borrowing a high-quality PSU of the correct power rating from someone and run PC off that.

There are two possible results for your findings:

The voltages are dropping below spec, all of them. This means some components will brown-out and PC cannot see them. Replacing PSU will solve issue and components are actually fine.
Some voltages are overshooting and some components got fried. Replacing PSU will not fix them.

Also, document your findings and damages; if PSU looks bad, get a replacement, and try charging the seller for broken parts.

edited Mar 24 '23 at 19:43

ReinstateMonica3167040

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answered Mar 23 '23 at 08:20

Thomas

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Welcome Thomas, hope you have a useful experience on this site. Question: Could you perhaps post pictures with point 2? Of what should look like? For those of us not so well versed in electrical plumbing stuff? Or just link to pictures you find online. Thanks. – GwenKillerby Mar 23 '23 at 09:26
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@GwenKillerby I do not know how to embedd a picture, but found an instruction online (link below). If you do not have practice measuring things with multimeter, ask someone more experienced for advice, or try replacing power supply with known working unit. Multimeters are generally safe to poke into places when set to Volt mode, but it is expensive electronics we are talking about. https://www.instructables.com/How-to-test-and-replace-a-power-supply-for-your-ho/ – Thomas Mar 23 '23 at 11:45
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@Thomas See https://superuser.com/help/formatting and https://superuser.com/editing-help#images for how to insert images. – Solomon Ucko Mar 23 '23 at 12:05
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*you can put the plug in, snip the cable*, close but no: **cut the cable first then plug it in, otherwise you'll short everything when you cut.** – Chris H Mar 23 '23 at 14:42
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I like to keep a cut up USB cable routed to screw terminals as a source of 5V and a test point. I have had it routed through an ammeter as well. If you do use screw terminals here, be gentle with them on the probe tips. – Chris H Mar 23 '23 at 14:43
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Measuring 5V at a Molex connector might not be useful in this case — USB ports are often powered from the 5VSB output of the PSU (so that you can turn the computer on from an USB keyboard), which is different from the 5V output that goes to regular power connectors. – Sergey Vlasov Mar 23 '23 at 15:51
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Measuring DC voltages can be misleading, it won't show if there are any spikes. – Oskar Skog Mar 23 '23 at 17:26
can brown-outs really permanently damage devices in this way? – stickynotememo Mar 24 '23 at 05:05
Just tested the PSU using the molex port, there is 13.3v coming out of the 12v rail and 5.6v out of the 5v rail. Is this overloading? Do I need to get the PSU replaced, and if so, do I also need to get a motherboard replacement? – stickynotememo Mar 24 '23 at 07:37
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@stickynotememo Your voltages are dangerously high. Replace the power supply with quality brand. Power supply quality *IS* important. May we know what kind of power supply you had? Brownouts (under-voltage) generally won't damage things, overvoltage does. Motherboard may or may not be ok, start with PSU. – Thomas Mar 24 '23 at 08:19
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@OskarSkog Simple DC measurement will show if the average is within acceptable range (in here it doesn't). To measure voltage pulsing, you would need an oscilloscope, and that is something you do when reviewing power supplies. We don't need an oscilloscope to tell PSU voltages are out of whack. – Thomas Mar 24 '23 at 08:24
@SergeyVlasov Measuring voltage on 12V and 5V rails is the first diagnosis step. If something is wrong with PSU, one or both will be dangerously high or suspiciously low. I did not describe how to measure 5VSB, because its hard to find the correct wire to stick the probe into, but, user can measure the usb port directly. – Thomas Mar 24 '23 at 08:28
@Thomas I've seen brownouts fry PSUs that auto-switch between 230V and 120V. A brownout at 230V causes it to switch modes. At that point the undervoltage becomes an overvoltage and the magic smoke comes out. True undervoltage can directly cause damage but most likely to the input stage, as it tries to draw too much current through the primary switching transistor. I've seen that on a laptop supply, but it was running close to maximum output already, and not on a desktop – Chris H Mar 24 '23 at 16:34
@Thomas 5VSB can be measured at the 24 pin ATX connector, compare the purple wire with and of the grounds. If you have a fancy cable that doesn't use the traditional wire coloring, 5VSB is pin 9. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Mar 24 '23 at 19:48
@stickynotememo, the voltage on the 5v rail should be between 4.75v and 5.25v; on the 12v rail, it should be between 11.4v and 12.6v. This definitely means you need a new power supply; you'll only need to replace the board if it's been damaged by the over-voltage. – Mark Mar 24 '23 at 21:10
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I kinda hate the idea of poking metal spikes into running computer, because you can jumpstart PSU without anything connected. Corsair even have official guide to test PSU that way, with images and voltage tables. https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025085372-How-to-Test-a-PSU-Power-Supply-Unit- – PTwr Mar 24 '23 at 22:10
And while we are waving multimeter around, we might as well check USB ports themselves. Preferably by abusing cut cable from dead device rather than frying USB controller by shoving metal spike into port :) – PTwr Mar 24 '23 at 22:17
@Thomas the psu is an EVGA 500BR. – stickynotememo Mar 25 '23 at 00:51
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@stickynotememo That PSU seems to have bad press and is likely the culprit. Try getting your money back at the seller, including the fried components. When picking new PSU look at the famous 'tier list'. I personally recommend Seasonic Gx 550 - semi passive, 10Y warranty, solid voltages, and costs less than fried Ram+keyboard ;-) – Thomas Mar 27 '23 at 07:28
@DanIsFiddlingByFirelight Measuring 5VSB at ATX connector usually requires getting said connector out of the motherboard and jumpstarting the psu with piece of wire, and shall not be recommended to regular user. – Thomas Mar 27 '23 at 07:56
@Thomas you measure it the same way you measure any other voltage at the connector, jam a probe into the back side of the connector. Or if your probe is too fat, stuff a paperclip wire down and measure the voltage off that. – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight Mar 27 '23 at 12:29
@DanIsFiddlingByFirelight Jamming a probe or a paperclip into something they can't clearly see is not something I will recommend to average user. The connector may be hard to access, especially if they are using small computer case. – Thomas Mar 28 '23 at 08:49

John · Answer 3 · 2023-03-23T01:25:28.540

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In the past hour, I have connected multiple mice and one keyboard, and they have all been fried.

This is not a driver issue.

Some hardware has failed inside - impossible to say what part but something is providing overvoltage to the USB ports.

You need to get the machine serviced and repaired before more damage is done.

edited Mar 23 '23 at 01:25

answered Mar 22 '23 at 23:30

John

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 24 '23 at 18:15

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You have connnected the USB2 header in the wrong orientation, resulting in power being sen on the wrong pin or the data lines.

answered Mar 24 '23 at 18:15

Louis Morin

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I don't think this should be down voted. Given the information in the question, this is an entirely plausible answer. Yes, most modern cases don't let you rearrange the pins for front panel USB ports. That doesn't mean it's true of every cheap or recycled case. This answer seems like it would be useful for future readers who have the similar symptoms. The D+ line operates at a lower voltage to the VCC line. Devices can be fried by incorrectly wiring pins to a motherboard header. – three_pineapples Mar 29 '23 at 00:34
I can 100% confirm this is a possible thing. I don't remember if I had a whole ass [10-pin](http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/gadgets-computers-software/85725d1231168000-help-required-connect-motherboard-chassis-dsc01922.jpg) connector (with just 8 sockets wired though) or I had a case that was [separating](http://web.archive.org/web/20110118195001fw_/http://coolermaster-usa.com/upload/download/64/files/manual.pdf) each USB port on individual headers (meaning again that there isn't just one single unmistakable orientation for both), but there's def designs more susceptible than others. – mirh Jul 26 '23 at 23:46

score -24 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 23 '23 at 00:48

-24

Update the USB driver
- Click the search icon in the taskbar, type device manager, and click Applications in the results
- Select the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section to expand it, right-click the first controller, and select Update Driver.
- Now select the first option to search for drivers automatically.
- If the system finds a new driver, it installs it. You can also click Search for an updated driver on Windows Update if you already have the latest driver.
- This will take you to the Windows Update menu. Click Advanced Options.
- Now select Optional Updates. If you find any driver related updates, select and install them

edited Mar 23 '23 at 00:48

Giacomo1968

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answered Mar 23 '23 at 00:35

Ci Ho Yin

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this is *not* a driver issue – Keltari Mar 23 '23 at 00:38
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While I cleaned this answer up, @Keltari is correct: There is no way a driver issue would cause physical damage like this. Your answer is detailed and well intentioned, but it’s not a driver or software issue. The system is shorted or damaged somewhere. Too much power to USB ports? Who knows. – Giacomo1968 Mar 23 '23 at 00:54
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Listen. You cannot fix every usb related problem by saying to fix the drivers. It's clearly a hardware issue. – stickynotememo Mar 23 '23 at 01:03
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I posted an answer that said Hardware Problem and it is downvoted and deleted. I get roundly frustrated with downvoters who think software will fix everything – John Mar 23 '23 at 01:10
@John what was the answer? maybe post it again, I missed it before it got deleted. What was in the answer that made it get deleted? – stickynotememo Mar 23 '23 at 01:20
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This is a hardware issue and I put my answer back – John Mar 23 '23 at 01:28
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Your answer is very precise - I think we can all agree on that. But the fact that “they stopped working on all other devices” definitely points to a hardware issue. – Olivier Mar 23 '23 at 07:56
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Support: "Did you install the latest Windows patches? If not, we cannot help you." – Peter - Reinstate Monica Mar 23 '23 at 13:50
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Hi Ci Ho Yin - I see that you are a new contributor. It may be that English is not your most fluent language. When we say that something is "fried", we are talking about hardware that no longer works on *any* system - not just the one in question. It usually means that the hardware is electrically damaged beyond hope of repair. – chasly - supports Monica Mar 23 '23 at 19:35
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It's neither here nor there, but it looks to me like a marketing attempt by "Market Manager of YMIN, the electrilytic *(sic)* capacitor suplier." – Sebi Mar 24 '23 at 00:06
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@chasly-supportsMonica well, often "fried" devices can still be repaired, by a specialist with the right tools and knowledge – user253751 Mar 24 '23 at 20:17

Computer is frying all USB devices that are connected

5 Answers5