How can I know if a USB female soldered port is OK?

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
Hi, my notebook has 3 USB ports. Two of them work just fine, but one of them is not working at all, I plug a memory stick in and nothing happens. An important fact to consider is that the original power supply was 65W (19V, 3.42A), but I lost it and I am using right now a 58W power supply (19V, 3.0A).

Could it be a power supply issue?
What can I do to troubleshoot this issue?

I was gonna test if the current goes from the pin soldered on the MoBo, to the pin that is in the USB female port, but to do that, I must disassemble the notebook, and I want to avoid that if possible.

Thanks
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Well unless you have X-ray vision, you are pretty much going to have to take the notebook apart to inspect the connector. Unless of course it is obvious from the outside that the connector is loose then you will need to take it apart anyway to fix it.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
Take an old male USB cable and solder LED and resistor between VCC and GND.If LED lights up that means that port is not Dead.
That's what I was talking about. Those are the pins of the two sides, right?

I don't have a LED and a resistor. Can I use other common thing?
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Take an old male USB cable and solder LED and resistor between VCC and GND.If LED lights up that means that port is not Dead.
That is not going to do anything other than confirm if the PSU is working or not. Memory sticks don't work so it is moot if the 5VDC works. And if the LED does not light, there is still no way to know if it is a connector issue or some other issue. Chances are it is a broken connector unless the OP was doing something stupid like trying to power his own projects with the 5VDC out of the USB.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
Thank you, I've done that in an older laptop, and it works, it marked 5.09V from the red VCC cable to all the rest.

Nevertheless, I've read that you should not do this in a PC. I've read that PC's or laptops don't like it when you connect to their USB ports a cable that has no IC. Is it safe to test the voltage this way?

I don't know what can go wrong using a male USB cable, but I've read it and may be there's something I don't understand about USB's.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
Alright, I've test that in the faulty USB port and there's no voltage between VCC and any other pin.
What can cause this?
A broken cable/solder joint?
Something related with the 58W power supply? (the other 2 USB ports work, so I don't think it's the power supply)

Any idea beside a bad joint?
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Alright, I've test that in the faulty USB port and there's no voltage between VCC and any other pin.
What can cause this?
A broken cable/solder joint?
Something related with the 58W power supply? (the other 2 USB ports work, so I don't think it's the power supply)

Any idea beside a bad joint?

Probably a bad connector or solder joint then.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,788
Nevertheless, I've read that you should not do this in a PC. I've read that PC's or laptops don't like it when you connect to their USB ports a cable that has no IC. Is it safe to test the voltage this way?
You've been misinformed. The USB 1/2 spec says any device can draw 100mA without negotiating for a high power mode. For USB3, it was changed to 150mA.

Devices that aren't capable of negotiating for high power are restricted to low power operation; but that doesn't stop makers of such "decorations" from attempting to do so. The USB spec has always called for protection that doesn't require manual resetting; but that doesn't mean it's always done...

If you want accurate information, read the USB spec. The USB 3.1 spec is 600+ pages.
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
That's what I was talking about. Those are the pins of the two sides, right?

I don't have a LED and a resistor. Can I use other common thing?
Old dynamo bicycle lights used to use a 6V 0.1A rear bulb - that would be just about OK to test the 2 outer power pins. If it was intermittent when wiggling the connector, the other pins are probably loose too.

Some "grain of wheat" dial light bulbs are low enough current, 12V rating doesn't matter as long as it gives an indication.

LEDs aren't hard to come by - my local £ store sells various LED flashlights with at least 5 white LEDs. Pretty much any modern equipment like a set top box will have a PWR LED, these can often be rescued from kerb side collection points - the kerbs should be pretty crowded after many people got something better for Christmas.

Most resistors are SMD these days - a bit fiddly, but not impossible.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
Lol, I don't have time to read 600 pages. Here's one of the many places where I've heard that (minute 2:00):

Is it the creator of that video wrong when he says you shouldn't use a male USB to check USB female ports in a MoBo, as they "don't like it" when you plug in a USB with no integrated circuit?

Is it a good method to check the USB ports the way I've done it then?
 

ian field

Joined Oct 27, 2012
6,536
Lol, I don't have time to read 600 pages. Here's one of the many places where I've heard that (minute 2:00):

Is it the creator of that video wrong when he says you shouldn't use a male USB to check USB female ports in a MoBo, as they "don't like it" when you plug in a USB with no integrated circuit?

Is it a good method to check the USB ports the way I've done it then?
AFAICR: the original standard was 100mA limit unless a chip on the device negotiated for a 500mA limit.

Many gave the full 500mA anyway, and I believe the spec has been upgraded since I studied what it was.
 

sailorjoe

Joined Jun 4, 2013
364
Yeah, the guy's comments are wrong. The computer doesn't know that a cable with nothing on the other end is even plugged in. However, with all those bare wires out there, if you accidentally shorted out a pair, the computer might not like that at all, but that's true of most short circuits. You're testing it right. Time to open it up and do a manual inspection. Also, go get the right power supply. You could be hurting other components in your computer, like your hard drive, if your power supply doesn't have enough capacity.
Send us a picture if you open the laptop, please.
 

Thread Starter

rambomhtri

Joined Nov 9, 2015
551
What happens if you short the ground and VCC of a USB port?

There's just 0.5 (A)*5(V) = 2.5(W). What harm can 2.5 watts do?
 
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