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    Right Side USB Ports R2

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Divide_by_Zero, Dec 21, 2010.

  1. Divide_by_Zero

    Divide_by_Zero Notebook Guru

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    I thought I read on the forums somewhere that the right side USB ports are simply a module separate from the motherboard itself.

    Is this correct? Also, do they simply plug into the motherboard then and so can simply be replaced if faulty somehow? A tech-support chimpo told me they couldn't be replaced but that sounds like garbage to me.
     
    Divide_by_Zero, Dec 21, 2010
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  2. beelsr

    beelsr Notebook Consultant

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    they're separate. chapter 14 in the service manual (link in the owner's thread)....
     
    beelsr, Dec 22, 2010
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  3. Divide_by_Zero

    Divide_by_Zero Notebook Guru

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    Awesome, thanks for the info man!
     
    Divide_by_Zero, Dec 22, 2010
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  4. Corthalis

    Corthalis Notebook Geek

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    This just got me thinking...

    I've had random restarts and BSOD issues since I've gotten my system a few months ago. It doesn't happen that often but from the system dumps the error seems to be usbhub.sys or some other USB related errors. I've had both graphic cards and the motherboard replaced but the issue still occurs. Just noticed that I only ever plug in USB devices on the right USB ports... maybe that has been the culprit all this time.
     
    Corthalis, Dec 22, 2010
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  5. Divide_by_Zero

    Divide_by_Zero Notebook Guru

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    Yea it could be because I'm in the same boat. For the past couple of times my laptop has been up I've deliberately put the mouse on the right side while still having USB suspend disabled to see if I get the error still, but so far so good. If I do get an error I'll exclusively use the left side and then see what happens. It isn't unreasonable to suspect the input/output board is defective. If that's the case then maybe a lot of people can be spared the hassle of sending their laptops to the repair depot (that's if Dell sends out that part because a tech told me they didn't but I get a different story every time I call).
     
    Divide_by_Zero, Dec 22, 2010
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  6. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    Dell seems to not like end users installing parts in the laptops other than Memory, hard drives Etc. (parts defined as user insatlled).
     
    dave-p, Dec 22, 2010
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  7. Porter

    Porter Notebook Virtuoso

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    I had an odd one that was USB related. My system would start very slowly (5+ mins sitting at BIOS screen) on cold boot up. If I turned it off and back on it would boot up quickly, or if I just waited eventually it would boot up after the long pause.

    I never saw any warnings or problems detected so I thought back to the last thing I changed before this started happening...

    I had plugged my mouse, keyboard, xbox 360 controller and phone data cable all into my cryo cooler, and the cooler into the laptop. Well I didn't like the idea of the laptop having to power up the fans so I decided to also plug in the external power adapter. I knew this could be an issue with the possibility of power feeding back through the USB, but since it seemed to work fine I completely forgot about it.

    Well once moved everything back to the laptop and left it powered alone by the external adapter my "BIOS slow boot up" symptom went away. So either it was power feeding back or maybe the laptop was just confused but the devices it saw through the hub, but it sure didn't like it the way I had it lol.
     
    Porter, Dec 22, 2010
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