Front USB = no worky !

[WT]

I have an Epox 8RDA board in an Athenatech mid-tower case with two front USB ports. I originally thought the pinouts for the case USB cables were different than the board, but after verifying where everything plugs on (both in the manual and the Epox website) and checking the voltages with a voltmeter, I cannot get ANY USB device to work. I've tried USB 1.1 and 2.0 thumb drives, with nothing indicating I have a powered jack.
All four rear ports work fine, and the voltmeter read 4.9x+/- on both of the VCC pinouts ....

so ...

what am I missing ? I checked the pin connex on the case end as well. The only thing to test is to replace the front USB hardware and see if somethings physically bad, but I've never heard of such a simple hardware piece failing.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, I'm not really familiar with your MB and connectors, but have wired many front USBs. The Red wire is +5 and the black one is Ground and are usually easy to place. The other two are data out and data in. You can try them both ways to see which one works with no damage if you get it wrong. Work with one side of the connector at the time. The other side is same color wise. Some times only one black wire is used for both and the empty pin is used for the key. Luck, Jim

 

[Ike0069]

Don't know about your particular case, but on my Sonata, I had to remove one of the wires to get the USB to work.
The connector that comes from the from case USB ports had 9 wires run to it, but there should have only been 8 wires for my MB. I removed the proper wire (just referenced the MB and case manuals) and it works perfect.

 

[WT]

I did check the Epox website to confirm the pinout, and it matches my case USB note (there's actually a sticker taped near the end of the USB connector indicating the pin order). I initially looked at it and thought, hmmmm, that doesn't match what the board shows, but after taking a closer look at it, things do in fact match up. I've verified voltages on the VCC pins and made sure all pins were in tight and not loose.
Ike, I'd love to think it was that simple, but nothing that I read has indicated the need to pull one of the pins to make things work. Pin 10 is listed on the Epox site as an 'Over Current' pin, whatever that implies.

 

[EightySix Four]

possible damage to the wires somewhere?

 

[tomcas1]

Here is discussion about this problem. It's not your mobo but I think it still applies.
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=57472.msg381397#msg381397