Dead USB ports on a laptop - ideas?

[Peter Smout]

On 21/09/14 10:31, Karl Auer wrote:
> On 20 September 2014 01:22, Phil <phil_lor at bigpond.com> wrote:
>> I've been given a third laptop. It's almost new and although the DVD
>> drive works, all of the USB ports have been destroyed. Possibly by
>> forcing the USB plug in upside down. I wonder if replacement USB sockets
>> are available?. A fully functioning laptop would be nice.
>
> This new problem belongs in a new thread, so I've started one. Changing
> problems in a thread is a good way for your question to be completely
> ignored.
>

+1 I agree totally

> USB ports are usually soldered directly onto the motherboard in laptops;
> they are usually not detachable without skilled effort, and definitely
> not ATtachable without skilled effort. Such effort usually costs more
> than the device is worth. That said, if you are handy with electronics,
> you might be able to find a second-hand laptop of the same model with a
> dead screen, dead keyboard or whatever and cannibalise the motherboard.
> If all you want is the motherboard the price would be way down. Ebay may
> be a possibility too.
>

  I have performed a successful USB transplant on a PC tower but never 
on a laptop, but the theory cannot be much different the 'u' stands for 
universal after all ;)
Having said that I spent 3yrs of my life soldering PCB's for a living so 
I am not phased by such things!

> Obviously check very carefully whether ALL of the USB ports are really
> dead - if you have even just one good one, an external hub will get you
> going again. "Very carefully" means using simple devices like mice, and
> testing with several different devices. Sometimes slight differences
> between plugs can be the difference between working and not working. I
> have a USB memory stick, for example, that won't work in two of my
> laptop's 6 USB ports. Works fine in the other four.
>

A visual check in the guts of the machine might prove fruitful if 1 
connector pin is separated from the board you might be able to re-solder 
it into place and resurrect at least 1 port.

> If all of the USB ports are dead, you have few options. You could see if
> your laptop has a matching docking station, also sometimes known as a
> port extender, but obviously it has to be the kind that connects via
> something other than USB :-) Usually only name-brand laptops have this
> sort of docking station.
>
> If your "new" laptop is old enough to have a CardBus slot, you can still
> get USB-over-CardBus devices. In fact I have one, surplus to
> requirements, and I note you have an email address in Oz, so we could
> maybe work something out (IF you have a CardBus slot, that is).
>
> There are remote USB units out there that make one or more USB ports
> available across the network. Put one of those on the network and see
> how you go. Make sure you get one that works with Linux though (I've
> never used one under Linux, so no idea how they would go).
>

You learn something new everyday! I have never heard of or come across 
these.

> If all you want to do is, for example, back up to an external HDD from
> time to time, you can just mount the drive on another system, share it
> via SMB or NFS, and read/write to it over the network.
>

This is alot easier than it sounds and I run a backup via NFS once a 
week of my critical work, and any other important stuff!
There are plenty of good tutorials out there and if you get stuck I am 
sure this list will help!
This requires a reasonable network connection, and if like me, your 
bandwidth is limited by factors beyond your control, (I live in a remote 
part of the UK, and get "upto 1mbs", so I have a cron job set for 4am 
when usage is low and it does not hog my valuable bandwidth when we all 
want to use it!)

> Regards, K.
>
Pete S