USB ports not working

Hey, how do i troubleshoot USB ports not working?

It is not OS related, since it doesn't work in BIOS as well.
I have two working USB ports in the back, and that's it.

The motherboard is Asus Maximus IV Z68, and the USB ports that aren't working are the 3.0 ones with Renesas controller. The front port USBs work, and they are the 2.0 USBs.

I've tried resetting the bios, removing any and all overclocking, changing the bios settings from Off to Legacy Support, and switching between NEC and PCH, nothing works.
I've also tried opening it up, and seeing if there's anything obviously wrong with it, but nothing popped up.

Any ideas?

Berton said:

USB 3 is not natively supported in most BIOSes like USB 2 is, maybe just in the newest boards. It is necessary for the Operating System to provide that support, should need drivers for the motherboard be installed.

They may not be supported in bios, but wouldn't they at least power the device? My mouse was 100% dead, no LED active.

Also, i have two working 3.0 USB ports that work in bios.

essenbe said:

As I recall the Z68 Chipset does not have a UEFI bios and therefore the mouse will not work, and is not supposed to work. Whether it will power it on, I don't recall. Windows 10 natively supports USB 3.0, but that doesn't come into play until the OS loads, which loads the drivers.

The asus maximus IV has an UEFI bios.

essenbe said:

Then the mouse should work. I had thought the Maximus V was the first UEFI assist. remembering that far back makes my head hurt
Have you tried another mouse or reflashed the bios? I know you said you had set your USB in bios to legacy, which I would have thought would make it work.

Yeah, that's the problem. It's not the mouse, it's the USB port. Anything i connect there won't work, and it has such a weird behavior. It might work sometimes on 3 USBs, but if i plug another one, both stop working. I can also boot with 4 USBs working, but they might stop working at random.

I am almost sure it's a hardware problem, or maybe firmware, but not software.

When booting before the windows logo, the mouse gets powered but then shuts down afterwards if i go to the bios, and the same thing happens after the windows logo, it gets powered but shuts down after a while. The same is true for any USB device.
I think i'll just get a USB hub to make do for now, wait for intel 9th generation, buy a new motherboard and use this one for science.

Thanks for the help!

Hi there
This can depend on the chipset

I know it's illogical but there are some cases out there of Mobos that have 4 USB3 ports - 2 at the front and 2 at the rear but only the 2 front ones are recognized at power on -- the 2 rear ones operate once an OS has started booting.

Sometimes the ones that don't work from BIOS are the newer USB 3.1 ports -- usually marked SS (super Speed) and are black coloured instead of the more usual blue for standard USB 3.0.

Check also in your manual / BIOS set up utility that you haven't inadvertently set any dip switches - some pieces of kit still have those dreadful things !!.

You could also have a faulty Mobo but I rather doubt that - usually if a Mobo goes faulty it won't boot !!!
Check also cables between case and USB3 ports aren't broken or not properly seated.

I'd also see if you can get the latest firmware update for that mobo as well.

I've also seen instances BTW of new computer cases with the USB's there - but equipped with older mobos that don't actually have the USB's in the first place - can happen when a manufacturer is about to introduce new models.

Cheers
jimbo