I'm really scared and confused right now: I wanted to cut a window in my case so I took out the hardware. Everything seemed okay. I put the MoBo on the foil in which it was wrapped and connected the other stuff again (including the USB-hub from the case). I started the ****er up and everything seemed to work fine. SO I put my W-LAN stick in the USB-hub from the case and then the strange disaster happened. Hissing noises appeared and the bad smell of burned electronics filled the air. I also spotted some smoke beyond the GPU -.- I shutted down the PC as fast as I could by taking away the voltage. Full of fear I tried to boot up. And it worked the settings of the MoBo were erased and a BSoD appeared. So I rebootet and finally ended up on my desktop. I can't spot physical damage either. So what the heck happened? Do I have to expect more problems? I didn't dare to put in the W-LAN stick again, though. What might be interesting is that the stick isn't in the best shape. The black thing inside of every USB port misses. But it worked fine -.-
Sry I can't make pics right now^^ but there would be nothing to see. There's nearly no dust on the board. I can't imagine how. It was on the foil in which it was wrapped. No screws or other stuff beyond it. Or do you think because of the connection of the stick?
I can't imagine the stick could have cause it, USB specs have required over-current protection to be included from the start, so the worst case scenario would have been it would trip and a message box would pop up in the OS informing you...
The usb specs may require overcurrent protection but that doesn't mean you can't burn out a usb port. The usb spec requires usb compliant devices to negotiate for current from the host, however, non-compliant devices (think usb coffee warmer) don't bother with that and just take what they need. Most motherboard manufacturers will take the cheapest method available to prevent returns which is to put a fuse on the power line to the usb port, frequently this fuse is shared between multiple ports. I suspect that what has happened here is that your damaged W-lan dongle has allowed a short circuit to form between power and ground blowing the fuse on the motherboard so one or more of your sub ports will no longer work. As an aside, the "foil" that the mobo is shipped in is in fact a static dissipative bag, made from metallised plastic and is therefore conductive and not actually a good thing to put a powered up mobo on. Moriquendi
Alright. That makes perfectly sense. Thank you sir. =) (no sarcasm intended!) Well... it's an Asus mobo. I didn't think this could happen... but well. The "foil" is away, too now
One last question: this isn't covered by the guarantee, is it? How much would this approximatley cost? The mobo is an Asus P7P55D
You have a 3 year warranty on that board, given you didn't remove the serial number sticker from the mobo. See? As for it being covered based on what you did, I don't know, but it won't hurt to try. That board is $150 on Newegg. I would try to get it repaired/replaced with the warranty first before letting $150 go down the drain.
I'm not sure but arent those ESD bags where mobo's come conductive? Putting a bare mobo on a conductive surface is a recipie for disaster (and escaping smoke).
I think you must have shorted the board out, you should never power up a motherboard, or any other piece of electronic equidment on an antistatic bag as they are metallised.
First of all: there was no use in reviving this thread with already contained information. And secondly: the board is working fine... only the internal USB port is broken, so it wasn't the bag.
