[Solved] USB causes nVidia graphics card to go blank

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Carel, Aug 29, 2016.

  1. Carel

    Carel MDL Member

    Oct 11, 2009
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    I have this very weird problem. I'll explain it quickly. My 1st motherboard was a MSI P35 Platinum, but it died on me. So I got another motherboard from a friend, Gigabyte-P35-DS3R. All the rest are still the same. Yes I know its an old system, but I have no issues with speed, the PC is used for work only. It's running fine with the new 2nd hand motherboard, BUT

    When I plug a USB device into ANY USB port, be it front, side or rear, 1 out of ever 4 times the screen goes blank and a few seconds later a message pops up saying the nVidia display driver has stopped responding and has been recovered successfully. Sometimes it does not recover at all and I have to reset the PC. This is NOT a driver related issue since this happens even it I plug a USB device into a port while the computer is in the BIOS boot menu (in other words Windows has not even started yet). I suspect this has something to do with static electricity, but I just simply cannot figure out how to stop this. It is extremely annoying.

    My hardware:
    Gigabyte P35-DS3R (latest BIOS version)
    Intel Q6600 (no overclocking)
    2x4 GB CMD4GX2M2A1066C5
    EVGA nVidia GTX 560 2GB
    Gigabyte ODIN 585W PSU

    I have checked the PSU grounding, and it seems to be working fine, it is properly grounded. I have no idea what is could be and I have never heard of a similar issue before.

    Any ideas as to what I can try to do?
     
  2. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    :eek: I wonder if the usb is shorting out something on the board, weird issue .
    I would try the usb with the board out the case to ensure that something isn't making contact with he case. The thing is the front header usually uses the pins on the board connected thru a cable to the front so that shouldn't be an issue ! Does this happen with one usb device or multiple ?
     
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  3. P.J

    P.J MDL ☂

    Jul 30, 2009
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    At least not an nVidia issue :tea:
     
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  4. Carel

    Carel MDL Member

    Oct 11, 2009
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    #4 Carel, Aug 29, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2016
    (OP)
    Thanks for the reply. No pun intended, but really?o_O:confused:

    Any USB device, any port. Sometimes my Flash drive, sometimes the external HDD. Sometimes I haven't even plugged the other end of the USB cable into the HDD and it does this. I suspect a grounding issue, but I have checked all grounds using a multi-meter. The case is grounded to the PSU and the PSU is internally grounded to the Mains.
     
  5. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
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    This may sound crazy, but what's the wattage of the PSU?

    It sounds like one of the rails is being dragged down. If the PSU has a problem, device might be causing it to crowbar and shut down a rail. (+3.3,+5)
     
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  6. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    smells like a bad cap or resistor on the usb power
     
  7. Joe C

    Joe C MDL Guru

    Jan 12, 2012
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    #7 Joe C, Aug 29, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2016
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  8. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    Was wondering if the usb device, flash drive was shorting out in some way ?
     
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  9. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    :g:Old psu being overloaded by a usb drive :eek: :laie:
    Probably what LatinMcG is saying !
     
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  10. Carel

    Carel MDL Member

    Oct 11, 2009
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    I originally also suspected the PSU, but this didn't happen with my previous motherboard. I have opened the PSU and checked the capacitors a while ago by unsoldering them and testing them with a UNI-T UT61E that can measure capacitance. They are measuring exactly what's on the label. Also, if the PSU was overloaded, there is a PS223 monitoring circuit (consists of voltage comparator circuits) that will shut down the CM6800 PWM controller. This will cause the whole PC to shut off instantly. However, it's just the display that goes blank a few seconds and that's it. The whole PC doesn't BSOD or anything, it's just the display that goes blank.

    The most important thing to mention is that this happens at very light loads. I've measured the amps using my UT61E, which is a True RMS meter, meaning it can calculate the L2-Norm of the current wave. Multiplying that with the Voltage, 235V, it draws about 180 W from the mains when the system is idling. I do have an ATi card laying around somewhere. I am going to remove the NVidia card and see what it does over the period of a few days.

    Last thing, it also happens when I just plug in a USB extension cable with nothing connected at the other end (I have two of them), the one goes to my printer and the other to my 3G dongle. The printer isn't always connected, but when I do plug in the extension cable going to the printer (before connecting the other side), this also happens. Like I said, not every time, but 1/4 times.

    This is as weird as... I don't know. I am going to test another card, an ATi 2600 Pro. I don't play games, but I am going to test that and see if this still happens. However, my Android emulator (when doing app development) is going to run like a snail going over sandpaper.
     
  11. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
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    @Carel: Another thought. Did you reinstall this MoBo in the case? Maybe a standoff is shorting something.
     
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  12. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    What other devices do you have on the ports(mouse, USB cam, etc)? Remove them and add them one by one and see to what happen. The back or front ports can't all be behaving weird at the same time. If not I would say it is time to replace the ports.
     
  13. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    front and back same ? thats more central not ports.. like power supply or motherboard issues for sure.
     
  14. Carel

    Carel MDL Member

    Oct 11, 2009
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    For sure, I completely agree. This is not specific to a port, this happens on all the USB ports, I have two ports in the front of the case and two on the side and the rest are all at the back. It does this on all of them. It happens even before the flash drive/external/extension cable (regardless of the kind of device) is put into the port completely. The minute the two devices touch, the screen goes blank and at that stage the male connector have only touched the female socket, it hasn't even gone in yet.

    It's as if it happens when the two metals touch. For this reason I do suspect a grounding issue. The other problem is it doesn't happen consistently. It has happened two times since I started this thread. 1st time when I plugged my phone into my extension cable (coming from the back of my PC to my desk) and the 2nd time when I plugged in my USB HDD.

    If it is a PSU issue, why does it affect the Graphics card only? They don't even run on the same power rail of the PSU, but everything in the box (Gfx, Mobo, Hdds, DVD drives) do share the same ground.
    It it's the motherboard, why does it affect the Graphics card?

    It does not happen whenever I plug/unplug an audio device such as my Amplifier / Headphones / Mic to my Audio ports (they also share the same ground).
     
  15. Flipp3r

    Flipp3r MDL Expert

    Feb 11, 2009
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    How about the motherboard backplate? Perhaps there's a flap usb port causing some type of short?
     
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  16. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    As pointed out that would not affect the front port, that comes from header.
     
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  17. Flipp3r

    Flipp3r MDL Expert

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    And why is that? I'd say they'd be all linked to the same chipset. They are all usb 2 aren't they on this old board. No Via/nec/etc usb chipsets mixed on board....
    Perhaps the usb connector is damaged, broken on the front panel. Disconnect front usb from board & re-test from rear.

    Also, I'd strip the system & run it up outside of the case to test.
     
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  18. Michaela Joy

    Michaela Joy MDL Crazy Lady

    Jul 26, 2012
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    #18 Michaela Joy, Aug 30, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
    That was my thought too. I'd check for ground loops as well. I've seen guitarists get zapped from guitar amps because the service into the auditorium had a flaky ground or a low impedance between neutral and ground.
     
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  19. RJARRRPCGP

    RJARRRPCGP MDL Senior Member

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    #19 RJARRRPCGP, Aug 30, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2016
    That's more likely with a bad neutral connection! And I think all towns should shut a building with a bad neutral down!
    (This means a neutral with high resistance!)

    I know some symptoms of a bad neutral, too! For example after the furnace kicks on, I get 131 V on a circuit that has a low load and only 111 V or 112 V on the circuit that has the high load!
     
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  20. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

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