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Testing USB Ports

T

thunderclap

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 8, 2003
641
1
I use a Mac Pro (early 2008) at work. It has the latest Mavericks installed. Lately the USB ports seem to be failing. First the two on the front stopped working, and now two out of three on the back stopped working. Does anyone know of a way to reset the ports or test them? I've tried repairing permissions, an SMC reset and a PRAM reset but those failed to do anything.

Is there anything else I can try?
 
I find the AHT falling short for the most part. If I need to test hardware, I usually boot to a Ubuntu USB stick and test. This takes OS X out of the loop and helps identify weather the problem is hardware or software.
 
I concur with the others. Booting into any other operating system, even another OS X partition with a fresh install, will eliminate any possible software issues. If the USB ports don't work in Windows Boot Camp for example, you've got a hardware problem.

You could try resetting your PRAM. I don't think it will actually affect USB ports, but it might be worth trying anyway. (I've never been able to find a complete list of what hardware settings OS X keeps in there.)
 
I ran the AHT and that resulted in no problems found. I then ran the Ubuntu Live distro and I tested a flash drive, a USB drive, and a Snowball Mic none of which are seen. (The flash drive and mic don't even light up showing they're getting power). I then formatted the MP and re-installed SL and still no luck. I suspect the ports have failed and will have to take it to the Apple Store. Will they even service a 6 year old computer?
 
^^^^Yes, I did that with the Inatek Card. However, if you ever want to boot from a USB Drive or USB stick, you won't be able to with the card, but with the internal USB ports you will.

Lou
 
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