Bent Pin on MOBO issue

insideline · 23 Jul 2017 at 10:41

Hi

I have a MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Motherboard and the connector for the frontside USB3 has got a bent pin, to the point of no recovery. Now I'm not overly bothered about this as I don't use the frontside USB ports anyway but what I'm wondering is will this bent pin be a problem even if nothing is plugged into it ? It's not touching any of the other pins but is very badly bent/squashed !

The reason I ask is that I've recently been getting lots of USB powering issues as well as USB power surge messages in Windows where USB devices stop working. As well as USB over current messages in my BIOS sometimes.

I only noticed this bent pin the other day so Im now wondering if the two things are linked but because I'm not particularly computer savvy I've no idea if a connector on the motherboard with a bent pin (which isn't connected to anything) can cause issues.

Any help or advice would be welcome.

Cheers

Emphacy · 23 Jul 2017 at 12:29

If it's not touching any of the other pins, it won't be causing any issues. This sounds like a dodgy USB device to me. I would check everything you have plugged in.

insideline · 23 Jul 2017 at 14:23

I only have keyboard and mouse plugged in. neither can be plugged in to the same row of ports though otherwise all these surge messages appear. The computer won't booth either with them both plugged in.

I have to plug the keyboard into one port and then the mouse into a port several rows below, these are the only ones which seem to work when 2 or more devices are plugged in. If I just plug in say the keyboard it works on any port (same goes for the mouse) but as soon as they both get plugged in it all goes **** up.

The devices are fine and all the USB ports look to be in great condition. I've taken apart my computer, cleaned everything, used canned air to clean inside the USB ports but the issue remains.

Emphacy · 23 Jul 2017 at 14:31

That only leads me further to believe it is either the keyboard or mouse i.e. one of those devices is drawing so much current (possibly due to a short circuit) that there is not enough power for the other device from the same USB controller.

Is it possible for you to try with a different keyboard and mouse?

HoneyBadger · 23 Jul 2017 at 20:15

As mentioned above, if the pin is bent but not touching any other OR any other metal contact, the port is to all intents purposes not 'live' - that said, on my board you can go into the BIOS and turn off actual USB ports. Have you tried doing this if your board has the facility?

jbh110tdi · 23 Jul 2017 at 20:23

Im wondering if the pin is touching a track on the board. can you get a picture?