digital media reader, usb ports, firewire port

[jlabouef]

about 6 months ago my dig. media reader, my usb ports on the front of my computer, and the firewire port on the front of my computer stopped working. the ports on the back of my computer work, just the ones on the front of the computer stopped working. what's up? anything i can do? i've done 2 or 3 system recoveries after this problem presented itself and they still do not work.

[Calum]

Any idea what happened before they stopped working?
What operating system?
Make/model of PC, or components?

[jlabouef]

windows xp, emachine, they were all working 1 day and the next day the media reader stopped working. the usb ports on the bottom were still working. then a week or so later they all stopped working.

[Calum]

What model emachine?
Are there any problems in device manager?

[jlabouef]

model T6212. no problems in device manager, but i'm not sure if the media reader is listed. what would it be listed as? i've done the add hardware wizard many times before.

[Calum]

Good question.
Look under them all, I'm not sure where it'll be.
Mine's under PCMCIA adapters, but that's because it's a laptop.
I'll try and find the drivers for you.

[patio]

Has this machine been moved at all ? ?
There's a chance your front panel connections have come loose.
My next suspect would be a weak or failing PSU.

[jlabouef]

i'll tell you what, i don't see it listed anywhere.

[jlabouef]

i've moved the machine before. i've checked all the connections, they look good. i pulled them apart and cleaned them not too long ago. what is a PSU?

[jlabouef]

does the psu have anything to do with the power? if this psu is weak or failing, would my computer detect the media reader or the other ports?

[jlabouef]

psu is the "power supply unit", correct? can this be weakened enough to power everything but the media reader and the front ports? is this why they stopped working at different times? as the psu has got weaker devices stopped working one at a time. is there a way i can test the unit? just go ahead and replace it? take one out of an old computer or just go ahead and get a new one? are they different for each model computer?