Can a USB hub kill a perfectly good mouse?
I’ve had this USB Optical Mouse for many years already. Its eloquently called a Wheel Mouse Optical USB by Microsoft. Its extremely light, has a long cord, and worked beautifully. Today, it died.
How does a simple USB mouse go dead? I was using it this morning, then replugged it into my laptop this afternoon, via a USB hub, and it would not turn on. Tried it in multiple ports, multiple computers and plugged it in directly to the computer - also tried rebooting, and it still never revived.
I’m aware that hardware fails, but I find it pretty weird that only a few days after starting to use a USB hub that my mouse fails. Could it be that the USB hub killed my mouse?
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I think the key words in that post are “many” and “years”. I understand that you’ve yet to have a mouse fail/die on you since you’ve been working with computers but it does happen.
AFAIK the USB hub just relays the signal. I’m not sure how it could seemingly out of the blue send one to the mouse to kill it.
Mike Stickel on December 11th, 2005 2:16 pm
Coincidence I suppose.
Colin D. Devroe on December 11th, 2005 2:55 pm
It is theoretically possible for the USB hub to kill the mouse, but it is EXTREMELY unlikely. It would mean the that hub is either (1) defective, or (2) non-compliant with the USB spec.
The hub has power regulation/distribution logic inside it. It passed power downstream to the various USB devices attached (up to 500mA @ +5V).
If the USB hub was outputting a bad voltage (say something higher than 6V), it could possibly damage the circuitry of the mouse. Most likely, it would kill the mouse as soon as it was attached to the hub. Also, the hub would probably kill any other devices attached to it.
If the hub is putting out a bad voltage, this can be determined with a voltmeter. You can measure the voltage of the power pins on the USB connector. However, you need to measure the voltage while a device is actually attached (USB ports don’t output current until the device asks for it).
Measuring the voltage while a device is plugged in can be a little tricky. You obviously can’t get at the power pins of the USB connector while a device is plugged into it. You’d need to splice into the USB cable, and measure the voltage from the wires.
Of course, all of this is probably a lot more work than buying a new mouse. You may also want to see if the mouse is still covered under any kind of warranty.
FYI, the number one cause of device failures I’ve seen with USB devices/ports is caused by the connector. The USB connector design is pretty flimsy. It can’t take very many insert/remove cycles, and the connectors don’t stay in very well.
In the military/industrial systems we design, we have a lot of trouble with USB connectors. They just don’t hold up in harsh environments.
Myron A Semack on December 12th, 2005 12:21 am
I wouldn’t call my office a harsh environment, but I see your point. Looking at the mouse the connector seems to be as sturdy as the day I bought it, and I’m extremely careful with all of my hardware.
I’m guessing it simply died, but it makes me angry thinking that something as simple as a mouse can break down when there is no moving parts and has such a low voltage/amperage running through it.
I’m wondering what part specifically broke down inside - simply because of curiosity.
Colin D. Devroe on December 12th, 2005 12:31 am