SPCR

When I plug in a USB device to the front of the Antec P180B v1.1 case there is sometimes a static spark that causes the comptuer to reboot. If I touch something metal first everything is fine. Anyone else having this issue.

Haven't had that happen to me yet and i do use the front USB port(s) regularly. Are you sure everything is properly connected / grounded?

I had the same problem on a different case. Perhaps a grounding problem? At any rate, I ended up switching out the MB (for different reasons) and the problem didn't return. I know this isn't much of a solution but just to let you know I've had it happen to me.

I have been having the same problem with the Antec NSK2480 case. Antec sent me a new front USB/sound board, but it is still doing the same thing. It even reboots when I have the USB port wire unplugged completely from the MB.

I am pretty sure its a short/grounding issues somewhere, but have not been able to find it thus far.

If anyone has any other suggestions that would be great.

I checked the pinout and it matches the MB. Strange problem...I only have to touch the USB port and it will reboot...don't even have to plug a device in.

Maybe your case isn't grounded properly. That can happen easily if the PSU is connected to a non-grounded wall socket. I had that happen once (didn't have any grounded wall sockets available) and I got annoyed by getting a tingly feeling when touching the case with bare feet. Simple solution was to ground the case to the radiator in my room.

Hello,

I have seen this happen on a Sonata case and a Solo, with the audio ports -- both of these are at work. It could be the AC outlet grounding? I have been able to get around it is to first touch the metal part of the case, before plugging in the headphones.

pcunite wrote:When I plug in a USB device to the front of the Antec P180B v1.1 case there is sometimes a static spark that causes the comptuer to reboot. If I touch something metal first everything is fine. Anyone else having this issue.

I haven't had that issue, but the USB ports on one of my Solos kills any flash drive that's plugged into it.

All the cables are connected correctly--I've tested the motherboard ports with another USB faceplate, and it works, so the problem is definitely somewhere in the Solo USB hardware/cables.

Lost two 1 GB flash drives before I figured it out. I guess I'm kinda slow . . .

I've had similar problems on several different systems....plugged into grounded outlets. The last one got fixed by running a single jumper wire from a MB attachment screw to a good grounded threaded screw hole inside the case. Apparently the back of the MB attachment screw holes was not making a good ground to the case. Try it....won't hurt anything if it doesn't fix the problem.

Bluefront wrote:I've had similar problems on several different systems....plugged into grounded outlets. The last one got fixed by running a single jumper wire from a MB attachment screw to a good grounded threaded screw hole inside the case. Apparently the back of the MB attachment screw holes was not making a good ground to the case. Try it....won't hurt anything if it doesn't fix the problem.

Thanks. This gave me an idea. I used the red insulators on all the screws on the MB. I tried taking one of these insulators off one of the screws, which should allow the MB to ground properly.

So far I have not had a reboot when touching the front USB ports..hoping this fixed the problem.

Thanks again for the idea.

Ha...good one. Another way to do this would be to ground a black wire from a PSU molex directly to the case. But you never can have too many ground wires. My Antec Aria case did that to me.....it had little spring-like mounts for the MB screws. They were not grounding properly.

In the auto industry.....you'll find separate ground wires all over the car. Sometimes the mufflers have ground wires, sometimes the manifolds. These are things that have direct metal/metal contact, but apparently need more grounding for various reasons.

Hope the fix is permanent....

The USB in my P182 actually came grounded. There's two little wires coming from it wrapped around a screw in the case.

Eagle156 wrote:The USB in my P182 actually came grounded. There's two little wires coming from it wrapped around a screw in the case.

My front USB ports were also grounded. One ground wire coming from the socket and another than Antec sent me to try which grounded the metal casing of the USB port to the chassis. I would still get reboots after this.

It wasn't until I properly grounded the MB by removing one of the insulators, that this issue seems to have gone away.

I will see tonight anyhow...24 hours worth of static elec. built up in my USB devices should tell me one way or the other tonight.

Just reporting that the solution of grounding the MB by removing the red insulator on one of the screws has seemed to fix the reboot problem when I touch the USB port.

I am guessing that my MB was not able to dissipate the static discharged because it was not properly grounded. I pretty much use the insulators on all builds, but I think in this case, the head on the screws I used this time were small enough that they never made contact to the MB when I used the insulators. I am surprised I never ran into this before.

I just had the same thing happen to my computer as well. I'm going to have to try attaching a grounding wire as well.

-Ed

I've hac it happen on my P180B when I put my finger about an inch away from the reset button (going to open the door). I built up quite a static charge (very dry here) and saw to bolts of static charge go the my reset button. It rebooted on me, but I haven't been able to duplicate it.

My p4p800 had this problem 2 days ago. It burned a hole in the south bridge - board is now dead!

After some searching, this seems like a fairly common problem. This got me think about making a dummy usb plug on my case that is only grounded, no other connection. Then i can insert the thumb drive there and discharge it, before putting in an active port and not worry about frying my rig again.

The easiest solution for this, get a humidifier for your room. Your room is just too dry so static electricity is able to build up. A common problem in the winter.

JmanGTA wrote:The easiest solution for this, get a humidifier for your room. Your room is just too dry so static electricity is able to build up. A common problem in the winter.

Well, if his motherboard wasn't properly grounded, eventually he was going to have a problem that wasn't just static-related. Motherboards are grounded for a reason and it's not just static. Would you rely on just the PSU to provide the grounding for the entire computer?

But from a comfort level and to help with heating bills, a humidifier would be a good idea. My wife and I have a little room humidifier that we keep in the living room during the day and move into the bedroom at night. If we don't have it running for a couple hours, we begin to notice the static building up. After about two days, my nasal passages are completely dried out and I need to use nasal spray to prevent severe discomfort and nosebleeds (never had that problem till this year).