Hello,
I recently purchased a emachine D520 laptop from a random of craigslist. Iknow,I know but I got a sweet deal. I only paid $75 for it.



The deal is everything works fine, besides the usb ports. I forgot to ask what caused the "damage". He wasn't exactly tech savvy either.

So there are 2 usb ports total (left side). 1 usb housing is missing completely, but 1 is still in tact. 1 is all I need.

When I attempt to plug in a usb device (I've tried a few to cancel out if one didn't work) instantly the device manager shows error on three drivers. I've uninstalled all of USB drivers, then restarted. Let windows install the new drivers upon reboot. They appear fine, then I plug in a random usb device and back to square one wit 3 errors.



I think they're damaged and need to be soldered etc. But I was hoping I could find another solution here.

("Find device and hardware issues" All on window,just scrolled.)







If its not a driver issue. Should I pay the guesstimated $100ish for the usb repair at my local shop? The touch pad works flawlessly. Although it is a bit uncomfortable. I think a new $150 mobo is out of question.

Thanks for reading and the help,
Digi

You might look into a PC Card to USB Adapter, since almost all notebooks have a PC Card (formally called PCMCIA card) slot.

Originally Posted by Digerati

You might look into a PC Card to USB Adapter, since almost all notebooks have a PC Card (formally called PCMCIA card) slot.

Yeh, that would be ideal.. but....

I spent a few hours today and somehow managed to disassemble the laptop. I had to since there wasn't a PCMI slot I could see from the exterior. So I figured it maybe hidden within.

After snapping and taking out 50 screws lol. There isn't a PCMI slot, but it wasn't a complete waist of time as it was covered in dust and I replaced the thermal compound. Also nothing appeared to fit anything like a PCMI connector.

I have found "Dell Latitude D520 / D530 PCMCIA Slot Assembly" at a few retailers online. But I haven't a clue where or how that would be installed.

When I take off the common screws on the bottom of the laptop it looks like:
Black=case
Blue=wireless card
red=HDD
brown=connection strip/empty space

What is that "brown" connection area/strip? Sata? I'm a noob when it comes to laptop hardware.


Edit: Also, I took a look at the usb ports. 1 was completely gone solder and all. The other looked like the usual repair job. The middle connections on the usb port weren't soldered. (I don't solder so...) but appeared to be be properly done.

What is that "brown" connection area/strip? Sata? I'm a noob when it comes to laptop hardware.
I'm a noob when it comes to laptop hardware.

It sure would be nice if there was an ATX Form Factor Standard for notebooks, then we might have a clue. But they are very proprietary, in the makers efforts to make them thinner and lighter than the other guys. And to make matters worse, eMachines is the budget, entry level line from Acer (which explains the lack of a PC Card slot, confirmed by the specs) - so I doubt you have many, if any options.

I called up a few shops. The cheapest said it would be around $100 as expected to solder on new usb housings. But if the housing doesn't fix the problem I don't get any reimbursement or deal. So i would have to pay additional for them to situate the driver issue.

Honestly I don't think the solder job will fix it alone. All considered I don't think its worth it.

If its not the drivers & not the usb housing. What else could it be? Try to eliminate the suspects.

If its not the drivers & not the usb housing.

Hard to tell, but my guess would the USB I/O controller - a device on the motherboard, or something in its associated circuits.

Originally Posted by Digerati

Hard to tell, but my guess would the USB I/O controller - a device on the motherboard, or something in its associated circuits.

The user? lol Its probably best to just let it be before I get any other smart ideas.

Thanks digerati, appreciate the time and effort.

No problem. Good luck. And if you do get it resolved, post back with the solution.