USB Port Stopped Working

[T3hPreacher]

Hey all,

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro, and one of the USB ports stopped working. Is there a software issue I can check for to resolve this, or do I just need to take it to the Genius Bar?

 

[heisenberg123]

Hey all,

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro, and one of the USB ports stopped working. Is there a software issue I can check for to resolve this, or do I just need to take it to the Genius Bar?

about this mac, system report, find the USB and see if it gives any error beside it

im assuming you tested multiple usb devices on the port already?

 

[T3hPreacher]

im assuming you tested multiple usb devices on the port already?

Thanks iisforiphone. I'm actually not able to locate the port on my device tree, but I'm not sure how the ports are supposed to look. I've got a setup something like this in there:

USB High Speed Bus
--FaceTime HD Camera (Built-In)
--Hub
----BRCM2070 Hub
------Bluetooth USB Host Controller
----Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad
USB High-Speed Bus
--Hub
----IR Receiver

I'm assuming that the BRCM2070 hub might be one of the ports. If that's the case then the other port is missing. If not, I'm not sure how to identify it.

I first noticed the problem when syncing my iPhone through the cable. At first it connected the phone, then gave me an error. Now, when I attempt to connect a thumb drive, it won't recognize it until I plug it into the second port.

 

[Bear]

...
I'm assuming that the BRCM2070 hub might be one of the ports. If that's the case then the other port is missing. If not, I'm not sure how to identify it.

I first noticed the problem when syncing my iPhone through the cable. At first it connected the phone, then gave me an error. Now, when I attempt to connect a thumb drive, it won't recognize it until I plug it into the second port.

You won't really see the individual ports, you'll only see the connection tree.

And it sounds like it is broken, so a visit to Apple would be your next step.

 

[iforbes]

Very basic question and don't mean to insult anyones intelligence...but have you shut down and restarted your macbook to see if this resolves the issue?

 

[T3hPreacher]

Very basic question and don't mean to insult anyones intelligence...but have you shut down and restarted your macbook to see if this resolves the issue?

Well... I hadn't done it right away when I found the problem. I thought about it last night as I was going to sleep. I tried it this morning and it didn't help anything though. I got the new thumb drive to load in the slot, but when I barely tapped it, the thing disconnected.

My external HD works fine on it though. So I can connect the HD and run a full TM backup, I can connect the iPhone but with an error while syncing, and I can't get this thumb drive to load at all.

I can connect both of my other thumb drives though, so it might be the drive acting wonky. The weird part is that it only acts strange on this one port, not my other one. It's a Hewlett-Packard/PNY brand drive (I've heard spotty things about them), and the connector part that's usually metal is made of plastic on this one so it feels less secure. That might be part of the problem, so maybe it's the drive. I'll just keep using it on my other port for now.