[plug] USB ports

[Jonathan Young]

On 3/31/2006, "Richard Meyer" <meyerri at westnet.com.au> wrote:

>Stupid question, but are I've bought a "VOIP USB Phone" which is
>(supposedly) perfect for Skype and others.
>
>It seems to work fine under W2K., except that the sound quality is crap,
>and the ring tones don't get out AND the screen doesn't light up - which
>suggests to me that the USB ports I have plugged it in to may not be
>powered.

That could well be because it is getting less power than it should,
though usually things like that don't even detect, so it is a little
unusual.

>Question : are all USB motherboard ports powered? Are any of them
>powered? What do I do? Buy a USB powered hub?

Generally, the motherboard ports at the back are ALWAYS powered and the
ones elsewhere on the board might be powered too.  I have seen cases
however where the front USB (connected via a USB2 connector on the
motherboard) are not powered and so a device has had to run from an
extension round from the back USB instead.  PCI add-in cards are never
powered.

Either way, testing it with a powered USB hub should prove things one way
or another.

>Thanks,
>RM