I have never (not even in Windows) been able to get my front panel USB to operate. There are 4 ports on the back, 2 on the front.
Everything is enabled in the BIOS. The header is wired correctly.

Motherboard is an Intel D845PEBT2.

Debian, kernel 2.6.16.16

lspci output:

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)

lsusb output:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Now, obviously only 4 are shown (likely the 4 in the rear), but the front ports are seen in syslog when a device is inserted:

Sep 7 18:07:48 beast kernel: usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 24
Sep 7 18:07:48 beast kernel: usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 25
Sep 7 18:07:49 beast kernel: usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 26
Sep 7 18:07:49 beast kernel: usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 27

the same device inserted into one of the rear ports

Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: usb 1-4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 28
Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: usb 1-4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: scsi2 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
Sep 7 18:08:41 beast kernel: USB Mass Storage support registered.
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: Vendor: CREATIVE Model: MuVo TX FM Rev: 1182
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 04
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1003008 512-byte hdwr sectors (514 MB)
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: sdb: Write Protect is off
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1003008 512-byte hdwr sectors (514 MB)
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: sdb: Write Protect is off
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: sdb: sdb1
Sep 7 18:08:46 beast kernel: sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb


so everything is definitely aware of the front ports existance, but for some reason there is no communication with the device. Any suggestions?

What modules are loaded? lsmod command
The modules for USB are ohci-hcd and uhci-hcd for 1.0-1.1 USB controllers
ehci-hcd for 2.0 controlers.

Now looking at your info it looks like there are 3 1.1 controllers and a 2.0 controller. Do you know which ports are what on the machine?
If the rear are 2.0 and the front is 1.0 then my guess it is one of the least supported controllers under uhci-hcd. ohci-hcd controllers are better supported over ones theat use uhci-hcd. My only other thought since Windows does not see it is that there is a wiring issue ( but you mentioned this in the post ) or the controller my be partitially bad.

Brian1

In addition to Brian1's comments regarding the modules, are you completely sure that the front USB ports are wired correctly? Considering that you say it has never worked, you might want to challenge that assumption, and depending on your computer's case, you may be facing the same situation as I did with my Antec cabinet, which was that I had to connect each individual wire from the front panel (power button, indicator lights, USB, etc) to a single pin on the mobo, rather than having the wires grouped together in one or more single plastic connector blocks. Having to attach each wire to a specific pin was a PITA, and it took me a while to get everything sorted out. Initially nothing was working correctly on my front panel, but by experimenting a little and switching the USB wires to the opposite pins I got it to work. One factor that contributed to the confusion was that the mobo's manual used different terminology for the pins than the case manufacturer used on wires. I don't recall the specifics, but it was something like the mobo using labels like "USB+" and "USB-" but the wires using "USB-1" and "USB-2". It wasn't exactly obvious, and even though I read and re-read the manuals I finally just got fed up and used the process of elimination to get it to work.

thanks for the help

modules:

ehci_hcd 27144 0
uhci_hcd 26896 0
usb_storage 62528 1
usbcore 110752 4 usb_storage,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
ide_core 111152 6 usb_storage,ide_generic,ide_disk,ide_cd,piix,generic
scsi_mod 122572 3 usb_storage,sd_mod,libata

I don't recall what brand my case is, but it also has the seperated pins, two groups of three (+5V, +D, -D) a pair of grounds and a single ground. The grounds are correct, and this is board side:

VREG_FP_WSBPWR0, USB_FPP0-, USB_FPP0+ (s/0/1 for the other set).

Seems pretty clear that VREG is +5V with the other two being the corresponding data lines.

For the heck of it I flipped the connectors and I didn't even get "usb 1-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd" so Im fairly certain the wiring is correct.

I have one motherboard with an internal header like you describe. I bought a floppy case that has 2 usb ports and few other features. When plugging in the connector and verifying it was correct it did not allow my machine to boot. When I removed it, it fired up fine. Never did mess with it beyond that. The board is a Tyan S2462 I think. The device that has the plug on it was a holder for a 3 /12 floppy and had a 2 port USB plug beside it in a 5 1/4 form factor.

I must agree with the label as a confusing mess. I kind of consider that but did not decide to investigate further. Maybe when I upgrade again I might play with before sending it to router box to upgrade it. Currently use a pci USB and Firewire card from Adaptec. Works great to use a USB drive to backup partitions.

Not sure what to do from here on your side.

Brian1

Been thinking about what you said here
And that ohci has better support... perhaps if I disabled USB2.0 in the BIOS so that all ports revert to 1.1? I'll give that a try once some stuff gets finished and I can reboot. Thanks.

whoa... how about that. It worked!

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 041e:4120 Creative Technology, Ltd
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000


Thanks! I never would have known that the different USB versions use different modules.

Is the connector from the case 2.0 compliant. Not sure of the requirements between the two. I kind of thought that may have been my issue.

Brian1

I found it, it is an Antec

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=90511

And yeah it says they are 2.0.

the ehci module is no longer being loaded, so I have to conclude that the devices I have been trying to use on the front port have not been 2.0 complaint, and for some reason it wouldn't revert to 1.1. Dunno, but it works!

Excellent - congrats on solving the problem and thanks for posting back. Likewise thanks Brian1 for the excellent diagnosis and recommendations. Well done everyone!

Glad to see you have it figured out as well.

Brian1