Acer Aspire 5532 broken USB port

[PraiseJeebus]

Hi, I have a customers Acer Aspire 5532 and they have broken one of the USB ports. On the laptop there are only 2 USB ports (crappy I know), they are beside each other. The question I have is if the unbroken one doesn't pick up any USB device could the broken one have shorted the USB controller ( I am new to this). I'm asking this as I don't want to desolder the faulty USB port and solder in a new one to realise the the motherboard or the USB controller is busted. Has anyone come across this before or can anyone help me out.
Thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[MobileTechie]

Hi, I have a customers Acer Aspire 5532 and they have broken one of the USB ports. On the laptop there are only 2 USB ports (crappy I know), they are beside each other. The question I have is if the unbroken one doesn't pick up any USB device could the broken one have shorted the USB controller ( I am new to this). I'm asking this as I don't want to desolder the faulty USB port and solder in a new one to realise the the motherboard or the USB controller is busted. Has anyone come across this before or can anyone help me out.
Thanks in advance,
Paul

Yes it's possible. It's worth desoldering the broken one to see if that fixes it. I've got ports work like this before.

 

[Martyn]

Had the same thing recently on a laptop. The lady had a usb dongle for the internet and the dongle wasn't being recognised so therefore no internet. I looked at the adjacent usb port and the plastic piece had come out and the 5v was shorting out clamping down the supply for the other port. I bent the defective one away and taped up the outside aperture as they didn't want to go to the expense of a strip down. Job done

 

[KM@ Dave]

Hmm... Have you dismantled the Laptop yet?

I've had to replace USB ports before and they were simply detatchable and replacable, like my current daily use Laptop has three USB ports on a PCB rather than soldered onto the Motherboard.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

I had a customer bring me an ACER Aspire 4730Z the other day with both USB ports smashed & broken. They were side by side just like you are describing. I desoldered them both and replaced them. Worked great, like new. The biggest problem I had was finding another USB port like those. I don't think they are that uncommon, but they were shorter than the regular ports you normally see. None of the dead motherboards I had available used those type. I ended up buying a good i/o board to a Toshiba laptop about $7 from Ebay and desoldering those.

One other possible solution for the customer is to buy an express card with USB ports.

 

[arrow_runner]

I actually had to order USB ports for the same series laptop this week. They haven't come in yet. If you need a link, let me know. It's a US vendor on eBay. $11 shipped for 2 ports...

 

[PraiseJeebus]

I have dismantled the laptop and the USB ports are soldered in place. I would use a pcmica card but there isn't one. I'll prob go ahead and de-solder and re-solder in some new ones as it sounds like it'll work.
Thanks
Paul

 

[reigN]

I actually had to order USB ports for the same series laptop this week. They haven't come in yet. If you need a link, let me know. It's a US vendor on eBay. $11 shipped for 2 ports...

My sister and I each have this laptop. I keep mine in good condition, her kids had other ideas for hers lol.

Both of her USB ports are smashed. I'd be interested in where you got the compatible replacement from.

 

[Myhrcg]

I actually had to order USB ports for the same series laptop this week. They haven't come in yet. If you need a link, let me know. It's a US vendor on eBay. $11 shipped for 2 ports...

I need the link as well please. Thanks!