MacBook Pro USB port problem...

yeah what is this? why is it doing this? the exhdd powers up but it doesnt mount. why?

Message was edited by: tom lau

because apple needs to address this issue and fix the problem. I believe it has to reach a certain amount of people before its addressed or until someone sues them. Anyone up for the challenge?? I love my mac just wish apple would fix this. I;m so broke after purchasing this computer but thats my problem.

Thanks Peter Wang 1 & Bigboi J.
My Sierra Wireless AirCard 875U was faltering in the left USB and finally refused to start. The PMU/SMC reset indeed worked for me! Now, how long will the fix stay fixed?

I recently had the same issue. I had a USB card reader at would not be recognized or mounted. With the assistance of a great customer service rep from APPLE, my issue was resolved quickly. Here is what we did.

1.) Unplug the power cable from the laptop
2.) Make sure all of the USB devices have been removed.
3.) Remove the battery from the laptop.
4.) Then press the 'power' button for 5 seconds. That's right press the power button.
5.) Place the battery back in and plug in the device.
6.) Restart the computer and then insert your USB card reader. You should now see your USB card reader mounted.

I hope that this helps out!

Ive got this issue as well. Ive got a Core Duo 15.4" 2.16Ghz which refuses to allow devices to recognize, although I can see they are on. System Profiler offers no help on this.

Ive already tried:

a. PRAM reset
b. SMC reset

to no avail. Bummer cause I need both USB ports to work correctly.

Great happy_traveller! Your solution given by the nice Apple rep worked perfectly with my MBP. I've been using my MBP 15" since summer 2008 and never had a problem. It's truth that the right USB port is always more powerful or reactive but now both are working good and recognize every peripheral connected to either one... Thanks!

I have a brand new 15" MBP and the right hand USB port has suddenly stopped working. It will charge devices like my iPhone, but doesn't mount anything - including my iPhone and USB pen drive.

Looks like a trip to the Genius Bar for me...

Thought I'd try happy_traveller's solution before I booked my appointment at the Apple Store and it worked! Both USB ports are now up and running. Thanks happy_traveller, I owe you a pint!

(I assume you're supposed to shut down before removing the battery!)

I called AppleCare this morning and was told to perform an SMC reset and it fixed the problem for me. Wish I'd seen this post by happy_traveller earlier, would have saved myself a phone call!

I have a problem where my mouse connection (wireless logitech vx revolution) got mixed up when I plugged the adaptor into the left usb. I reset it and then it worked fine in the right. Also my ipod doesn't work in the left one anymore. It charges but does not connect to the computer.

I'm having an interesting variation on this problem. I bought a Western Digital Passport Essential 500GB portable HD two days ago to take with me on a trip. Up until this point, I'd never had any problems with either USB port on my MBP, and I bought mine in 2006. I plugged the drive into the right-side port, it mounted just fine, and I was able to use it just fine for a day or so.

Yesterday, I installed Apple's latest security update, restarted the computer with the drive still plugged in, and it didn't mount. I unplugged the drive and got the "The device you removed was not properly put away" message, so I plugged the drive back in to the right-side port. My computer immediately shut off without any kind of message or warning, so I restarted it with the drive plugged in to the same port. It took at least a minute, but the drive mounted, and I was able to use it. I tried re-formatting the drive, ejecting it, and plugging it in again, and the same thing happened: complete shutdown, no warning at all. Then I tried the drive in my left-side port, near the power adapter, and haven't had any issues at all, mounting or otherwise. I'd really like some help understanding what's going on here, is it an issue of too much power draw, or what?

I to have an odd USB problem on my brand new macbook pro (unibody). Essentially I have 3 devices that i plug in to USB ports, a logitech wireless mouse, my iphone and a seagate external hard disk. For some reason starting yesterday the mouse will only function if I plug the mouse in the front usb port. The HD is happily working in the rear port. Both devices are relying on being powered via usb. Given I am new to Mac I am little unsure how to troubleshoot this. I have noticed odd messages in the console log regarding USB since the issue first appeared however I am not sure whether these are detailing the issue.

25/08/09 7:18:13 AM kernel USBF: 196.514 [0x761b200] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 1 of hub @ location: 0x4000000)

I am also having the problem on the right side. I have a motu ultralite mk3 soundcard i use for recording on the firewire 400 port. I am using a lacie quadra external hard drive. Was originally using firewire 800 port for that but since firewire ports were on the same bus it was basically running my external hard drive at the firewire 400 speed and also interfering with my motu sound card making it crash. The lacie worked fine on the firewire 800 port. So i decided to put my external hard drive on the usb 2.0 port on the ride side the same side as the firewire ports. Disk would constantly disconnect when playing itunes. Just fyi i have 12,000 songs adding up to 53 gigs. I thought that might have been the issue. But realize maybe it wasn't. Then i bought a new certified usb 2.0 gold platted cable only $7. Still having the same problem with hard drive disconnecting on the right usb 2.0 port. So i then corrected all errors with disk utility. After all that i decided to buy a 1tb hard drive just in case it was the actual lacie drive that might be failing (my friend had a horror story recently lossing all his original music, so it scared me into buying another hard drive to back up). The 1tb samsung drive started doing the same thing disconnecting frequently like the lacie using the right usb 2.0 port on the same side as the firewire ports. SO i tried the left side usb 2.0 port. It's working fine and not disconnecting on the left side. Oh by the way all hard drives come with their on power supplies. So no power is being used through the ports. I have apple care so i intend to get this resolved before my 3 year deadline. I can safely say i have a bad right usb 2.0 port? Any one that may be able to say otherwise? Please let me know and give me feed back if i could do anything else. Thanks.

Hi all,

SMC reset didn't work for me. Tried 3 times.

I've got a late-2007 Macbook Pro, and the left USB port is unable to power an M-Audio Axiom 61 midi controller - right USB is no problem.

Mike.

As of yesterday, I've been getting a dialog warning every few minutes ⚠ that a USB device is drawing too much power, and that the ports have been shut down. I haven't had anything even plugged into them. When I tested them, the right one worked fine; the left one didn't see anything I plugged into it. Disk Utility didn't pick up anything; I've reset the PRAM; I've restarted. I've had this MacBook less than a month. Any ideas?