Mac Pro USB ports and bluetooth not working

I am not using Blutooth but suddenly my USB is not working right. First my mouse and keyboard wouldn't work. Tried plugging them into different ports. After rebooting 3 times, they worked but then I noticed USB devices were still not working--like plugging in a flash drive to the front of my MacPro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon.

I was going to try resetting the PRAM but as others reported, the keyboard is not working during the reboot so it didn't happen. This is crazy! I hope someone can figure this out soon. Isn't there some little switch inside the Mac that is like resetting the PRAM?

having the same problem here. just started this morning. i know this doesnt help anyone, i just wanted to bring more attention to this issue.

Please help haveing the same issue! all usb ports are not working, no keyboard or mouse!!!

Its weird that you guys are having this issue, because about 5 days ago on the 25th, I to am having an issue with this. All my usb ports are not working. I am not able to get keyboard or mouse to work on the front or back ports. When I plug my mouse in direct, the laser lights up but no movement. I have a 2.66 ghz quad mac pro. I just ordered a pcie card from tigerdirect, which is supposed to come today, I am hoping it does the trick. its a 4 port 2.0 card, it was a bit pricey but I am thinking the mac will pick it up after I plug it in. The 3.0 usb cards all said they needed drivers for it to work, so I just went with the old usb 2.0..keeping my fingers crossed that it will do the trick, if so I will post. I called Techserve yesterday about a possible repair, and of course they want me to bring it in, could be logic board? I would rather just buy another used one on ebay or something then to spend all the money to have this one fixed. I ran out of warranty in 2010 so I'm kind of screwed.

The only thing I've done differently is that I was hooking up music gear to the usb ports. I am using a Lexicon Omega adapter for mixing in Logic 8. Its been working for a week or two now, no issues. This adapter has its own power supply hooked up to it, do you think I overloaded usb, and it just killed the ports? Its been plugged into the back of the machine, why would this effect the front usb ports? I also had to make some changes before the happened, setting the main usb to the lexicon omega adapter. Not sure if this has anything to do with it. I have not done any updating, I am actually still running 10.5. I can't update to 10.6 because my avid media composer 3 won't work, so I never installed snow leapord. Really bummed, this has been my workhorse for a good 4 years now.

ccoates4, my USB is working again but I am not sure why and don't trust it. I shut down for a few minutes when I was having the problem. I think you need to turn off or disconnect everything you can from your Mac and shut it down. Then go ahead and power back up. That seemed to work for me. At least so far, it is working.

Linda..tried that.. I came back yesterday after leaving everything unplugged for half a day, including power chord. Then booted up still no go.

Last night spent a good hour trying various things. trying each port, full power down and restarts. I took out a bunch of ram and all the hard drives except the main drive. machine boots up perfect but still no usb at all.

I took the power chord off again last night, going to give it 24 hours and then try it again tonight when I get home. I am hoping the usb pcie adapter comes today, I think that's going to be the trick just to get my keyboard and mouse working again. I'll post if thats a work around..got this one

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details_ss.asp?EdpNo=70 42749&CatId=5507

That scares me because I think you have the same Mac I have. I find it odd all the USB ports would stop working at the same time. Wish we could find out why this happens.

from what I'm understanding is its likely to be hardware, my machine is a bit old, and its been getting fussy in its old age... I guess they can't last forever. just got my adapter in the mail so when I get home I am hoping this will be a work around. I'll post for sure if it works.

Yes, please let us know if your adapters work.

Linda

My macbook 2,1 have same problem. I try mini-pcie with usb hub, but not work.

Okay...got the usb adapter in, and it works. I plugged my keyboard in and its picking it up fine. Its a great work around as far as I can tell... I do not recommend usb 3.0 you will need to install drivers, and if your keyboard is not working then your stuck... My mac pro picked up the 2.0 usb with not additional drivers or anything..

got this from tiger direct, came in one day! these guys have not let me down...anyway here is the link again...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details_ss.asp?EdpNo=70 42749&CatId=5507

It was a bit pricey but it was only the one I could find that was mac compatible, you want to make sure its mac compatible.. there are a bunch that I saw for 20 or less, but they were all windows only according to the back of the box, found some at best buy, all windows only...

there were some others that were mac compatible, search around on the web...

now the second thing I need to mention, after installing the adapter I got my keyboard and mouse up.. I then did a option command P and R (reset pram) now my usb in the back of the tower is working, the original usb that is part of the logic board, not sure what fixed it, but now its good to go.. The usb connections in the front are still no go, they are not working.

I want to mention that I took out all my ram, and put it back in and pushed then in tight, not sure if that had anything to do with it either..

IF YOU DO FIND YOURSELF IN A PINCH, USE YOUR PCIE SLOT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE AND GET A USB ADAPTER. EASY FIX!!!!!

ccoates4,

Thanks for sharing that workaround. it is good to know for aobut $60 we can get USB back on our MacPros. I would assume it probably costs much more than that to have the Mac repaired.

It is interesting that the USB on the back of the Mac now works after resetting the PRAM. I wonder why the front slots don't work still?

When my USB stopped working, even the USB on my Apple Cinema Display quit working, so I would have guessed the PCI fix wouldn't help. I am glad I was wrong.

Hey folks... I tuned in here because this is the second time I've had this issue on my mac pro late 2010 12 core westmere... all the sudden very wonkey usb response...intermittent or not responding at all... working, and then gone again the next minute.... I had a vague recollection after reading this, that the solution was .... to shut down the machine (however you may have to).... then unplug all power sources.... with the machine off - and it will reset the usb bus, which has somehow been corrupted.... I just did that, and voila - back in biz with all things normal.... The first time around, it took me a day to hunt up an obscure refference on google....

Note that restarting, rather than shutting down, does NOT clear the bus....

Best of luck.

Dave

hi

I have a 2006 iMac

and faced the exact problem the first post had.

I tried everything, such as removing the bluetooth card and unplugged the machine for 3days

still cant use the usb ports

the only thing I can to now is control it through screen share!

Anyone has any idea how to fix the problem ?

thanks

Hoc

Hey there,

I just came across the same issue with the USB and Bluetooth not working on my late 2010 Mac Pro. I shut down my system and unplugged all the usb devices. I then blew out all the ports with caned air and then gave them a gentle squitrt of contact cleaner. Plugged everything in and powerd the system up. Everything now works just fine. I've heard that if a little dust gets into one of your usb ports that it can short out the connector and then none of the ports will work. So just give the ports a little cleaning and see if that works. It's better than having to spend any money on apple support or getting a new usb card. Hope this helps.

Hi Joasnarh

Thanks for the tips , However I dont have the canned air and contact cleaner right now ,

do you think using a vacum cleaner to suck the dirt/dust out of the port is ok?

Or will it damage the ports ?

By the way , does anyone know whether replacing the Pram battery has the same function as Zapping Pram.

I've tried resetting SUM , and replaced the coin battery (Pram battery)

Ive noticed that the SUM reset did happend , but I can't tell whether the Pram was zapped or not?

Regards