# Queer computer problem diagnosis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704 "2003-08-21T16:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/1 "2003-08-21T16:01:29Z")
OK, I’ve been told this only second-hand, but here goes: A co-worker took her computer in because it had a problem (something about some images were fuzzy, maybe). A service guy said that “there is physical damage to the motherboard, probably caused by the printer cable being plugged in upside-down, causing the motherboard to be shorted out.” Apparently the printer port is a USB port, not a “regular” printer port where it can be plugged in only one way. The question: Was that a reasonable diagnosis? If so, it seems as though there should be some safeguard against plugging into a USB port if it can cause that kind of damage. ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/2 "2003-08-21T16:07:46Z")
You can plug in a USB cable only one way. I think you would have to take a hammer and hammer it in before it would go in. It could be a lot of things causing computer problems, but I doubt it if it was from plugging the USB cable upside down. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/3 "2003-08-21T19:38:25Z")
Sounds like Service Guy wanted to sell a new motherboard and a tidy bundle of labor charges. Even if someone hamered a cable upside-down into a USB port, I can’t imagine how it would affect the video, unless the socket broke loose and landed on the video card. _Some_ images are fuzzy? Sounds like either fuzzy images (individually blurry pictures - could be a problem with the camera or person using the camera) or perhaps a bad monitor cable/loose connection or a failing monitor. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/4 "2003-08-21T20:53:17Z")
Sounds highly suspicious. Does your co-worker’s computer have a motherboard with built-in video? There _is_ a safeguard against plugging in USB cables upside-down. But it’s conceivable that someone might get one in wrong if they pushed very hard, or at an angle. I’d get a second opinion, try another monitor (to verify or rule out the monitor), and try swapping the video card if it’s _not_ built into the MB. ---
**Author:** ![Hauky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/5 "2003-08-21T21:34:22Z")
Eh, my cousin once managed to get a Firewire cord into a USB port. You can imagine how well the computer booted after that. (Not very well at all, to spell it out.) I suppose it’s feasible, although a bad monitor cable or something seems far more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/6 "2003-08-21T21:58:47Z")
Trivia: a USB port and an ethernet port (the one that looks somewhat like a phone plug, but bigger) are the same width. Not that I’ve ever plugged a USB cable into the latter, or anything… ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/7 "2003-08-21T22:38:06Z")
“Physical damage” to the mobo wouldn’t cause “some” images to be “fuzzy”. If it did end up getting fixed, the guy was probably bullshitting 'cause he didn’t fix it himself and know what the problem was, or just didn’t wanna explain something technical. Upside-down printer USB cables. That’s the wildest excuse I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/8 "2003-08-21T22:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gunslinger \* > \*\*Trivia: a USB port and an ethernet port (the one that looks somewhat like a phone plug, but bigger) are the same width. Not that I’ve ever plugged a USB cable into the latter, or anything… \*\* So my parents cable modem goes down last week, over the phone I tried some diagnostics, amongst them I had them power cycle the modem, unplug the USB cord from the modem plug it back in etc… Still no go, I eventually go over and try to fix it myself. The first thing I did was go to unplug the USB cord from the modem and plug it back in, as soon as I looked at the modem, I notcied that the USB was plugged into the ethernet jack! Move it over to where it belongs, problem solved right! Wrong! (After a lot of work, it turns out some virus/worm/scumware whatever made it’s way onto the computer and started spaming people from OUR IP address, so Time Warner Cable disabled all internet services.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/9 "2003-08-21T22:51:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gunslinger \* > \*\*Trivia: a USB port and an ethernet port (the one that looks somewhat like a phone plug, but bigger) are the same width. Not that I’ve ever plugged a USB cable into the latter, or anything… \*\* So my parents cable modem goes down last week, over the phone I tried some diagnostics, amongst them I had them power cycle the modem, unplug the USB cord from the modem plug it back in etc… Still no go, I eventually go over and try to fix it myself. The first thing I did was go to unplug the USB cord from the modem and plug it back in, as soon as I looked at the modem, I notcied that the USB was plugged into the ethernet jack! Move it over to where it belongs, problem solved right! Wrong! (After a lot of work, it turns out some virus/worm/scumware whatever made it’s way onto the computer and started spaming people from OUR IP address, so Time Warner Cable disabled all internet services.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queer-computer-problem-diagnosis/196704/10 "2003-08-22T05:15:45Z")
Motherboards get damaged all the time due to screwups in USB connections. It takes out a whole voltage supply on the MB, so the USB slot and whatever else is on that run goes out. This is of course 99+% likely to be fatal to the MB. People really can and do plug stuff info things wrong all the time in amazing ways. Note that it is not necessarily at the MB plug that someone did something stupid. The other end of the cable can be plugged into something wrong and that hits the MB. (I occassionally hear about someone trying to use a USB multiport splitter as a hub to connect 2 computers. That will cause **two** dead MBs right there.) A fuzzy image on the monitor? Not likely at all.