Elitedesk 800 G3 most USB sockets not working

[orinoco77]

I have an Elitedesk 800 G3 running as a media centre with a reasonably decent graphics card for 4K output and games. The unit has 8 USB A ports and one USB C. Only two of the USB A ports work: The two at either end on the front panel. The USB C port doesn’t seem to work but I don’t have many USB C peripherals to test with. When I say the ports don’t work I mean if I plug a mouse in I can’t move the cursor, if I plug a phone in the phone doesn’t start charging. They’re dead, as far as I can see. Using the two remaining ports, I can attach a mouse and keyboard and that works fine in Linux, however, in the UEFI interface, the mouse and keyboard don’t work correctly. The mouse is confined to the left edge of the screen and seems to move the opposite way than expected. If I move the mouse up, the cursor goes down. Nothing seems to make the mouse move left or right. The keyboard does nothing.

I have tried unplugging the unit and holding the power button down for 30s to discharge anything that might be holding a charge, that did nothing.

Anyone have any ideas? Bear in mind I can’t control the cursor in the UEFI screen, so changing settings or booting from another device is going to be difficult. I’m just hoping those symptoms sound familiar and fixable to somebody.

[NonSequitur777]

@orinoco77,

Both the HP EliteDesk 800 G3 TWR and SFF models have a total of 10 USB ports, though I assume you got the Tower model?

Honestly, to save yourself from potentially a long and arduous troubleshooting job, one way to 'fix' your issue is to use a PCIe expansion card, such as this Amazon-United Kingdom purchase example: GLOTRENDS U3057 7-port USB 3.2 Gen1 5Gbps PCIe Expansion Card, Compatible with Windows and Linux (No....

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[orinoco77]

Thanks, I was considering that, if I can fit one in there with the graphics card. It’s the SFF model, but I only found a total of 9 sockets, 8 USB A and 1 USB C. Unless there’s five on the back and I missed one. I’ll try the back ones again just in case. If I don’t get another answer in the next day or so I’ll make yours the accepted answer and open it up and see if I can get a card in there.

Thanks!

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@orinoco77,

On the front of the chassis, there is one USB 3.0 Type-C port (which doubles as a charging port), two USB 3.0 Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one of which doubles as a fast-charging port. On the rear of the chassis, there are four USB 3.0 Type-A ports and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports:

And since you clarified that you got an SFF, you'll need a low-profile PCIe expansion card, such as this Amazon-United Kingdom purchase example: chenyang U3-101 CY Low Profile 4 Ports PCI-E to USB 3.0 HUB PCI Express Expansion Card Adapter 5Gbps...., or a USB splitter hub like this one: Aceele USB Hub 3.0 Splitter with 4ft Extension Long Cable Cord, 4-Port Ultra-Slim Multiport Expander....

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[orinoco77]

Thank you. I’d missed the two under the network socket, which means I haven’t tried those. I’ll give them a go. Thanks for the links too. I’ll have a look. 

[NonSequitur777]

@orinoco77,

You're welcome -good luck!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777