Spent 4 hours chasing a weird USB boot loop on a custom build

Got a custom PC in last week that would power on, post, then instantly reboot. No BSOD, no error codes, just a hard reset after 5 seconds. Spent an hour checking the usual suspects: PSU, RAM, CMOS, thermal paste. Everything seemed fine. Finally, on a hunch, I started unplugging everything from the board. Turns out it was a faulty internal USB 3.0 header cable from the front panel. The cable itself had a tiny short inside the connector. The second I unplugged it from the motherboard, the system booted and ran perfectly. I've seen bad front panel connectors before, but never one that caused a full boot loop without any other signs. Had to order a replacement cable from the case manufacturer, which took another 3 days. Has anyone else run into a weird boot issue caused by a front panel cable like that?

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charlesj463mo ago

@the_sarah yeah i'm curious too, what was the failed part in your case? was it a header pin or the actual wire inside the connector?

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the_sarah5mo ago

Seen that exact thing before, actually.

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paul_nguyen5mo ago

Where did you see it before? That's a pretty specific situation, so I'm curious about the context.

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