Sounds like there's a voltage issue in the USB controller. Not sure, but I'm pretty sure that USB keys need just a tad more juice than keyboards and even optical mice. Not 100% there. If it were me I'd RMA the board. The USB hub is going to have the same power issue unless you get one with it's own power source so it isn't pulling from the MoBo. Alternately, the $10 fix should do the trick, just make sure its USB 2.0 or USB 3.0