onboard usb issue

Working on a PC with an ASUS motherboard. The issue is that after my client installed his kids MP3 player he could no longer get his IPod to be recognized. He called me in after he could not fix it. I discovered that not only was the IPod unrecognized, but flash drives were also not recognized. However headphones, keyboards and mice are recognized. Also the USB1 PCI card ports do work fully. I did all the troubleshooting procedures I could think of. I reinstalled the USB drivers, uninstalled and reinstalled the USB root hub and controllers, turned off power saving options,upgraded chipset and BIOS among other things. After all this did not solve the problem I decided to try a Windows XP repair. This did not resolve the issue. I then backed up the hard drive and performed a clean install of the OS. After installing all the drivers, SP2 and windows updates the problem still persists. I have spent 2 days on this issue for my client and woukd like to solve it. I did talk to ASUS tech support and they gave me an RMA for a replacement motherboard. My client is hesitant to do this as he thinks it is a driver or software conflict of some sort. I am of the opinion that the motherboard is the issue. If anybody on this forum concurs or has another solution it would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.