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keyboard failure

Started by sniper8752 , May 08 2012 04:09 PM

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24 replies to this topic

#1 sniper8752

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 04:09 PM

I have a desktop that is 5-7 years old. I am simply trying to use a usb-powered keyboard. I have tested it with a laptop that is new, and it seems to work fine there. I run windows 7 on that machine. On the desktop, I am running xp pro. When i plug it into a usb port (i have tried several-some are bad) it tells me there is a keyboard failure that pops up at startup of the computer. i have tried a ps2 keyboard, and it works fine. How do I get this to work?

 

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#2 James Litten

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 06:15 PM

Hi

Often there are two points at which you can test it.

1. Does the BIOS see it?
No, according to what you posted :)
This is when you plug it in and then power up the computer.

2. Does Windows plug and play see it?
Test this by unplugging the USB keyboard and plug in the PS/2 one.
Boot the machine into Windows and try plugging in the USB keyboard into various USB ports to see if it is detected.
It is okay to leave the PS/2 keyboard plugged in while doing this.

The other question that I have pertains to the BIOS detection.
Do any of the keyboard's lights come on when you try booting it with the USB keyboard plugged in even though it says 'no keyboard detected'?

James

#3 sniper8752

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 08:38 PM

So I plugged it in after booting the machine, and the lights (num lock, caps lock, and the other one) blinked once, together.

#4 James Litten

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 09:07 PM

Were you able to use it? Did Windows indicate that a new USB device was plugged in (you know, make that sound or show a "new hardware found" balloon)?

I'm pretty sure that having a PS/2 and USB keyboard at the same time is okay to use either. Does the CAPS LOCK light come on if you press the CAPS LOCK key?

If not, I'll dig out a PS/2 keyboard and try it on one of my machines to verify whether or not it should work. I remember doing it with a server once and I know it worked on that.

Do not disconnect the PS/2 keyboard while the computer is on. That doesn't work (problem with PS/2).

Anyway, that at least indicates that you plugged it into a USB port that has power. If it does not work, try plugging a flash drive or mouse into the port to see if that works in order to be sure that the port is okay.

James

#5 sniper8752

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 09:24 PM

It does not work. cannot log onto the computer to try it out since there is a problem with caps lock on the ps2 keyboard so i can't log in to the system. the usb light that i tried turned on. I am thinking that it is the driver.

Now that I think about it, I believe this is an OEM version of XP (or whatever you call it, where the drivers don't come with the OS). attached are some images from device manager. it looks like i have them properly installed (not sure about the ps2 keyboard though... i would think it should work if the usb drivers work, with plug and play working.... )

keyboard: http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=pm7yz1lp18iiyqz
usb: http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=8f21zhgc1kl2itc

#6 James Litten

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Posted 08 May 2012 - 09:55 PM

Good, you're looking in the right places :)

It appears that your computer refuses to recognize the keyboard in both the BIOS and Windows plug and play.

The USB light might not be a good test though since it only needs power and we want to check the USB's ability to read and write data through the port. Do you have anything else USB that you can try in it like a flash drive or a mouse?

Also, I think we should look at the BIOS settings to see if something got set wrong there. What is the manufacturer/model of the computer or the manufacturer/model of the motherboard if it is a custom build?

For example, if a flash drive or mouse plugged into the USB port is not detected maybe a USB setting in the BIOS needs to be changed.

James

#7 jhayz

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 01:52 AM

You can also try removing the CMOS battery and reinserting it after a couple of minutes. Remove all devices, cables/connection from the internal/external hardwares . Do this while computer is unplugged.

Tekken

#8 sniper8752

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 09:06 AM

Good, you're looking in the right places :)

It appears that your computer refuses to recognize the keyboard in both the BIOS and Windows plug and play.

The USB light might not be a good test though since it only needs power and we want to check the USB's ability to read and write data through the port. Do you have anything else USB that you can try in it like a flash drive or a mouse?

Also, I think we should look at the BIOS settings to see if something got set wrong there. What is the manufacturer/model of the computer or the manufacturer/model of the motherboard if it is a custom build?

For example, if a flash drive or mouse plugged into the USB port is not detected maybe a USB setting in the BIOS needs to be changed.

James


I was using a ps2 mouse, so i tried a usb mouse. didn't seem to work either in the usb ports. does the keyboard possibly require a driver? that doesn't sound like the issue anyway, since the mouse should work without requiring any drivers being installed. what did you want to see in the bios?

the desktop is a dell dimension 8300.

#9 rotor123

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 01:00 PM

Hi, The USB Keyboard and the USB mouse both require drivers. They are included in the Windows itself. It should probably identify the USB KB/Mouse as HID devices in the proper category of the device manager.

Hit F2 when the Dell logo appears and go into the USB settings and make sure that Legacy devices are enabled. That should let the keyboard work before windows loads.

Since the PS2 port works why not just get a PS2 keyboard? I saw them at $6 or so online and in a B&M store at $10 to $12.

You may be in a catch 22 situation. Where you need to log into windows so it can load the drivers for the USB stuff and can't log in with your PS2 keyboard as you say it has problems.

Roger

Edited by rotor123, 09 May 2012 - 01:02 PM.

My next Upgrade, USB 3 on my remaining desktop. The only External storage devices I currently Buy are USB3 devices
How Does a computer get Infected? http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/2520/how-did-i-get-infected/
My first Computer had a Whopping 16K of memory @ 0.89MHz. My first hard drive held 20 Megabytes and never filled up.
My Oldest Motherboard and Hard Drive are a 80286 @ 8Mhz and a Seagate 20 Megabyte MFM drive.  
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#10 James Litten

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 01:15 PM

Hi Sniper

Go into the BIOS settings and
Go to Integrated Devices (Legacy Select Options)
Make sure that
USB Emulation is ON
USB Controller is ON

If either is not on change them to on and save settings and reboot.

Let us know if this helps or if they are already set to ON.

James

#11 sniper8752

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 01:44 PM

Hi Sniper

Go into the BIOS settings and
Go to Integrated Devices (Legacy Select Options)
Make sure that
USB Emulation is ON
USB Controller is ON

If either is not on change them to on and save settings and reboot.

Let us know if this helps or if they are already set to ON.

James


they are on.

#12 James Litten

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 04:23 PM

Okay, next check the diagnostic lights on the back panel labeled A B C D.

They are four little lights that can be off, yellow or green.

Start up the computer with the PS/2 and the USB keyboards attached.

After it is done booting up, look at the diagnostic lights and tell us if any of them are on and if so which ones and what color are they.

James

EDIT: Those 4 lights should be right by the PS/2 jacks on that one.

Edited by NeverSayDie, 09 May 2012 - 04:26 PM.

#13 sniper8752

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 05:30 PM

4 green lights.

#14 James Litten

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Posted 09 May 2012 - 05:53 PM

All I have is one more thing to try.

If you weren't getting the "Keyboard not detected" error when booting, I would consider this a driver error but your BIOS does not even see the keyboard in the USB port and that is supposed to happen before any OS drivers are loaded (so you can use the USB keyboard to access and change BIOS settings).

At this point, make sure that nothing is plugged into any USB ports. You should have 2 ports in the front and 6 ports in the back.

Boot up the machine with the PS/2 keyboard and try plugging the USB keyboard into each jack one at a time seeing if Windows pops up the balloon that says "New Hardware Detected". Then try plugging the USB mouse into each port the same way.

If none of them work, I've got nothing else to add :(
A couple of weeks ago I had this happen to a client with a Dell Inspiron. Two of the six ports on the back worked but none of the others did. I called Dell and they sent a tech who came and verified that only two ports were working and subsequently replaced the motherboard.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

James

EDIT: Here is the post I made about that Inspiron problem. Sounds kind of like your problem.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic448069.html

Edited by NeverSayDie, 09 May 2012 - 06:28 PM.

#15 rotor123

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Posted 10 May 2012 - 09:20 AM

I don't know with this model, But I've seen Dells where you can turn off the front or rear USB ports in the BIOS.

If it were my computer and worked OK otherwise I would just go PS2 keyboard and Mouse and pop in a 4 port USB card for Printers and things. It would not work at boot up as the computer would not see anything plugged into a USB card.

FWIW I did have a Dell Optiplex that only had USB ports for the Keyboard and Mouse and they were dead. A close examination with a magnifying glass revealed that one of the Northbridge/Southbridge chips had a bubbled spot and a slight crack at that spot on it. Strangely enough it would P.O.S.T. up until the no keyboard error that it wouldn't go past. I don't remember which of the two chips at this time.

I ended up pulling the good parts and scrapped it.

Good Luck
Roger

My next Upgrade, USB 3 on my remaining desktop. The only External storage devices I currently Buy are USB3 devices
How Does a computer get Infected? http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/2520/how-did-i-get-infected/
My first Computer had a Whopping 16K of memory @ 0.89MHz. My first hard drive held 20 Megabytes and never filled up.
My Oldest Motherboard and Hard Drive are a 80286 @ 8Mhz and a Seagate 20 Megabyte MFM drive.  
Forum Rules, The BC Welcome Guide

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