Tech help -- Keyboards!

Cast_No_Shadow · Post by **Cast_No_Shadow** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:47 pm

Don't know where else to post this as we dont have a tech help forum, still maybe one of you lot can help. Cross posted from a different forum.

Ok randomly my PC stopped recognising the keyboard. I assumed the keyboard was on the blink and bought a new one. Old as PS2 new was USB, new worked so I forgot all about it.

However spilt beer on new one and so that bit the biscuit and bought a new new one, this was another ps2 one. Now this new new one and several other ps2 keyboards I have found all fail to work.

You would think this may be something wrong with my ps2 slot but no.

On boot up they work, I can use them in the bios perfectly and the lights work for caps lock etc right up until the windows logo first comes on then pressing caps etc doesnt change the light anymore and the lights stick at whatever combination they were at, on ones stay on and off stay off.

Any ideas? And no I cant afford to buy a new usb keyboard.

Minor update.

I was able to get into the system by using the broken keyboard, by chance my password was only on the keys that were not affected.

Once in the system if I uninstall its driver through device manager and then reinstal through add new hardware it works fine, however if I then restart the system we are back to the same old problem.

Thoughts?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Burt · Post by **Burt** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:15 pm

Buy a USB-PS2 converter (or steal one from another keyboard - most of the USB keyboards come with one)?

gribo · Post by **gribo** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:46 pm

Try using the USB KB without any driver installed. HID devices should be recognized by the OS.

McJoker · Post by **McJoker** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:28 pm

If I understand the problem properly, those two answers won't help.

His problem isn't with the USB keyboard (which is physically broken) but in that the PS2 keyboards won't be recognized.

I'll research this a bit when I have time...seem to recall something in the past.

Which OS and are the keyboards wireless or connected directly by cable?

If you can, you might want to see about taking the USB keyboard apart and dabbing the beer-stained areas clean with a damp rag...

hollyfant · Post by **hollyfant** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:28 pm

I threw the non-electronic parts of my keyboard in the dishwasher. That worked like a charm.

What does the Device Manager say about the PS/2 port?

Cast_No_Shadow · Post by **Cast_No_Shadow** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:36 pm

1) Burt your a noob

2) Mcjoker is right.

OS = XP Pro
All keyboards are wired.

Device Manager has "Device could not be started (code 10)" and it gets a little yellow !

hollyfant · Post by **hollyfant** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:49 pm

Cast_No_Shadow wrote:Device Manager has "Device could not be started (code 10)" and it gets a little yellow !

The keyboard or the port? They're two different devices.

Cast_No_Shadow · Post by **Cast_No_Shadow** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:05 am

Ahh sorry thats teh keyboard ill take a look at the port in the morning.

By the way the keyboard works perfectly find before windows I can navigate bios and play with the caps lock and num lock light fine before teh windows loading splash screen comes up.

hollyfant · Post by **hollyfant** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:11 am

That's why I have a hunch the PS/2 port is disabled in Windows, causing the keyboard to "disappear".

Post by **paazin** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:07 am

you can always try reinstalling windoze

Cast_No_Shadow · Post by **Cast_No_Shadow** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:24 pm

Ok cant find the ps2 port in device manager...any help on where to look?

And paazin

Post by **paazin** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:35 pm

Cast_No_Shadow wrote:And paazin

geez, I've done it a dozen times. usually fixes what's wrong

McJoker · Post by **McJoker** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 4:19 pm

Go into your Device Manager, take a look under Keyboards...

You should see something like 'Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard' under that. (might be different amount of keys for you, since I use a German keyboard)

If that has a yellow exclamation mark you will want to attempt to update the driver for it. A reinstall of Windows (to fix) might actually do the trick.

The two drivers your keyboard should be using (at least mine does, post if U.S. keyboards use different ones) is the i8042prt.sys and the kbdclass.sys files. Both can/should be found under your system32\DRIVERS folder.

If neither of those two options work for you, double-check the pins on the keyboard's PS/2 connection to ensure they are all there/not bent, etc.

Can't think of any other possibilities atm.

hollyfant · Post by **hollyfant** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 6:05 pm

Cast_No_Shadow wrote:Ok cant find the ps2 port in device manager...any help on where to look?

Choose the menu option View -> Devices by Connection. Whatever device your keyboard is now connected to, that's your keyboard connector.

Just check up that tree to see what is, and what isn't functioning.

(And reinstalling the OS is always an option, if you have the time. Windows can gather a lot of cruft over time, especially if you frequently install and or update stuff. Plus you don't need to bother finding out what the problem was.)

Cast_No_Shadow · Post by **Cast_No_Shadow** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 12:36 am

While reinstalling the os is an option its also a giant pain in the ass.I'll look at the other things today.