No keyboards work on my friend's system

davie23223

davie23223

New Member
One morning a friend of mine powered up his computer and the USB keyboard was not working. He replugged the usb cord and windows said something about an unknown usb device malfunctioned.

He then tried the keyboard on another computer and it worked perfectly.

He tried 2 other working keyboards on his same computer and still nothing.

Something is wrong with his computer we think, the keyboards work great on other computers.

The keyboard lights up when turning on the PC after that it stops. We could not get into bios.

We tried putting a bootable os cd Linux and during setup the keyboard was working! After restarting going into windows the keyboard works again. But now it only works 50% of the time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.

Any ideas? Could this be an os related problem?
 
Have you checked the BIOS to ensure USB support is enabled? I've had BIOS settings change by themselves!
My second thought is that the motherboard keyboard controller chip or KB port is dead or dying.
Tom
 
Although the MS model keyboard here can be used on both the PS2 and usb ports I use the PS2 with the adapter it comes with while still enabling the usb support in the bios. But I see one problem all of the time trying to use the F keys when booting. They simply don't work even with the keyboard plugged into the standard PS2 keyboard socket there.

I suspect you are running into the same type but not same thing being seen there. Whenever I have to have the F keys working at powerup I plug in a $10 cheapie that simply has the PS2 only. It's a good idea to keep one like that onhand at all times. Some usb models can be a pile of crap at times.
 
You could have a need for a bios update if there is no problem with the board itself found. The two things most likely would be a battery getting too weak to maintain the cmos or the bios itself needs a reflash. The actual problem surrounds those two things far more then any keyboard since you can't even reach the bios setup. How old is the board on that system?
 
The board is about 2 years. I've tried resetting cmos and now on startup it says "CMOS/GPVN Bad Checksum" and on the next 2 lines down "f2 for setup" But could not push any keys since the keyboard isnt working.

So what could this be?
 
Between both usb and PS2 having nothing working does seem to point at the bios itself if something on the board isn't taking a walk on you. Have you tried a replacement battery or bios update? That checksum error points at bios information being lost by either a weak battery or possible failing bios chip if not the keyboard controller as OvenMaster suggested. A 2032 battery is the least expensive way to find out.
 
You can easily find those in any watch dept. in a retail chain or even CVS, Radio Shack, Compusa, Target, you name it. They are simply standard lithium batteries commonly used in some digital watches, calculators, electronic clocks, and other gadgets. I always keep some onhand for troubleshooting here.
 
We tried another working battery from a working computer and now it always says "bad checksum" when starting up.

Im beginning to think this mobo is messed up..

Just to make sure. Are you positive its the mobo. My friend is scratching to buy a new one, but scared it might not be the mobo. I think it is the mobo. What do you guys think?
 
Still cannot get into bios.

Baught a new battery 2030 from Radio shack and no success. It still says "CMOS/GPVN checksum error"
 
I'd say look into replacing the mobo. If you haven't reset the CMOS yet, you can do that as well, but it more than likely won't do anything to fix the problem...
 
There's one article that seems to keep coming about "bad caps" as being one possible cause.

I d e n t i f y i n g - P h y s i c a l D e f e c t s
!P-SeperHorLong.gif
Are you wondering whether your board has the bad capacitor plague? Here are some things to look for on your board that are tell-tale signs of bad capacitors. The board in the following photo's is an Abit KT7 Athlon motherboard. This particular board is in the top 5 of the worst ones I've seen.
Click the thumbnails for full size view. The full pictures open in a properly sized popup window, so you may need to disable any popup blockers to view."​

http://www.badcaps.net/ident/
 
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