PS2 Keyboard problem in XP

[struesdell]

Hi everyone,

I woke up this morning, had a cup of coffee, and turned on my computer so I could check my e-mail and read some news sites. Suddenly, my computer starts reporting at me with all kinds of system beeps, and I see that my startup is complaining that my keyboard isn't plugged in.

Thinking that my cat must have jostled the cable in the night, I wiggled it, pulled it out, plugged it back in, and hit F1. Worked fine. All the lights on the keyboard were normal, and windows began to startup.

About this time, I noticed that my Num-Lock indicator light was lit. I tried to toggle it, but no luck. This is a problem, as my o, p, l, ;, . and , keys all become numbers when Num-lock is turned on. I figured it was just windows demanding that my Num-lock stay on while it loaded.

My login screen pops up, and I go to enter my password. Keys don't work. Hmm. So I hit Caps-lock to see if that's working, no light. Hmm.

I tried restarting, I tried unplugging the keyboard and making sure it didn't have any missing pins or anything rediculous like that. I tried checking the cord for damage. Everything seems fine.

The last thing I tried was unplugging it after booting all the way to windows, and plugging in back in. It still works to hit F1 at startup ( and still complains that there's no keyboard, though the sound is gone. ) but it does nothing but stare at me with all its status lights blinking slowly.

I grabbed my fiancee's USB keyboard, and I'm trying to find help. Didn't get anything out of google, but it's tough to search for "PS2 Keyboard problem windows XP"

Anyone have any idea what this could be?

[J_Search]

struesdell,

Try the "broken" keyboard in your fiancee's computer. If it works, you know your problem is the computer. Otherwise...

What's the condition of the keyboard? There could be something creating a connection between the keys and the contact pad. (where the metal to metal connection is made for the keyboard to know you are pressing a key). However, usually when this happens BIOS will let you know that a keyboard key is stuck.

You could take apart the keyboard and check everything out. There isn't much to a keyboard but the top which holds all the keys in place, the middle pad which holds all the contacts, and then the little card with the microcircuits on it connected to the keyboard's wire. If you don't want to even bother, just buy another keyboard.

J_

[struesdell]

Thanks J_Search!

I don't know why I didn't think to grab the keyboard and try it in my Fiancee's computer. Silly me. :)

Having now done so, it's definitely the keyboard! That solves the mystery. Now I just have to buy a new one. I've been using a TypeMatrix model 2020, so repairing it myself is going to be difficult. I'll just have to get a new one.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it!