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Gigabyte Mobo with Keyboard PS2 port failure
Strange little problem I got here. I run my selfbuilt system with a Gigabyte
GA-7DX Motherboard, Athlon 1.33GHz, 512MB of 2100 DDR-SDRam and Win2000. A few months ago my Keyboard stopped working, I think first intermittently with beeping noises from the systems speaker. I soon found out that the PS2 connector was at fault and I plugged my Keyboard into my USB port and everything works fine now. The problem with this solution is though that I have got no Keyboard available when Windows is not running, i.e. I cannot select to get into BIOS and I do not want to know what's going to happen once Windows spits the dummy (which will happen sooner rather than later the way I am going). Don't get me wrong I fairly know what I am doing but I still expect a full reformat and system reinstall every 12-18 months or so. My 3 questions now a 1) Is there ANY way to get the USB Keyboard (and the USB port therefore) working without Windows, i.e. to get to BIOS etc... There surely must be computers around that only use USB Keyboards or do you still absolutely need a PS2 port for the keyboard??? 2) Since my PS2 port on the motherboard is dead, has anyone ever had a similar problem? Is that a known thing (happened to me the first time in 5 years) and does anyone know a trick or hint for my problem. Obviously replacing the motherboard will do the trick (which I will have a question about anyway in question 3), but is it possible to just replace the connector or could there be some sort of controller at fault? 3) If all else fails I will replace my motherboard before Windows spits the dummy and I cannot access my BIOS or reinstall Windows via boot CD. That brings me to an additional question, since I then plan to upgrade my motherboard, is it possible to upgrade to a latest Athlon Mobo and still use my old 1.33GHz CPU and my 2100 DDR-Ram (meaning are those new motherboards downwards compatible with the older Athlon CPU's and RAM) or do I then need to buy new RAM and a new CPU as well???? Thanks for any help! Hans |
#2
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On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:45:00 +1000, "Hans Huber"
wrote: Strange little problem I got here. I run my selfbuilt system with a Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, Athlon 1.33GHz, 512MB of 2100 DDR-SDRam and Win2000. A few months ago my Keyboard stopped working, I think first intermittently with beeping noises from the systems speaker. I soon found out that the PS2 connector was at fault and I plugged my Keyboard into my USB port and everything works fine now. The problem with this solution is though that I have got no Keyboard available when Windows is not running, i.e. I cannot select to get into BIOS and I do not want to know what's going to happen once Windows spits the dummy (which will happen sooner rather than later the way I am going). Don't get me wrong I fairly know what I am doing but I still expect a full reformat and system reinstall every 12-18 months or so. My 3 questions now a 1) Is there ANY way to get the USB Keyboard (and the USB port therefore) working without Windows, i.e. to get to BIOS etc... There surely must be computers around that only use USB Keyboards or do you still absolutely need a PS2 port for the keyboard??? Practially all semi-modern motherboards can use USB keyboards to enter and change the BIOS. It's not even necessary to set the "enable legacy USB" BIOS setting either, though that setting is needed for DOS support, anything after exiting the BIOS setting and continuing to boot. Do you have another system this keyboard works properly on as PS/2? I'm wondering if the keyboard is faulty. Does a PS/2 mouse work? 2) Since my PS2 port on the motherboard is dead, has anyone ever had a similar problem? Is that a known thing (happened to me the first time in 5 years) and does anyone know a trick or hint for my problem. Obviously replacing the motherboard will do the trick (which I will have a question about anyway in question 3), but is it possible to just replace the connector or could there be some sort of controller at fault? The connector can be replaced by a skilled tecnician, but unles you see an obvious problem with it there's probably something else wrong, like perhaps a blown keyboard fuse, but even that isn't so common unless you had some mishap (like spilling liquid into the keyboard). Do you have a continuity (or muti) meter you could use to check the keyboard fuse? The fuse is typically about 3mm wide by 4mm, very flat, and green colored (soldered at both ends). Looks like this: http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/tec...ages/RFuse.jpg However Gigabyte in particular may've used a different type, with leads, round or square yellow sticking up about 1 cm. Some el-cheapo boards omit the fuse and just put jumper wires on that spot, in which case more extensive damage might've occrued, but Gigabyte does always use a fuse AFAIK, and it's still not clear to me that this is the problem. If you have a multimeter you could instead check for 5V in the PS/2 port or corresponding spots on the back of the board. If you need more assistance, detail in doing this let me know. When you plug in a keyboard do the lights light up? If you plug the keyboard into the mouse port, do the lights light up (even if it doesn't work as a keyboard). You might be risking damge to the function of the PS/2 Mouse port though, if you were to plug in the same keyboard that might've(?) damaged the PS/2 keyboard port... I"m just presenting a number of options to help determine if there's power going to that port. 3) If all else fails I will replace my motherboard before Windows spits the dummy and I cannot access my BIOS or reinstall Windows via boot CD. This makes me wonder about the keyboard.. .I'm surprised that you can't get into the BIOS with it connected to the USB. You wouldn't happen to have access to another keyboard would you? That brings me to an additional question, since I then plan to upgrade my motherboard, is it possible to upgrade to a latest Athlon Mobo and still use my old 1.33GHz CPU and my 2100 DDR-Ram (meaning are those new motherboards downwards compatible with the older Athlon CPU's and RAM) or do I then need to buy new RAM and a new CPU as well???? Thanks for any help! Hans They are backwards compatible, you should be able to plug in the old CPU and memory and use the system, providing there isn't any odd compatibility problem with the memory, but usually there isn't at DDR266 speed on a board capable of higher, though if you're going to reuse the CPU & memory anyway you might be able to find a similar older board a lot cheaper, at least that's the case in the US. Dave |
#3
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"kony" wrote in message ... On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 18:45:00 +1000, "Hans Huber" wrote: Strange little problem I got here. I run my selfbuilt system with a Gigabyte GA-7DX Motherboard, Athlon 1.33GHz, 512MB of 2100 DDR-SDRam and Win2000. A few months ago my Keyboard stopped working, I think first intermittently with beeping noises from the systems speaker. I soon found out that the PS2 connector was at fault and I plugged my Keyboard into my USB port and everything works fine now. The problem with this solution is though that I have got no Keyboard available when Windows is not running, i.e. I cannot select to get into BIOS and I do not want to know what's going to happen once Windows spits the dummy (which will happen sooner rather than later the way I am going). Don't get me wrong I fairly know what I am doing but I still expect a full reformat and system reinstall every 12-18 months or so. My 3 questions now a 1) Is there ANY way to get the USB Keyboard (and the USB port therefore) working without Windows, i.e. to get to BIOS etc... There surely must be computers around that only use USB Keyboards or do you still absolutely need a PS2 port for the keyboard??? Practially all semi-modern motherboards can use USB keyboards to enter and change the BIOS. It's not even necessary to set the "enable legacy USB" BIOS setting either, though that setting is needed for DOS support, anything after exiting the BIOS setting and continuing to boot. Ah, I should have written that before, I did suspect the keyboard first and replaced it first with another one (which did not work either) and then bought another brand new one and that does not work on the PS2 either, only on the USB port. So I think that somehow my PS2 port is dead. And my mouse only works on USB too, and I own two mice and both have the same problem. Do you have another system this keyboard works properly on as PS/2? I'm wondering if the keyboard is faulty. Does a PS/2 mouse work? 2) Since my PS2 port on the motherboard is dead, has anyone ever had a similar problem? Is that a known thing (happened to me the first time in 5 years) and does anyone know a trick or hint for my problem. Obviously replacing the motherboard will do the trick (which I will have a question about anyway in question 3), but is it possible to just replace the connector or could there be some sort of controller at fault? The connector can be replaced by a skilled tecnician, but unles you see an obvious problem with it there's probably something else wrong, like perhaps a blown keyboard fuse, but even that isn't so common unless you had some mishap (like spilling liquid into the keyboard). Do you have a continuity (or muti) meter you could use to check the keyboard fuse? The fuse is typically about 3mm wide by 4mm, very flat, and green colored (soldered at both ends). Looks like this: http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/tec...ages/RFuse.jpg However Gigabyte in particular may've used a different type, with leads, round or square yellow sticking up about 1 cm. Some el-cheapo boards omit the fuse and just put jumper wires on that spot, in which case more extensive damage might've occrued, but Gigabyte does always use a fuse AFAIK, and it's still not clear to me that this is the problem. If you have a multimeter you could instead check for 5V in the PS/2 port or corresponding spots on the back of the board. If you need more assistance, detail in doing this let me know. When you plug in a keyboard do the lights light up? If you plug the keyboard into the mouse port, do the lights light up (even if it doesn't work as a keyboard). You might be risking damge to the function of the PS/2 Mouse port though, if you were to plug in the same keyboard that might've(?) damaged the PS/2 keyboard port... I"m just presenting a number of options to help determine if there's power going to that port. 3) If all else fails I will replace my motherboard before Windows spits the dummy and I cannot access my BIOS or reinstall Windows via boot CD. This makes me wonder about the keyboard.. .I'm surprised that you can't get into the BIOS with it connected to the USB. You wouldn't happen to have access to another keyboard would you? That brings me to an additional question, since I then plan to upgrade my motherboard, is it possible to upgrade to a latest Athlon Mobo and still use my old 1.33GHz CPU and my 2100 DDR-Ram (meaning are those new motherboards downwards compatible with the older Athlon CPU's and RAM) or do I then need to buy new RAM and a new CPU as well???? Thanks for any help! Hans They are backwards compatible, you should be able to plug in the old CPU and memory and use the system, providing there isn't any odd compatibility problem with the memory, but usually there isn't at DDR266 speed on a board capable of higher, though if you're going to reuse the CPU & memory anyway you might be able to find a similar older board a lot cheaper, at least that's the case in the US. Thanks for your really detailed help!!! I will see if I can find something wron with the PS2 port. The keyboard actually gets a light when I plug it into the mouse port. And I think it does too when I plug it into the keyboard plug. I have to test this today afternoon! But now I really have to go to work, otherwise I will be way late! Will do some troubleshooting tonight! Thanks Hans |
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