Gigabyte Mobo with failed PS2 plug for Keyboard

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hans Huber
  • Start date Start date
H

Hans Huber

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 are:

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
 
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 are:

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
Click to expand...

USB Keyboard Support, in the BIOS enable the "USB Legacy Keyboard
Support" option.

<snipet from http://www.rojakpot.com/>
When enabled, the BIOS will provide support for the USB keyboard. So,
you will be able to use the keyboard with both operating systems that
don't support USB keyboards and those that do. However, the BIOS option
only offers rudimentary support for the USB keyboard so using it will
strip the keyboard of all except the most basic functions. As such, it
is not recommended that you select this option if you are using an
operating system that supports USB keyboards.

Ed
 
USB Keyboard Support, in the BIOS enable the "USB Legacy Keyboard
Support" option.

<snipet from http://www.rojakpot.com/>
When enabled, the BIOS will provide support for the USB keyboard. So,
you will be able to use the keyboard with both operating systems that
don't support USB keyboards and those that do. However, the BIOS option
only offers rudimentary support for the USB keyboard so using it will
strip the keyboard of all except the most basic functions. As such, it
is not recommended that you select this option if you are using an
operating system that supports USB keyboards.

Ed
Click to expand...





Problem is that I can't get into BIOS to enable this option because my
Keyboard won't let me go into BIOS since it is dead at bootup!

But thanks for the tip anyway, at least I know a bit more now!
 
Hans Huber said:
Problem is that I can't get into BIOS to enable this option because my
Keyboard won't let me go into BIOS since it is dead at bootup!

But thanks for the tip anyway, at least I know a bit more now!
Click to expand...

This is a really funny situation, but then again it's not... I couldn't help
but laugh. Sorry!!! It's just odd!!!
http://www.ourstrangeworld.com
 
This is a really funny situation, but then again it's not... I couldn't
help
but laugh. Sorry!!! It's just odd!!!
http://www.ourstrangeworld.com
Click to expand...


And it did brighten up your day, that's a good thing :-)

I of course suspected the keyboard to be at fault first and replaced it with
a brand new one but that did not help, it still does not work
 
| > This is a really funny situation, but then again it's not... I couldn't
| help
| > but laugh. Sorry!!! It's just odd!!!
| > http://www.ourstrangeworld.com
| >
|
|
| And it did brighten up your day, that's a good thing :-)
|
| I of course suspected the keyboard to be at fault first and replaced it with
| a brand new one but that did not help, it still does not work

If you can find one, a possible answer to your problem may be a serial keyboard
— that is if you already have at least one serial port enabled. That should at
least get you access to the BIOS so you could enable legacy USB.

Unfortunately, serial keyboards don't seem to be as available as they once were.
But you may be able to find a computer repair shop that has one lying around.

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§
 
| > This is a really funny situation, but then again it's not... I couldn't
| help
| > but laugh. Sorry!!! It's just odd!!!
| > http://www.ourstrangeworld.com
| >
|
|
| And it did brighten up your day, that's a good thing :-)
|
| I of course suspected the keyboard to be at fault first and replaced it with
| a brand new one but that did not help, it still does not work

If you can find one, a possible answer to your problem may be a serial keyboard
— that is if you already have at least one serial port enabled. That should at
least get you access to the BIOS so you could enable legacy USB.

Unfortunately, serial keyboards don't seem to be as available as they once were.
But you may be able to find a computer repair shop that has one lying around.

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§
Click to expand...

Not likely to be useful as new motherboard bios don't recognize serial
keyboards anymore.
 
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