PS2 ports don't work.

[`AMD tower]

I've been fixing up an old computer I got from the dumpster. It's a home
brew using a 750 duron that's plugged into a compaq presario motherboard.
It comes up as a compaq 06E4H in Enverest.
The case is an odd shape, more like a cube than a rectangle, and its dented
in the back where the AGP video card is. I think that's the legacy of
somebodie's frustrations with this one.
Anyway, I have it all working except for the ps2 ports. It has two usb
ports on the back, and it works fine with a usb keyboard and a usb mouse.

Is it possible to fix ps2 ports that don't work? It's running XP sp2.

TIA

Mike

 

[Jon Danniken]

I've been fixing up an old computer I got from the dumpster. It's a home
brew using a 750 duron that's plugged into a compaq presario motherboard.
It comes up as a compaq 06E4H in Enverest.
The case is an odd shape, more like a cube than a rectangle, and its dented
in the back where the AGP video card is. I think that's the legacy of
somebodie's frustrations with this one.
Anyway, I have it all working except for the ps2 ports. It has two usb
ports on the back, and it works fine with a usb keyboard and a usb mouse.

Is it possible to fix ps2 ports that don't work? It's running XP sp2.

Depends. Is it the socket itself or something further in on the board?
I've had a few sockets that got a bit dodgy, and needed their pins realigned
to make contact. If you have an old ps/2 connector, you might plug it into
the socket and check for continuity between the wires coming out of the plug
and where the socket is connected to the mainboard. Use a low ohms setting
on your DMM, with the power off.

If there is bad or intermittent contact, a sewing needle can be used to coax
the little contacts inside the socket back into alignment. Use care, a
bright light, and a magnifier to help.

Otherwise, if the physical connection is fine, you might have a bad
controller and/or fuse on the mainboard.

Jon

 

[Paul]

I've been fixing up an old computer I got from the dumpster. It's a home
brew using a 750 duron that's plugged into a compaq presario motherboard.
It comes up as a compaq 06E4H in Enverest.
The case is an odd shape, more like a cube than a rectangle, and its dented
in the back where the AGP video card is. I think that's the legacy of
somebodie's frustrations with this one.
Anyway, I have it all working except for the ps2 ports. It has two usb
ports on the back, and it works fine with a usb keyboard and a usb mouse.

Is it possible to fix ps2 ports that don't work? It's running XP sp2.

TIA

Mike

A PS/2 port, can be ruined by the user "hot plugging" the keyboard or
mouse. That can damage the chip with the PS/2 interface.

Sometimes the problem is with the pins on the connector.

Sometimes the problem is with the fuse that limits the current to
the supply pin on the connector. Some motherboards use Polyfuses,
which are self-recovering fuses. When the fuse cools off, it begins
to conduct again. If the fuse is some other type, or the fuse
is damaged by repeated overcurrent conditions, then the power path
could be affected.

There can be a three pin header, with a jumper on it, to control
whether the keyboard is powered by +5V or +5VSB. If the jumper
is missing from the header, then the keyboard gets no power.

If the chip with the PS/2 interface is damaged, that can be
pretty hard to repair. Some of those chips have fine geometry
pins, which are easily bent. If the chip has 100 pins on it,
you could try some tiny side cutters (I have a pair that cost
$100) and snip the old chip away. Then clean up each of the 100
soldering points, with fine solder wick (use the finest you can
find). The tough part, is finding a replacement chip. (I had
enough trouble replacing a voltage regulator chip, and would not
consider changing out one of those 100 pin chips, even if you
paid me. The ease of the repair all depends on whether the solder
mask can help prevent the legs from getting shorted together during
the soldering of the replacement chip. A good quality solder mask
makes all the difference in the world when soldering.)

Paul

 

[Rod Speed]

I've been fixing up an old computer I got from the dumpster. It's a home brew using a 750 duron
that's plugged into a compaq presario motherboard. It comes up as a compaq 06E4H in Enverest. The
case is an odd shape, more like a cube than a rectangle, and its dented in the back where the AGP
video card is. I think that's the legacy of somebodie's frustrations with this one. Anyway, I
have it all working except for the ps2 ports. It has two usb ports on the back, and it works fine
with a usb keyboard and a usb mouse.

Is it possible to fix ps2 ports that don't work?

Yes, quite often, depending on what has stopped working.

It's running XP sp2.

Some motherboards can disable the PS2 ports in the bios.

 

[`AMD tower]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll work on it in a few days and report back.
I already checked the bios but couldn't find a switch there for the ps2
ports.

mike