When this happened a year ago, I figured that the motherboard was the problem and replaced it. Since then, the board was in a box in the closet until now...

One morning last year I plugged in my digital camera to download pictures. As soon as I plugged it in, the PC froze. I manually turned the PC off and back on, only to find that the PS/2 keyboard and USB devices didn't work. Other keyboards and mice did the same thing....until...

I decided to get the motherboard back out this week. I reset the BIOS (which I also did when the problem occurred), and cleaned it with compressed air. I set it on a cardboard box, connected the video card, CPU, RAM, PS/2 keyboard, and a new power supply. The keyboard wasn't detected, the 3 lights on the keyboard stayed lit. I tried another keyboard of the same model and it did the same thing. I plugged in another PS/2 keyboard of a different brand and model and it was detected! Ironically, this was the same keyboard that was being used when the PC froze after I connected my camera. I disabled the USB ports in the BIOS andd connected a hard drive and PS/2 mouse and installed Windows. No problems.

If I try to use either of the first 2 PS/2 keyboards that I tried in Windows, they're still not detected. The PS/2 mouse works, but moving it left and right doesn't work. Moving it up or down causes the arrow to move up. With the 3rd keyboard connected, they both are fine.

So my question is, why does this 3rd keyboard work and the other 2 don't? They're all PS/2 so I thought they should work the same. All 3 work in other PCs. Is this motherboard really dead or is there a trick to get it working with any keyboard? MSI Technical Support said that "There may be a compatibility issue with the first 2 keyboards and the motherboard." What do you think? I never tried the first two keyboards with the board when it worked correctly, so I don't know. Thanks for your input and sorry for being long.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

on rare occasions i have known ps2 keyboards to work on some PCs and not others. I believe this is because the pins in the plug are thinner on some and if the motherboard socket is old and worn the pins have trouble making good contact

Are you connecting the PS/2 KBoards using the PS/2 connector directly to the PS/2 port or with a USB to PS/2 adapter?

What IRQ is the KBoard using?

Thanks, to both of you. They're both connected directly to the PS/2 port. How would I go about getting the IRQ?

Cliffpage, your explanation sounds intresting. The first two keyboards are old (1999). The same keyboards work though with a newer MSI K9N4 Ultra motherboard. Do you know of something I can do with the pins to make it work?

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

Go Start> settings> Control Panel> System> Hardware> Device Manager> highlight "Computer"> View> resources by connection> expand Interrupt ReQuest. What IRQ number is being used for the KBoard and does it say ISA in front of the IRQ?

Thanks OtheHill, the IRQ for the keyboard is 1 and ISA is in front of the IRQ.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

Well, that is as it should be. You shouldn't have any conflicts with IRQs.

Maybe what cliffpage mentioned is the problem. Check the setting in the BIOS for ACPI. Should be enabled. That allows Windows to configure your hardware.

You aren't using the mouse port for the KBoard are you?

Thanks again. I made sure they're both plugged into the right ports, even switched them hoping that the keyboard port was the problem. Both the BIOS and Windows picks up on the 3rd keyboard even if it's plugged into the mouse port. Plugging the first two into the mouse port causes the same problem as if they were plugged into the keyboard port. It's very baffling to me. I want to use one of the first two keyboards if possible because the 3rd one (which is newer and nicer) belongs on the family PC and everyone likes it better.

I have a question that may sound dumb or like wishful thinking. But do you think that a portion of the BIOS that controls the PS/2 ports somehow got messed up and reflashing it may help? I've heard of BIOSes getting corrupt and the only thing to do is reflash. What do you think? I don't have anything to lose with this board I just wanted to get it out and mess around with it. It's one of the faster boards I have lying around. Thanks again for your input.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

If the BIOS was corrupted I don't think any KBoard would work. If I understand the issue you have TWO KBoards that don't work on TWO different MBoards. That would seem to eliminate the MBoard as the problem.

The one constant is the PSU. I am not sure what voltages are used for PS/2 port but I am guessing 5V. If the PSU is weak connecting a USB device could possibly create your problem. Try a different PSU if you have one available to swap out.

The PSU I have connected is brand new which also is a different one than the one that was used last year when the problem occurred.

I'm sorry that I didn't explain it well enough, my fault. There is only 1 motherboard that is in the question here, not 2. It is an MSI K8T Neo-V Version 1 board. I have 3 keyboards, 2 of which are PS/2 and of the same exact model. They are both from 1999. I also have another keyboard of a different model that is also PS/2 that we bought back in 2004. This keyboard works in this motherboard, but the other two older keyboards don't. ALL 3 work in other PCs, even the two older keyboards. I have another MSI board that works fine and is newer, (the K9N4 Ultra). I mentioned it before to see if we could rule out the possibility of a "compatibility issue between the keyboard and the motherboard" as the MSI tech I talked with brought up. If the two keyboards work on a newer and similar MSI board as the K8T Neo-V, then does a compatibility possibility still exist?

There was also a problem with the POST freezing on "Initializing USB Controllers" even when no devices were connected. I say "was" because that's one of the symptoms that happened a year ago. It sat in the closet without the CMOS battery installed. I put it back in this past week and I just noticed that it no longer freezes at that place anymore. I didn't notice that till now. The funny thing is I cleared the CMOS last year with the jumper when the problems occurred but it didn't help then. What would change about it now to all of a suddden it would quit freezing at that place in POST? Thanks.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

I misunderstood your original post. In that case if it were mine I would try flashing the BIOS.

One thing to note. Hot plugging a PS/2 device can fry that port. Is it possible that happened? If so, flaching won't cure the problem.

You could try this adapter if you have a spare USB port.

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SBT-P...

Thanks again for your input, VERY appreciated. The strange thing is that there is always power to the keyboard even when the motherboard isn't on. The 3 lights on the keyboard stay on all the time till I flip the switch in the back of the PS. After a few seconds, the lights fizzle out. This also happens with the 3rd working keyboard connected except only one light stays lit. This also is the same thing with the other MSI board that I have that works fine. Google returned hits from other forums where people have the same thing with their MSI boards. One expert in one post speculated that it's a motherboard design. The constant power to the PS/2 ports may have as you said fried the port when plugging/unplugging devices. I don't recall ever hot swapping them.

I'm going to attempt reflashing the BIOS. If that doesn't work but the flash performs ok, I may try to work around it by purchasing a keyboard adapter.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

ATX PSUs are always powering part of the MBoard. Things like power on with any key wouldn't work without some power going to the KBoard.

It's funny though how on my old P1, P2 and Cyrix MII systems which use ATX power supplies, the keyboard doesn't seem to be getting power because the 3 lights never come on until I turn the PC on.

Anyway, here's what has happened...I connected a USB floppy drive that works fine on another system to the motherboard's back USB port. Ironically, with that drive connected, even the 3rd keyboard didn't work! The board paused a little at "Initializing USB Controllers" but didn't freeze. The first 2 keyboards still behaved the same. I connected the drive to the other port with the same results there. Unplugging the drive caused the 3rd keyboard to work again. Very odd.

I downloaded the same BIOS (which is the latest) from the MSI website. I ran into a problem with the MSI utility. It just wouldn't flash. It wouldn't give an error either. It just brought me back to the A: prompt everytime, even after I used the switch to "Restart after flashing." I went online and found AMIFlash. This was alot simpler to use, and actually wrote the BIOS with the same version. Still no change at all with the keyboards. Atleast my curiosity is satisfied and the BIOS flash did go well.

Mission unaccomplished. But I've drawn to the conclusion that something happened to the PS/2 and USB ports when I plugged in my USB camera last year and the PC froze. I sure wish I knew how both the PS/2 and USB ports are connected to each other to make each one seem to have an impact on the other. It's very baffling.

I was thinking that since the USB ports and PS/2 ports are bad, I'm going to buy a PCI USB Card and then buy a USB converter for the keyboard and plug it into the new card. Since the PS/2 port behaves fine with just the mouse installed, I'm going to use just the mouse with it.

OtheHill, you and Cliffpage have been great. A very big thank you for your help. I appreciate the work you do here on CN.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

"Mission unaccomplished."

It's accomplished now. I got a PCI USB Card and a PS/2 to USB converter to plug into it and all is well. I can use any of the 3 keyboards. I can't access the BIOS with it but I'll set my options with the 3rd keyboard if needed. I'm going to try and use this board. Thanks again!

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

Have you tried Enabling legusy USB devices in the BIOS? Should allow you to use the KBoard in the BIOS screens.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try and see what happens.

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?

It didn't work. No big deal. Atleast it's working in Windows and the BIOS is set up the way I want it. Thanks again!

Why isn't offensive clothing no more offensive? Have we lowered our standards?