First of all, someone else here posted with the same problem but the server wouldnt let me post a reply as it was a week ago. I am running an SMP rig (dual MP 2000+ on WinXP with a gig of Cruicial pc2100 ECC ram [correct and scrub turned on in the BIOS], Gigabyte 7DPXDW revision 1.0 MOBO, 4 60 gig HD's in a span array NTSF format). I have had no problems untill now with ANY pc that I couldnt figure out. What happens is this: Whenever I boot my pc, the keyboard (PS/2) doesnt work. It is recognized by WinXP as being present,but it shows an IRQ conflict in the Device Manager (exclamation mark). The mouse I have is a USB and works fine. In my BIOS (the F6 revision) I have options for the numlock on boot, enable and USB keyboard support, those are the only two options for the keyboard. Now, the keyboard works fine in the BIOS all the time. As soon as I go into Windows (ANY MODE, safe mode, command prompt (thats a laugh as the KB is the only input), or whatever, the IRQ conflict is still there and the KB does not function. This now, is the inersting bit. I can fix the problem but only untill I reboot. Here are the temporary fixes (there is 2 of em): Get to the device manager, and uninstall the KB, then scan for changes ; thats it , fixed. Or disable and enable the KB in the device manager (only slightly faster). Those both fix the issue untill the next reboot. I have tried to create a hardware profile with the keyboard uninstalled, so when windows boots it will install the keyboard each time. Though the problem I get when I do that, is it only works once, then WinXP modifies the profile for the next time. Here is how I do the profile: I uninstall the KB from the device manager, then create the new profile with the KB not installed still (as I didnt scan for changes or touch the device manager, windows does not auto scan yet) this works too. I reboot with the new profile, and the keyboard is recognized and installed. If I restart the system again, the problem persists as the hardware profile was updated when the kb was installed. This happens with ANY keyboard that I plug into the PS/2 slot now, and erasing my array and formatting/re-installing does not fix the issue. I have tried and tried and tried many different things, re-flashing the BIOS, downgraging the BIOS (it works fine in the BIOS any version) as stated I went so far as to reset the raid array. All to no avail =( . My email if you would rather email me with suggestions/ideas is (spaces for the spam filters): " z u r e c h @ t h e o u t l a n d s . o r g " no quotes either. I have not had the ability to test a USB keyboard since this issue has reared its head, but I do believe that a USB keyboard would have no quams at all (as the mouse). ANY help AT ALL would be appreciated. Since I am not the only one with this problem, if you can please post reply's in the boards AND email me that would be great. Or just post or email at your leisure. -Zurech

Dear friend, May be I am wrong but exclamation before a device means that windows is having problems with the device;either it is not working properly or it is not installed,I think if for your PS/2 keyboard generic drivers provided by windows are being installed every time and with all other keyboards then there is a chance that they might have got corrupted(the driver files)so if possible use the drivers provided by the keyboard manufacturer instead of WinXP,see if it makes any difference. amit_nine03@yahoo.co.in

OOPS, I forgot to say that I tried that already. Sry, thnx for the help, keep it comming. And yes, an IRQ conflict is exactly what your describing. As for the drivers being corrupt, remember, I erased my raid array and re-formatted thats why I am so confuzzled about this. My kb of choice is my logitech newtouch, tried the drivers from logitech, didnt help. Normally windows picks it up as a 101key US format, it does on all the other machines I plug it into and works fine.