Keyboard Failure Error

What color are the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the rear of the tower when you have this problem? If not all green, look up the error code here <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> .

You have a PS/2 keyboard.  I sure hope you haven't been connecting/disconnecting the keyboard while the power is on.  PS/2 is not meant to be used that way and you can easily fry the electronics by doing that. From now on, only connect PS/2 components when the power is OFF. 

It's possible the hardware for the PS/2 port, which is on the motherboard, has died. Easiest way to resolve that problem would be by testing a USB keyboard, which can be connected while the power is on. Can you borrow a USB keyboard to try?

If you're comfortable working inside the PC you might try this in the meanwhile. Power off and disconnect the PC from the wall. Press/hold the power button on the tower for ~15 sec. Open the case and carefully remove the battery from the motherboard. Press/hold the power button again for ~30 sec. Now mIght be a good time to blow out all the dust bunnies while you're inside the case. Just don't use a vacuum cleaner because they can cause static which could damage the hardware.  Then reinstall the battery (right-side-up!) and close the case. After you reconnect the keyboard, mouse and monitor, power on and see if the keyboard works again.

Ron 

Hi,

We ended up getting a new keyboard that is USB.  This one works fine.  I got two different  LED lights for both times I restarted it.  Once it was two green and two yellow and then it was two yellow and two green.  I seem to be having a major problem now.  I tried to reinstall Windows XP and I cannot do it. I have done it before, but the cd will not boot from the drive.  I cannot get to F12 or safe mode.  I can't get into windows without the Windows XP cd in the drive.  It asks me to boot from cd hit any key.  I do that and it takes me into Windows. I get something different everytime I reboot.  Now it is still saying keyboard failure.

I just don't know what to do at this point.  Thanks for your help.

Thanks,

Janine

The diagnostic LEDs are labeled A, B, C, D, so when you say 2 green and 2 yellow, does that mean A is G, B is G, C is Y, and D is Y? And does it stop with that error code, or continue to boot?

This is an older system and it may not be able to recognize the USB keyboard before XP loads the drivers, unless USB Emulation is ON in BIOS. If you clear BIOS by removing the battery, as I outlined in my previous post, that should reset BIOS to factory defaults and that should turn USB Emulation on. If you remove the USB keyboard and reconnect the newer PS/2 keyboard will it boot from the hard drive, even if the keyboard doesn't work?

If you don't have the CD in the drive, do you get an error message (eg, "no bootable drive found" or does it only tell you to press any key to boot from the XP CD?

When was the last time you replaced the battery on the motherboard? If it's more than a few years old, it may not be able to hold the BIOS settings correctly and that could be causing some of the boot problems.

Ron

check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MlWAJ0Y0Yg

Hello, I have the same issue with a keyboard failure.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Situation: Dimension 8250 with xp sp3 with keyboard failure in XP but not BIOS

Explanation: At boot up I receive an ' Lsdelete program not found, skipping auto check'  message and then the Windows XP sign on screen is displayed.

I click on the administrator (usb mouse works ok, its plugged into the green PS2 to USB adapter).

However, the keyboard will not let me type the password.

The keyboard  Number/Caps Lock LED's are NOT on when I'm at the XP sign on screen. XP downloads Win updates OK & install OK when I click Turn Off Computer.

When I go into the BIOS/startup menu, the keyboard arrows & enter & esc work OK. Also the Number/Caps Lock LED's work OK.

I've tried, resetting BIOS via battery removal & reseating the drive connections on the MoBo with no success. The 4 MoBo LED's are GGGG. I've tried NOT using the keyboard purple PS2 to USB adapter and plugging the USB keyboard into other USB ports with no success.

Since the keyboard works in the BIOS menu, but not the Win XP Sign On; It appears the physical stuff is OK.

Is the issue with Dell drivers? How do I install them?  What's my next step?

Steve

Steve,

Are you really using IE4?? At least that's what the HTML info in your post says...  :emotion-18: IE4 isn't secure and Microsoft is up to IE8 already.

lsdelete seems to  be an Adaware 2007 file. You'll need to uninstall Adaware, assuming you can get to the desktop with keyboard working.

Have you tried another keyboard on this system or this keyboard on a different PC?

Reboot and press F8 before XP starts to load. Select "Last known good" from the menu. If that fixes the keyboard issue, shut down normally and reboot normally. You'll be good to go, and then uninstall Adaware.

If Last Good doesn't work, try Safe Mode on the same F8 menu.  If you can, uninstall Adaware and reboot normally.

What happens if you boot from the XP CD? If the keyboard still works, you may have to run a Repair/Reinstall of XP. Personal files will be ok but you will have to reinstall all XP updates and fixes again (eg, SP3  and subsequent updates).

Ron

Additional thoughts:

You said you could get into BIOS setup and keyboard still works. So make sure USB Emulation and USB Controller are both ON. Save any changes before exiting setup.

Ron

Hi & thanks,

I'm using FireFox 3.5.4.  There was a paragraph of garbage text at the top of my reply so I re-edited & deleted it.

Ran Dell Utility diagnostics > keyboard > everything checked out OK, KB controler/stuck key/key sequence test all PASS OK, including the interactive portion where I hit every key and the screen acknowledged it. = keyboard is OK

F8 > Last know good = Win XP Sign On scn with no keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off via mouse

F8 > Safe Mode = Win XP Sign On scn with no keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off

Boot via XP Install disk > Set up scn > Enter to set up XP = no response, F3 = no response, only choice is to Turn machine off

Seems I can't even do a XP repair via install CD.

Ideas please. 

Steve

Was all this done with the USB keyboard connected directly to a rear USB port, and not using the USB>PS/2 adaptor?

You can try this. Power off and disconnect PC from the wall. Press/hold power button on tower for ~15 sec. Open the case and remove the motherboard battery. Press/hold the power button again for ~30 sec. Leave the system unplugged and without the battery for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Reinstall the battery, right-side-up!, and the see if it will boot with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected.

The other thing you might try is an externally powered USB hub. Connect the hub's power brick to the wall and then connect it to a rear USB port. Plug the keyboard in through the hub. Now boot the system and see what happens...

EDIT: You might want to borrow the USB hub or buy one somewhere that has a liberal return policy. If it doesn't solve the problem you can return it. But I didn't say that! :emotion-5:

Ron 

Hi & thanks,

Yes, keyboard works in BIOS setup.

All was done with keyboard connected via USB (not USB>PS2 adapter) USB Emulation = ON, USB Controller = ON, (been this way since I reset BIOS via 15sec battery removal earlier in the day). 

Removed ethernet connection, only connections are VGA, USB mouse, USB keyboard, 110vt

1. plugged into a standard USB port, using an external powered USB hub (pwr LED on, keyboard channel LED on) resulted in the keyboard Num Lock LED staying ON until the XP welcome screen is almost done working, then Num Lock LED OFF, result: at Win XP Sign On scn NO keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off, repeat 2nd time, same result

2. Plugged into the USB>PS2 adapter, using an external powered USB hub (pwr LED on, keyboard channel LED NOT on) resulted in the NO keyboard Num Lock LED, result: at Win XP Sign On scn NO keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off, repeat 2nd time, same result

3. plugged into a DIFFERENT standard USB port (with PC pwr ON), using an external powered USB hub (pwr LED on, keyboard channel LED on resulted in the keyboard Num Lock LED staying ON until the XP welcome screen is almost done working, then Num Lock LED OFF, result: at Win XP Sign On scn NO keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off, repeat 2nd time, same result

So it appears the USB connection between the keyboard & pc is terminated just prior to the Win XP sign on screen displaying. Also seems the USB > PS2 adapter or PS2 port are not working.

I'll try your suggestion of an extended BIOS reset/MoBo battery-out overnight.

Any other ideas?

Steve

Have you tried a different keyboard? And what about booting from XP CD while using the powered USB hub?

This is going to sound strange, but try booting with keyboard connected directly to USB but without the mouse connected. There was a post a while back where the mouse caused the keyboard to fail during boot up... No promises, your mileage may vary... :emotion-5:

I could lend you a big hammer! OK, not funny...

Ron

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Hi,

Removed MoBo battery for 8 hours.

Ethernet UN-connected, only connections are VGA, USB mouse, USB keyboard via a powered USB hub, 110vt,

No change at XP Start up scn,: at Win XP Sign On scn  NO keyboard function > can't enter password > only choice is to click Turn off, repeat 2nd time, same result

So try again to load UBCD4Win start up CD  > hit any key to boot from CD > OK > hit 'Enter to repair' > ENTER KEY WORKED! > scn displays 'XP installation is damaged... R to repair or ESC to install a fresh copy of XP' > hit 'R' >  R KEY WORKED

XP repair  didn't finish correctly. However, Keyboard is still WORKING OK.

Trying another XP repair.  

If this doesn't work, I'll just reinstall XP or use a big hammer to salvage components

Conclusions: one of yesterday's  'trys'  fixed something in late boot/early start of XP so now the keyboard works OK.

Steve

A bit of progress! 

Why are you using the UBCD4Win CD? Don't you have the Dell XP Reinstallation CD?

Exactly what do you mean the "XP repair didn't finish correctly"? Error message? BSOD?

Reboot from the Dell XP CD and hit R at the Welcome to Setup Screen to launch Recovery Console. At the c: prompt type in:

chkdsk c: /p /r

Press ENTER

Go take a long nap while this checks the hard drive for errors. When it's done, remove XP CD and see if it can boot from the hard drive with keyboard functioning.

Think carefully before reinstalling XP. You'll lose all your files on the hard drive, unless you have backups on CDs or external hard drive. :emotion-3:

Besides, unless the hard drive is totally corrupted, was previously reformatted, or has been replaced, you should have Dell's PC Restore in a hidden partition. It will reset the drive to exactly the way Dell shipped it with XP, drivers and any software Dell installed . It'll be done in about 10 min vs a couple of hours to do a reinstall from the CD. You will lose all your personal files, but all you'd have to do is install SP3 and all other Microsoft updates for IE, Office, etc. etc.

Ron

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

My mistake, didn't use UBCD4Win cd. I tried to do a repair with the original XP sp1 startup disk. It asked for a sound card driver which isn't on the Dell or SB ulitities CD so I cancelled to continue. Same when asked for SP3 file. I was able to enter password OK on XP Sign on scn.  It got hung up on the black XP Welcome screen. After 40min I rebooted.

Tried to use a HP XP sp2 start up disk to do XP repair. Got further this time; the desktop flashed on/off. Then reverted to the XP Sign on screen, accepted my password. Desktop appeared for 30 seconds. Then reverted to Sign on scn.

I repeated this several times. Eventually I got to the desktop OK. SUCCESS!

Thanks, Steve

:emotion-21:

After all that, back up your personal files (don't forget email addressbook and browser favorites list) on external media asap (if not sooner!) . Then run chkdsk :

Start>run

Type in: chkdsk c: /f

Click OK

Accept offer to run at next boot and reboot. It'll run before XP loads the next time.

And then run PC Restore to reset the hard drive to the factory image, reinstall SP3 and whatever other software you want.

And finally, :emotion-22:

Ron