Keyboard failure

I hate seeing problems described and help requests that then show no follow up on what works and what was actually tried from the suggestions.  So for completeness, I call DELL support this morning and my computer is still under warranty!  They said they will dispatch a technician to my home to install a new MOBO.  I'll keep this forum updated on what happens next.

wlopatin - Glad to hear your system is still under warranty and Dell will replace the mobo! We appreciate the update. Hope that's the last of your problems. And your post actually helped Tom get his keyboard working again, so that's a plus.

Tom - Thanks for your feedback too. Very interesting and strange results! Understand your reluctance to change BIOS settings at this point. But at least the keyboard works again without the powered hub. That new hardware message from Windows makes me think the problem is actually in the OS rather than the motherboard.  Can we assume all your other USB devices are still working correctly?

Out of curiosity, does the powered hub work on another PC?

The weird world of Windows PCs... :emotion-40:

Ron

Just to complete the story.  Dell sent the mobo and a tech to my home under the warranty.  After replacing it, everything works again.  I give Dell a 10 on the customer service scale (at least for this warranty work).

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions and help.

Bill

:emotion-21:

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

check out the vid, its alot easier and you dont have to do and floppy disk nonsense

If your keyboard and mouse dont work how is one supposed to get to the web site to download and install the program?

Not all "Keyboard Failure" issues share the same cause, apparently, but in my case, I did get a Win XP desktop (utterly useless, of course, without KB & Mouse).  From reading this thread, I suspected that the PCI expansion card solution was probably the best bet.  And I was right.

A local repair shop guy tested the USB circuit, and determined it was dead.  We decided to install a 5-port PCI card (Belkin), and I was back in business.  BUT, all the original USB ports (including 2 in front) are now useless, and I no longer have access to the BIOS (no KB & Mouse until Windows is loaded).  This is a work-a-round solution -- better than nothing, but still, disappointing considering my Dimension E510 is a little more than 3 years old.  Anyway, I spent $72 to get it done ($40 for the card, the rest for the guy), and now I have a serviceable back-up computer.  I went and got a new HP as a replacement.

Repair guy tells me, however, that Dell is not alone here.  He has seen HP's and Gateway's with the same problem.  The most likely cause, he believes, is the "parasite" peripheral device, i.e., a device which draws it's power from the USB circuit.  In my case, that would likely be the Zoom modem, which I used before upgrading to cable-broadband last spring.  But then, that's only speculation.

Power off the pc. Unplug everything. Open the case and remove the CMOS battery (looks like a watch battery). There should be an on-board green LED. Once the light goes out on it, put the battery back in. Hook everything back up. Power the pc on. You will get a message talking about floppy disk boot error. You will need to go into the bios(f2 at boot up) and change the settings back. Look for a boot sequence and make sure everything is good there. Now look into the drives. Turn the DISKETTE DRIVE off. Go down the list and make sure the ones that are registered are on. Then look for a drive operation. I have bios A07 for dell XPS400. In my bios it is SATA OPERATION. In there, you have several options for your drive operations. Like RAID Autodetect / AHCI..RAID Autodetect/ ATA..RAID On..Combination. Select the RAID Autodetect/ ATA option. Save your settings and exit the bios. Once windows loads, the mouse and keyboard should show device has now been detected.

You can try using a powered USB hub with its own power brick. Connect the brick to the wall and plug the hub into a rear USB port. Connect the keyboard through the hub and see if it lets you get into  BIOS setup.

Ron

Power off the pc. Unplug everything. Open the case and remove the CMOS battery (looks like a watch battery). There should be an on-board green LED. Once the light goes out on it, put the battery back in. Hook everything back up. Power the pc on. You will get a message talking about floppy disk boot error. You will need to go into the bios(f2 at boot up) and change the settings back. Look for a boot sequence and make sure everything is good there. Now look into the drives. Turn the DISKETTE DRIVE off. Go down the list and make sure the ones that are registered are on. Then look for a drive operation. I have bios A07 for dell XPS400. In my bios it is SATA OPERATION. In there, you have several options for your drive operations. Like RAID Autodetect / AHCI..RAID Autodetect/ ATA..RAID On..Combination. Select the RAID Autodetect/ ATA option. Save your settings and exit the bios. Once windows loads, the mouse and keyboard should show device has now been detected.

And you do this how with a keyboard the will not let you use F2?

Ron did you see how old this thread was??

Dave,

The presumption is that unplugging and removing the battery for a while will allow a reset so USB works again. This works on some systems, some of the time, but not every system, every time...

And yes, I did notice how old and cold this thread is...  

Ron

the 9150 /XPS 400 is notrious for having this issue with the only remedy being a new motherboard.

I wonder if the OP ever got this resolved.

There have been other remedies to this problem.

Tom,

Glad to see you're still reading these forums!

Thanks for confirming once again that the powered USB hub remedied the USB/keyboard problem for you.

Ron

A colleague had this "keyboard failure" on her machine (keyboard dead, but mouse "alive") on her Dell Dimension after boot. Following the suggestion from this forum:

"Something else to try that worked for me on my 410:

• Power off PC
• Unplug the power cord from the back of the PC
• Press and hold the "power on" button for 20-30 seconds (this drains the remainder of power from the system)
• Plug the power cord back into the PC
• Power on PC and check for keyboard and mouse availability"

miraculously solved the problem (at least temporarily, so far). I thought I would post this, as the dates of the other postings on this topic date from 2007. Strange.