Hi everyone,

I have a bit of a problem I'm hoping someone can help me solve. Last Friday, I tried to log into my computer, and my keyboard and mouse were not functioning. My fiancee had used my computer last, but all she did was put it in stand-by mode when she was done. She didn't download anything, she didn't check her email, and she knows better than to use IE.

I tried restarting my computer to see if the issue would sort itself out. It rebooted just fine, except during the loading process, I got a message that said something like "Keyboard Error, press F4 to continue." It immediately went away on its own (no need to press F4) and continued the boot process, making all the way to the XP login screen. At this point, I had no mouse or keyboard function at all. I tried restarting a few times, and I noticed the keyboard and mouse never turn on (no lights on the keyboard, no light on the optical mouse), and therefore I can't access the system bios or safe mode or last safe configuration, or any of these obvious choices.

Has anyone seen or heard of this before? Any idea why these two ports would suddenly choose to quit at the same time? Oh, I tried plugging in a USB mouse too, but that yielded nothing, though the computer recognized a memory stick I had plugged into the same port on startup. I have a laptop too, so I'm making do for the time being, but this is a bit scary.

Help!

Thanks

- Paul

Does your machine happen to be a Gateway?

Originally Posted by the_pm

and she knows better than to use IE.

You've taught her well Paul! :mrgreen:

I'm trying to think of what may be causing this, is the motherboard very old?

try changing the keyboard for a new one and rebooting to see if the same problem reappears

Does your machine happen to be a Gateway?

Nope, it's custom-built. Some of the components are older, but we're talking about a couple peripherals, like the CD player and burner

You've taught her well Paul!

I'm trying to think of what may be causing this, is the motherboard very old?

Yep, Amy's an Opera girl

Less than a year and a half old. Plus, it seems unlikely both ports would go bad at once due to age, right?

try changing the keyboard for a new one and rebooting to see if the same problem reappears

I'll try that tomorrow. I'll grab an extra keyboard from work and try it to see if it clears up all of the problems. FWIW, I unplugged the keyboard entirely and I still got errors.

This is frustrating.

If I were you, I would open up your case, unplug some of your componets and clean them VERY carfully, make sure the connecting are nice and tight. Then test your computer out again.

FWIW, I unplugged the keyboard entirely and I still got errors.

This is frustrating.


you WILL get errors with no KB plugged in for sure...

Originally Posted by the_pm

Plus, it seems unlikely both ports would go bad at once due to age, right?

Likely they wouldn't at the same time, but it is quite possible. I would try as Jazzman suggested and try a different keyboard, are you still receiving a Post-BIOS error(s)?

Hi everyone,

Well, a different keyboard didn't make any difference. Same error message, same lack of input ability. I'll try tearing the computer apart in the next couple days, but if y'all can think of anything, please let me know! I'd hate to have to replace the motherboard.

If I do have to replace it and make upgrades, what are the chances I can swing it without having to reload windows?

if you have a usb port, try a usb keyboard first before you tear it down, if the mouse and KB ports are bad, you will know if you get KB and Mouse funtionality thru USB