I have a gateway essential 633c which the power supply unit quit working so i decided wasnt priority to fix. the computer sat for about 6 monthes until i found it cheaper to buy a whole new midsize tower with a psu in it. I threw the motherboard and all the storage drives in the new case and when i start it up i get the error that says the CMOS is wrong. it says i can press f1 to run setep or f9 to keep current config and continue. The problem is that my keyboard seemed to quit working with the pc so i cant press f1 or f9. The usb cable is attached to the motherboard and that keyboard works fine on the other computers in my house. This is the only thing keeping my computer from booting up successfully. Is this some sort of driver issue? Is there anyway i can get by this without the keyboard. Any suggestions are appreciated.

A first try is to clear the CMOS. Remove the battery & short the jumpers (if applicable); reset the jumpers & replace the battery & try to boot.

usb keyboard? - I dont think USB keyboards initialize untill windows does. Should be able to hook up a normal keyboard to resolve the issue....

Good point surjer!

Many new main-stream systems are going to USB for most all connections.

The adapter industry is thriving

Hard to tell what normal is anymore

USB to PS2 adapters are readily available assuming that you have a PS2 port.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...to+ps2+adapter

it is a usb keyboard, but unortunatly i dont have a ps/2 port, do they sell ps2-usb adaptors? would this work before windows initializes?

That's a hard old machine to research

Finally found the board (I think):

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERB...51226701.shtml

Since it only has USB ports they must be BIOS accessable. This is a circa Win 98 board. With 2K & XP the USB drivers were mainly in the OS.

Note: If Quick Boot is enabled in the BIOS Setup Utility, the monitor does not warm up soon enough to show the power-on self test (POST) screen. The customer needs to press F1 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility before the monitor shows anything

Press Q - BIOS Battery on that motherboard link. Try removing the battery for a few minutes then replace & reboot. You may also need a new battery after all this time.

Press O - NVRAM and Password Jumper & follow the 2-3 Clear CMOS.

In other words remove the battery; change the jumper from 1-2 to 2-3 and let set for a few minutes.
Then reset the jumper to 1-2 and replace the battery. Try booting now.

alright ill give it a try, thanks for the input so far

nope this didnt do anything

I found that board link in this thread. Interesting to read. I know it's not the solution you were looking for but I agree with the thread that buying a new motherboard is your best bet.

http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive15-2005-5-184994.html

Only other thought is to reload your BIOS. Do you have the original Gateway disks?
You might be able to trace the motherboard on-line but it took me hours just to find the above thread. Gateway no longer lists that computer on its' current site.

This appears to be your board: Micro-Star International MS-6312 AKA Gateway Flex ATX (Brookings)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...os&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...2+&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...2+&btnG=Search

I also ran across another thread with your exact problem re: no keyboard response which was diagnosed as a faulty board. Sorry I cannot relocate that link.

alright, i can accept that. This will be my first computer i will build myself so i thought id get a little expierience by swappin an old gateway. Im sure i can find an affordable good performance motherboard online.
I appreciate all the help and searching