USB Keyboard does not work PS/2 Keyboard does

I do have USB Legacy Device Enabled. I have tried it both ways to no avail.

You may have corrupted USB controller drivers (or the keyboard may be drawing excessive power from your controller).   Go to Device Manager and delete EVERYTHING under the USB devices section.   Then reboot (it will all be redetected and initialized).

I deleted all of the usb devices and it still fails to find a driver for the HID-compliant device.

Also it searches for an Unknown keyboard device everytime I reboot the computer it does not matter if the usb keyboard or the ps2 keyboard is plugged in.

I'd suggest checking your system files to see if there's any corrupted DLLs.

Start - Run - Cmd  and then sfc /scannow

I am running sfc /scannow right now and I will let you know what happens.

You may wnat to try a USB to PS2 adapter:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=USB+PS2+adapter&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=USB+PS2+adapter&Ntk=All&product_code=51445182&Pn=Replacement_Keyboard_Adapter

Well I finally got sfc /scannow to run completely. Half way thorough it would start asking for my windows XP cd and the cd drive was no longer being recognized. I copied the I386 folder to my C: drive and changed the registry to have it look for the files there.

After all of that the usb keyboard is still giving an unknown device in the Human Interface Devices category.

wlennon

I really need this to work from the usb port. Thanks for the comment though.

Does anyone have any other ideas to fix this problem?

I am still interested in a soloution to my problem. As it is my desktop computer is virtually worthless. I need to use USB Keyboard and Mouse on this computer. I have not had any other suggestions posted to my problem so I am leaving it open until someone can give me a resolution. I have tried everything that has been suggested except the adaptor since I need this to work from the usb ports.

Any further help from anyone would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

Reviewing this thread I can't believe I didn't ask this earlier ... but does the keyboard work at the BIOS setup?   ... with a Windows 98 boot disk ??   ... with Knoppix ??   ... in Windows Safe Mode ??

Gary,

The keyboard does not work at the bios setup. I do not have a windows 98 boot disk. I have not tried it in safe mode. I will try it this weekend but I doubt it will work. What is Knoppix?

I even installed a New USB 2.0 Card to see if that would help but it did not.

Thanks,

Jim

It it doesn't work at the BIOS it's not likely to work with either Win98 or Knoppix (which is a free bootable-CD version of Linux).

I presume this system has PS/2 ports (since you appear to be able to use it) ... it would be interesting to know why a USB -> PS/2 adapter (as wlennon suggested) isn't a good resolution for you here ??  

My end goal is to connect it to my kvm switch which uses usb connections since my laptop does not have ps2 connections on it. The kvm only has one usb connector for both keyboard and mouse. I do not think this will work with an adaptor since it will only adapt to 1 ps2 connection not both mouse and keyboard.

For your information I am doing my testing with a standalone usb keyboard and mouse and not the kvm so it is not a problem with the kvm.

I don't understand why all other usb devices work except the keyboard.

How old is the desktop?   ... and have you updated it to the most current BIOS?

... You could also just use MaxiVista in "KVM" mode => works very well; and does not require a physical KVM switch.   (http://www.maxivista.com/kvm.htm)

I will try the demo version this weekend to see if it will fill my requirements. You don't have any other ideas on why the keyboard will not work?

"... You don't have any other ideas on why the keyboard will not work? " ==> You indicated you've tried several USB keyboards ("...My desktop is not recognizing any usb keyboard ..."), so it's not a keyboard issue;  it's a BIOS issue;  it is simply not supporting a USB keyboard.   Normally this simply requires enabling USB legacy device support --> the very first post I made suggested this;  but you indicated you've done this.   The only other thing I can think of is perhaps the BIOS has an explicit setting to enable/disable USB keyboard/mouse support => I assume you've looked for this;  but it wouldn't hurt to look in the BIOS setup to be SURE you haven't missed it.   Be sure to check ALL submenus -- BIOS writers often seem to "hide" simple options where they're not very obvious.

But even without BIOS support, USB keyboards will usually work in Windows once the Windows USB drivers have "taken over" the USB controller ... but you're not getting this behavior either.   It's definitely a strange problem --> what is the make/model of the motherboard ??

I think you'll like MaxiVista ... although their "KVM" mode is really a "KM" mode => each system still has its own display, but you simply move the mouse to the system you want to control and it works perfectly.   You can even cut/paste between systems :-)

I will check the BIOS for other settings that may be the cause. It is a dell dimension 4100 pc with a pentium III processor and a Intel 815E chipset.

I was wondering about the "V" part of the "KVM". My setup is that I have a laptop that is set up to use a dual monitor setup. The laptop LCD and a 20in Flat panel. The desktop uses the 20in flat panel when switched using the KVM. This way I don't use up mutch desk space and I get a lot of desktop area for the laptop and I can use the desktop when I need to.

Thanks Gary

Jim