[scott54]

I'm trying to troubleshoot a keyboard error a friend is having with her Dell Dimension E510, WinXp Home sp2 system. Upon bootup, a message will flash about a keyboard error. The system will complete the bootup on its own but neither the keyboard nor the mouse are functional. (When this problem first started I believe the original message was -- keyboard error press F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup) I can access and control the system remotely (via www.logmein.com). When I go into device manager there is no entry for either a keyboard or mouse. I guess the first thing I need to determine is whether this is a hardware failure or software issue (driver/bios/operating system).
I'ved done a system restore to prior to when the issue started and this did not resolve the problem. I've tried chkdsk with (/F) repair option, but even though I've disabled all antivirus services (antivirus, firewall, spam, privacy), chkdsk says it cannot update the drive because there's a lock on the file system or drive. When I run chkdsk in read-only mode, it says it found file system errors and to run chkdsk /F to fix them.

Also have tried other keyboards with no success.

Any advice on how to determine the actual nature of the problem and how to proceed toward a solution would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Edited by scott54, 13 March 2008 - 12:38 PM.

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Are these USB keyboard and mouse?
Have you tried standard PS keyboard and mouse?

[123Runner]

Are these USB keyboard and mouse?
Have you tried standard PS keyboard and mouse?

[scott54]

both are usb. I don't believe there are any ps/2 connectors to the computer.

[Ztruker]

Try different USB ports, it has 5 USB 2.0 ports in the back and 2 USB 2.0 ports in the front.

Try powering off and removing the CMOS battery for 30 seconds or so. Unplug the power cord then press and hold the power button for 15 seconds.

Put the CMOS battery back in, plug in the power cord and power up. You should get some error messages about BIOS or CMOS settings and the option to press F1 or F2 I believe. See if the keyboard works now so you can get into BIOS setups. If so, load defaults then save and exit.

[scott54]

I tried your suggestion. keyboard is still non responsive and the system will no longer boot-up. I see the msg u expected, ie, press f1 or continue or f2 to enter setup.

before trying your approach i put a jump drive in all the usb ports, but it was never recognized. we also retrived what we wanted to save off the hard drive before trying your approach.

here's more history to the problem. while the computer was being used, pet dog bites thru mouse cable. a cheap replacement mouse was bought. while using the mouse, it falls off the desk, hits the ground and stops working. after a subsequent reboot, the msg, 'keybd failure...press f1...or f2'.

what do u think is the likelihood that installing another usb card would work around the problem or is this a bios problem, registry problem, motherbd problem, etc? other suggestions? thanks.

[Ztruker]

A 4 port USB 2.0 card is worth a try since it uses a different path to communicate with the CPU that the ones built into the system board. But it could very well be a waste of money unless you can use it elsewhere if it doesn't fix it.

[digisol]

Removing the battery will remove all the bios settings, not good, go back in and reset the bios inc hardware boot order etc etc, and use either PS2 devices or get some USB - PS2 adaptors on your USB k/b and mouse and try that, I use em and all is fine.
My only drama is when I remove the k/b or mouse as I use a 4-1 KVM, similar to the no keyboard message you got, hit F1 and all is good, when loading your system is just not seeing the k/b and mouse which will always stuff up.
Reset bios first, the rest should be easy.

[scott54]

I don't have the system in front of me, but I don't think there is a ps/2 connector. I've also looked at some specs for the Dell E510 online and I didn't see any ps/2 interfaces specified.

[digisol]

Most USB k/b and mice are sold with the converters for this very problem, they are worth stuff all at any PC shop, there should be no problem finding one, I'm looking at half a dozen of em, I only use the one on my USB K/B.

[123Runner]

When you look at device manager remotely, are there any USB's shown?
If so, I would uninstall them and reboot to let the OS reinstall them.

And you are correct, there are no PS2 adapters on that computer. HERE is the manual.

There are diagnostic lights on the back. What do they indicate (sequence).

This is interesting. How do you get in to bios if the keyboard does not work, and there are no PS2's?

[digisol]

USB - PS2 adapters are either purchased seperately, allthough they are generally sold with a USB K/B.

It's really not rocket science.

It's a green thing about 2" long, I'm looking at the thing, these words are being filtered through the darn thing.

[scott54]

thanks for the post. I can no longer remotely control the pc after removing the cmos battery; the system will no longer boot past the 'keybd error...press f1 to continue...f2 to enter setup' msg. when i was able to remotely log in, there were no yellow error indicators in the enhanced usb controller entries in device mgr. had i thought of it then, i would have tried running some of the other devices connected thru the usb ports, such as the printer. i did try a couple jumpdrives but they were not recognized. i haven't checked the diagnostic lights,so i will do that. a coworker suggested (too late now) inserting the o/s installation cd (or in this case dell's reinstallation cd) and i might have had the option to repair the o/s; that might have been worth a try if there was some file (drivers, dlls, etc) corruption.

[digisol]

removing the battery will screw up the entire bios (Basic Input Output System) setup, returning it to the factory defaults, or like when it was bought new, go fix it ! then go buy a PS2 keyboard.

Until you fix the BIOS defaults to what you actually have / want in your system your wasting daylight, the BIOS is DUM, it needs to be told the hardware, and little TINY things like BOOT ORDER and the TIME which will have all changed when removing the battery thus clearing the CMOS or the M/B's memory, simply put you should have not removed the battery, but all is not lost, the fix is real easy.

However if the new PS2 keyboard does not work it is possible the board is stuffed, I had several Tyan Duals that died in this way, and they had PS2 keyboards.

If you fix the bios (Basic Input Output System) or what makes it do neat stuff, and it still spits the "no K/B error on a PS2 K/B, hit F1 and let it boot, don't go back to setup "unless you have to", good chance the drivers will then load automatically once the O/S is running, (that's a neat thing that XP does).

You really have to fix the BIOS, then it's all easy peasy...

Edited by digisol, 20 March 2008 - 06:54 PM.

[scott54]

if this computer did not come with any ps/2 adapters/connectors (which i believe is the case), how can i connect a ps/2 kbd?

[digisol]

Go buy one, cost a couple dollars, maybe, and having a spare K/B around won't hurt, it needs only to be a cheap one, but not the cheapest available, unless your cashed up, then have a spare flash MS one for when coffee is spilt into your main K/B, you will need one then, my spare MS K/B is literally within reach.

Little things like the incorrect time and date (as when battery was removed) will make the board think it's 50 years or more old, it simply won't come out and play because you will get a Checksum error, wrong time and date, you must reset the bios first, it's easy done, even try again with the USB K/B but hit F1 at the error message, that is once you get back to the error message.

The system will simply not work until the bios has been reset, if you don't know how this works grab your m/b manual, most are basically the same, once the time/ date / installed hardware / and some added USB ports and especially the boot order, good chance it has reverted to the defaults which are not what you have there, so the HDD freaks out, other O/B devices need to be either enabled or dissabled depending on what you have there.

Surely you have a mate that has a spare PS2 K/B ? I have half a dozen of em.

This PC I'm using is #3 in a set of 4, running off a 4-1 KVM switch, OK, my #4 (by something in the build) will make it spit up the no K/B error if the K/B wire is removed from the KVM, once that happens I hit F1 and all is back to normal, I don't need to go into setup, my battery has not been moved, yours has.

I know the NO K/B error message well, I am guessing that you always went into setup ? rather than going Via F1, if you do that it will spit the no K/B error each time out of setup, F1 fixes mine so simply.

The drivers for the USB socket don't load until the O/S starts up, once you get there you should have no more problems, XP itself should fix it, (unless) you do have a hardware fault, it does happen, ain't computers fun ?

Edited by digisol, 20 March 2008 - 07:40 PM.