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Intermittent keyboard problems

3K views 11 replies 2 participants last post by  darkwade 
#1 ·
The Dell Inspiron desktop I bought earlier this year doesn’t have a PS/2 connection, so I used an adapter in order to be able to plug my favorite keyboard into a USB port. Some days everything was fine, but other days certain keys didn’t work: the right-arrow key might fail, or the “A” key, or the “F” key would produce the letter “M.” The company from which I’d bought the adapter replaced it for me, but that didn’t help, so I bought a different kind of adapter from another company. I also tried two other PS/2 keyboards. The unpredictable key failures continued, suggesting the problem wasn’t with the hardware. I concluded that I’d have to break down and just buy a USB keyboard. But to my surprise, the problems have persisted. I’ve now tried two Logitech USB keyboards, and I’d say at least half the time everything works fine. But some mornings when I start the system the Escape key or the “1” key doesn’t work. Everything looks OK in Device Manager, and when I tried to reinstall the keyboard driver from my disk, Windows refused, saying my current driver was up to date. (I’m running XP – SP2.) Any thoughts?
 
#2 ·
Its time to find a new key board, older key boards don't always work with adapters
 
#4 ·
oh now it sounds more like a software problem. ill post again when I have time to think :)
 
#5 ·
how many usb slots do you have and were are they located( rear, front, top rear, lower rear )
 
#7 ·
just for experimental reasons use one of the front ports for a few days and give us your results. what else do you have pluged in any other keyboards, joy sticks, or inferred devices?
 
#8 ·
Thanks for your reply. All I have plugged in to USBs on a regular basis is a printer and my mouse.

I'm trying to figure out how the very partial (only a key at a time) and intermittent problem with the keyboard that I've described could be caused by a faulty USB port. Have you ever heard of this before? Wouldn't a bad port cause the keyboard to fail completely -- or at least cause problems to show up consistently?
 
#9 ·
yep either that or a interference issue
 
#10 ·
do you know what mother board model you have some models have been known to have usb problems?
 
#11 ·
Can't tell from your "yep" whether you're saying that a USB problem might explain what I've described or you're agreeing with me that it would probably be associated with a more serious and/or chronic problem than mine.

I don't know what sort of motherboard I have but would be glad to find out if you'll tell me where to look for that information.

Haven't had any problems with other devices plugged into the USB ports, including flash drive.
 
#12 ·
sory
yep there a good chance its a usb problem.
open the case up and look for stickers on the mother board write them down and post them.
 
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