keyboard dies

it's winter- it could be static.

If not, maybe your ps/2 port is blown out. You can probably just use a USB keyboard or USB to ps/2 converter and your regular keyboard plugged into the usb port.

I can mail you an adapter for that if you're in the US. I just picked some up.

I have been having a similar problem on a Dell running XP. My keyboard connect by USB and I can get it back by unplugging it and plugging it back in. I am using it to run a CNC plasma cutter and it only happens once in a while so I have been living with it. I will be interested to hear the answer. Steve

1.) Try bending the pins in the plug a little bit so they seat better, and/or anchor the plug end of the cord so you don't yank it around if you are yanking it around. 2.) alt.comp.hardware is your friend.

Jon

Do you have any other keyboard? What happens if you replace your keyboard with another one? Do you have a USb keyboard? Try to troubleshoot it a little bit and isolate the problem.

Does the mouse cursor die at the same time? Assuming PS/2 on both, they generally run through the same serial I/O chip on the motherboard. There are some interrupt service problems that will often kill both devices at the same time. I had an electrostatic air cleaner that would occasionally give a big SNAP! and my keyboard would sometimes lock up at the same instant, so the suggestion it is static is pretty good.

Jon

In my case the mouse stays live. I think it is electrical interference from either the plasma cutter, one of the motors on the CNC table or the exhaust fan but I am unable to point a finger at any of them and say that is what is causing the problem. Engineman...sorry about horning in on your problem. Steve

On most of the PS/2 and other connectors similar to the mini-din, the socket that they connect to isn't as well aligned as it soululd be sometimes, and many times the connection is half-assed at best. When a cable gets moved slightly, the signals or power can be temporarily interrupted.

I don't know if damage will occur if short interruptions to power or signals can damage the keyboard circuit, or not. While damage may not occur with every interruption, I don't think that the keyboards are intended to be hot swappable devices.

I nearly always closely inspect the connector as it enters the socket/panel receptacle to feel and see how secure the connection appears to be, mostly to see that the cable plug seats firmly at the proper depth, not just barely making contact, but well enough to operate the device under normal operation conditions. Abnormal conditions may include anything moving around in the vicinity of the connection to the computer, or unsupported cable lengths. There are sticky-backed anchor pads with a loop for tying a cable down with a wire-tie which could be helpful in numerous applications where a hanging cable length places a considerable amount of strain on the delicate connector contacts.

I was making a couple of PS/2 plug modifications recently, and the pins are fairly delicate. The designations for mouse and keyboard pins are the same.. clock, data, +5V, ground and a shield (for the shell). I read that the +5V line for a mouse is typically fused, but the +5V line for a keyboard may not be. Two of the 6 pins are normally unused or reserved for a different pinout layout (sounds something like a $12 keyboard that sells for $120 because a generic one won't work).

Other aspects are generally always at play, thermal changes, vibration, roaming critters or something drops off the back of a desk etc.

For me, the easiest way to ensure that a plug connector can seat fully in the recepatacle, has been to trim away about 1/16" or slightly more of the molded plastic that makes up the plug body around the connector shell (tubular metal section) with a utility/razor knife edge pressed into the vinyl material, and rolling the plug like you would turn a piece of tubing to be cut, making sure that the sharp edge is cutting vinyl and not your skin. Slide off the O-shaped slice and see that the connector seats fully within the the panel connector. This trimming is especially helpful when the panel connector is slightly recessed and/or mis-aligned with the panel opening.

Oh, ding! There IS a micro fuse on the power lead to the keyboard.

At least on the IBM PS2s there was. But it's a real fuse and if blown it won't fix itself. That doesn't sound like the case here.

IBM style keyboards have a microprocessor inside. Mice don't.

They also have a lot more metal (ON TOPIC!) in the traces and such that could be acting as a receiving antenna.

In a high voltage / high power environment, I'd almost EXPECT odd problems for a garden variety computer.

This one almost sounds like the keynoard processor is going off to la-la land.

Sometimes that can happen if you have an old installation of XP. Driver files get corrupted, and after a few hours the keyboard and/or mouse stop working. If the back of a tower is touching a wall, the socket can be damaged as the resident cleaner moves it to dust. High humidity can also corrode the pins on the plug, just enough to cause you're problem. I used to run a free public computer lab, located in a basement office. The latter two problems were common. The lady janitor had to be told to leave the keyboards alone, as she ruined several, by cleaning them with a wet cloth.

Steve R.