keyboard freezing issue

[kromaey]

I just recently upgraded to a Epox 8RDA+ board (nForce2 based) and I am having this problem. The keyboard will work for anywhere between 20 minutes to the record time of 2 hours before just freezing up. It'll still be powered as the num lock light will stay on, but it will be completely unresponsive to the point that if I even try to turn off num lock it stays on no matter what until I reboot. I'm not sure if this is just an issue with ps/2 keyboards or what, but I'm going to try a USB keyboard pretty soon if I can't find a resolution to this problem. I've updated the drivers, updated the bios, updated everything in windows, and I'm still having the problem. I've tried 4 different keyboards and all give the same results. I'm partially tempted to hook up my old ps/2 mouse and see if it has the same problems (as I'm running a wireless USB mouse currently). I've also tried changing all the irqs and everything for all the different ports in the bios to make sure it wasn't some kind of conflict problem (which I doubted it would be considering it works for at least a little while). I also have not been able to pinpoint any specific event that triggers the keyboard to stop working. My CPU is sufficiently cooled (via a watercooling system) so that isn't a problem. This hadn't happened until I upgraded my motherboard. If ANYONE has some kind of solution or is having the same problem, PLEASE reply here before I just throw this keyboard up against a wall or something.

specs:
Athlon XP 2200+
Epox EP-8RDA+
768mb pc2100 crucial ram
Geforce4 mx440 64mb
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
Western Digital Caviar 120gb 8mb buffer
Seagate 7200.1 80gb
Windows XP Home SP1

 

[jfunk]

So the machine is not locking up, right? It's just the keyboard that stops responding?

Sounds like a bad port to me. Probably easier to go with a USB keyboard than replace the mobo.


j




j

 

[kromaey]

yea just the keyboard freezes. I was reading through the general hardware forum and saw someone post just about the same symptoms on another nforce2 based board. I'm starting to think it may have something to do with that. Either way, I may just try the USB solution.

 

[kromaey]

Interestingly enough, I just found this while searching for a solution on google.

Keyboard and Mouse - Random failure upon reboot

This is a problem that many people are having, and I'm not sure why this occurs. Many times after rebooting, the keyboard and mouse will become completely non functional. If you are using usb devices, the temporary fix for this is to go ahead and let the system boot into windows, and then unplug and reconnect the keyboard and mouse so that the system re detects them. On some systems, it may be necessary to plug it back into a different port.

If you are using a ps/2 keyboard and mouse, try disconnecting the power LED from the motherboard. It doesn't make much sense but it works for some users. If this doesn't work for you, then the only permanent solution is to RMA/return the board and get one without this problem.


Should I still try that whole USB keyboard thing or just RMA the board?

 

[jfunk]

Like I said before, I would personally just buy a USB keyboard and live with it. Only because I am lazy and would rather do it that way than deal with RMA'ing the board and rebuilding the system.


j