Question about USB keyboard on old mobo

[Ilmater]

I have an old extra computer that won't boot with my USB keyboard. I can either drag my old keyboard with a PS2 connection home, or I can use the little adapters I've collected from my USB mice to plug it in. However, since they're for mice, I'm not entirely sure if they'll work with a keyboard instead. Does anyone know if they'll work? They look exactly like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Fe...ref=dp_cp_ob_e_image_2

Otherwise, if someone knows another work-around, that would be great.

 

[coxmaster]

You could plug it in and try... I've always assumed that they were the same, but i'm sure somebody on AT knows for sure

 

[Ilmater]

I saw that they actually have keyboard ones and mouse ones, but I'm not sure if they're actually any different internally, or if it's just the color of the outside for idiots that can't follow a cable from their input devices to the backs of their computers.

 

[SonnyDaze]

I haven't used PS/2 in ages but just looked on the back of an old Dell here at work and the pin outs for the mouse and keyboard PS/2 appear to be the same. So you might be right on the color coding OP. Plug it in a give it a whirl.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
I haven't used PS/2 in ages but just looked on the back of an old Dell here at work and the pin outs for the mouse and keyboard PS/2 appear to be the same. So you might be right on the color coding OP. Plug it in a give it a whirl.

I know that the ports are exactly the same, but my problem is, while it's a big hassle to drag my kb home from work, I would hate to lose a night working on what I need to work on at home if this doesn't work out... so if I can't get confirmation that it's going to work, I kind of have to drag home this beast of an old kb in case my other work-around doesn't work.

 

[Paperdoc]

It will work. All PS/2 sockets are the same - you can plug a keyboard into a mouse socket and it will work. And the adapters are also the same - they just make connections, they don't do any signal processing.

 

[Ilmater]

Thank you sir, that's a huge load off my mind.

 

[vailr]

The reverse adapters (for plugging a PS2 device into a USB port) can sometimes have problems working.
A green PS2 device -> USB port adapter purchased via eBay didn't work at all for my PS2 keyboard.
But a "Y" adapter used for the same purpose did work.
A different "Y" adapter (for enabling 2 PS2 devices connected to a single PS2 port) did not allow swapping the PS2 keyboard & PS2 mouse. Each PS2 port was labeled for the exact PS2 device.

So my guess would be: there could be an electrical difference between the green mouse and the purple keyboard adapters. Or (more likely): some USB keyboards may work, but others may not (using the same adapter).

 

[dman]

Where exactly does it hang in the boot? Might be a bios option or update to resolve.

 

[Ilmater]

It hangs right before it posts the IDE and SATA channels.

http://www.degs.co.uk/test/cyber/post2.jpg

It's a lot like that, but it never gets to the part where it says "Detecting IDE Drives..."

Edit: It's a Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 if that matters.

 

[dman]

you may have already checked, but:

In the bios under integrated peripherals is an option to enable USB Keyboard and Mouse. Make sure both are enabled. You should also check the USB Host Controller is set to the 1.1 + 2.0 option.

On the standard screen make sure "Halt on" is set to ignore keyboard errors.

Of course you'll likely need a PS2 keyboard to get to those settings.