Keyboard and mouse problems PS/2 and USB

iamcami · 15 May 2012

Hi,

I got this PC from my cousin, it's supposed to go to my gran as she's using an ancient one. This one's not the newest either but would be a huge improvement.

It's a Packard Bell IMEDIA 2669

It came faulty though. It had Windows MCE on it and the Keyboard and Mouse wouldn't work. It would boot to my cousin's login screen but K+M didn't work regardless of being plugged in via ps/2 or USB (at the back).

I've now got them working via USB at the front. There's only 2 USB's at the front though. So I installed a PCI card. And now there's 4 at the back. The 4 at the back (PCI card) work fine in windows but u can't get in to the BIOS with it. The keyboard has to be in the front to enter the BIOS.

Anyway, the plan was to install Windows 7 on it as it should be capable. 2gb ram, Pentium D 3ghz. So Windows 7 home was purchased for it.

When trying to install windows 7 home, the K+M stop working quite early on, where you are asked to choose your language.

I've been googling this a lot and one suggestion was a faulty PSU and to check voltages, 5v,12v and 3.3v (something like that). They were all within 10% so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

I should also let you know, one of the 4 original USB ports on the back (the motherboard ones) seems to have samage to it. Like part of it's been pulled out. I haven't tested the ethernet, spdif and another connector but both the PS/2 and USB on the back are faulty.

Ideally I'd want to get the ports at the back working, but I'd make do with just installing Windows 7. Just not sure how to go about it. I've heard about being able to install with USB but how do I do that with the disc?

Is there anything I should try? I've reset the BIOS, and I even tried taking the motherboard battery out for a minute.

Just to be clear, the 2 USB ports at the front work, the 4 I added at the back work. The 4 originals at the back dont and the ps/2 don't. The 2 at the front are the only ones that can access the Bios. And none seem to work during the Windows 7 installation.

Cheers for reading and please respond with ideas/suggestions, even if it's a long shot.

Night Hawk · 15 May 2012

With an old Packard Bell or other old system that generally doesn't support usb keyboards as far as entering the bios setup simply having a roll away PS/2 keyboard can be a help at times!

The additional ports seen by adding in the separate card will be what offers the most as far as having ports available while booted in Windows. A usb hub can help too at times.

As for installing 7 by way of a usb flash drive you will want to read the guide for creating a USB Install Key.

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

iamcami · 15 May 2012

Cheers, that guide will hopefully do the job. Just not sure if K+M will work this way either. Will have to try and see.

I do have a PS/2 KB, the PS/2 port doesn't work at all. I plug in while the machine is off. Tried a few times. Basically all the ports from the motherboard at the back (that i've tried) seem buggered. That's in BOOT, BIOS, Windows, Windows install, safe mode etc etc

BIOS works using a USB KB in either of the 2 USB at the front only. Doesn't work on the PCI card I installed. The card seems to only work for Windows. A powered USB HUB is a good idea to give her better accessibility. I might order one.

Night Hawk · 15 May 2012

I found a small 4 port CyberPower USB 2.0 hub seems to work well for an addon and won't cost as much as a Siig or other brand. That includes an ac adapter and won't pull from the port.

As far as the PS/2 for the PBell system that is either DOA and would need replacement at a repair shop or simply won't accept any other keyboard other then one from the now long gone manufacturer! I've seen that all too often where you can only use their brand. On old Dells the PS/2 port was actually smaller then the standard at times.

The one thing to add about the usb install method is whether or not the system supports booting from a flash drive to begin with! In most cases anything dated 2003 or older simply won't. Then you might have to consider an alternative.

If the present optical is worn you can grab a 22x ide dvd burner for a good price these days as long as there's a 5 1/4" bay available. Most were standard sized even on premade OEM systems but... the drives now are shorter in length. On a much newer system the old optical drives would simply end up touching the main board being too long!

These are a few things you will need to look at. It may be possible to see 7 installed by following the instructions in another SF guide. Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device

iamcami · 15 May 2012

Night Hawk said:

I found a small 4 port CyberPower USB 2.0 hub seems to work well for an addon and won't cost as much as a Siig or other brand. That includes an ac adapter and won't pull from the port.

As far as the PS/2 for the PBell system that is either DOA and would need replacement at a repair shop or simply won't accept any other keyboard other then one from the now long gone manufacturer! I've seen that all too often where you can only use their brand. On old Dells the PS/2 port was actually smaller then the standard at times.

The one thing to add about the usb install method is whether or not the system supports booting from a flash drive to begin with! In most cases anything dated 2003 or older simply won't. Then you might have to consider an alternative.

If the present optical is worn you can grab a 22x ide dvd burner for a good price these days as long as there's a 5 1/4" bay available. Most were standard sized even on premade OEM systems but... the drives now are shorter in length. On a much newer system the old optical drives would simply end up touching the main board being too long!

These are a few things you will need to look at. It may be possible to see 7 installed by following the instructions in another SF guide. Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device

Thanks, I'll check out your HUB recommendation. I'd definitely want a powered one.

DVD- Drive is fine and I have others if i needed them. It seems I'm becoming the family dump for old PCs

It may be possible that it's (PS/2) brand limited I guess, never thought of that. But the fact the motherboard's USB ports are dead as well makes me think its a fault. Maybe they hoovered the back of the PC or something stupid?

When booting to Windows 7 installation, during boot, "loading setup files" etc, I kept hitting caps lock on the keyboard to make sure the KB was still getting power. As soon as it reached the language stage (1st stage of installation) the KB caps lock light stopped responding. The disc is fine and the DVD drive is fine.

Night Hawk · 16 May 2012

How old is the system you have there? One thing to realize about any system over a certain age is that you can run into any number of problems! The old stuff has simply worn out or seen neglect or both too often since many are basically novice users.

With the ports on the board itself that shows the wear and tear and may have seen plugs slammed into them or simply devices plugged and unplugged more frequently over time. The caution here is knowing when you may have to give up on the board entirely.

Unfortunately you may not be able to replace it unless you end up custom fitting a new one in if the case isn't in the standard atx form. In recent years the manufacturers have done more to adopt the atx format for all new prebuilds to make things more attractive to customers as far as upgrades and repairs as well.

As for the PS/2 situation there it could actually be either or both. It sounds like the brand name wasn't exclusive while that couldn't ruled out entirely. The other likely problem which would be a major concern is that the supply is being pulled down during the install and why the light on the keyboard suddenly goes out. Your largest draw on power besides ocing hardwares is seen at post time and during an OS install before things like the Windows idle processes are even running.

iamcami · 16 May 2012

Well i'd estimate it being newer than 2005. I don't know the age of it exactly but i'm pretty sure it's 05+. Possibly as new as 08.

The case is smaller than most. It's all quite a tight fit. I don't think I'd bother with trying to replace the motherboard unless all the hardware would be compatible with one of the other boards I have but I doubt it would be.

To give you an idea, the recipient is using a machine that only has 256mb ram. i can't remember all the specs but going from a system with 256mb ram to one with 2gb ram would be a nice step up for them.

I'll do some more testing tomorrow but I don't think I'll be able to get my hands on a packard bell keyboard so that will remain a mystery.

I did check the voltages and the 5v in the BIOS was sitting at 5.06-5.09v. Which I think is the one that's supposed to relate to powering peripherals like Keyboarsds etc...

I will try those other methods of installing Windows 7 ASAP.

I really appreciate the reponses. *fingers crossed* i can get win7 on it as it will be a nice step up in the meantime. The ports aren't necessities.

Night Hawk · 16 May 2012

It's possible to see well at least it was with the 7 beta and RC builds to see a basic install of 77 on a system with only 128mb of memory! Note this would be for the 32bit 7. Install Windows 7 on Computer with Less than 512MB RAM

Here while a supply failed and ended up cooking the first board on the present build here I ran a temp install of the 32bit 7 on an older XP custom case with a pair of 512s DDR2 as well where one needed to see the contacts cleaned. Once the dimm slots were blasted out and a firm pen/pencil eraser was used to run them lightly I then 1gb working again.

Obviously you will want at least 2gb for the 32bit and 2.5-4gb for the 64bit for the basics. The 500mb more is due to less swap out of data to the drive and loaded into ram instead.

As far as a brand keyboard EBay possibly? Or perhaps a repair shop that serviced the brand back when PB was still in business. That was about 2004-05 when they were out of the game entirely. They were out of the US market much earlier however! Try 1999!

November 04, 1999 12:00 AM

Packard Bell closes shop, exits US PC market

Packard Bell closes shop, exits US PC market

Hopefully they were a bit more generous about what keyboard would work and that would leave Dell as the one who saw smaller PS/2 ports and custom fitted power supplys in past years. Replacement parts could only be ordered through them! That was a typical site to see for a long time before more started adopting the atx format.

iamcami · 16 May 2012

Hey,

I tried this method you mentioned Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device

It installed fine and seemed to get way further than I had gotten previously.

But it's now at the "setting Windows up for the first time" stage. And keyboard and mouse are dead. I just don't understand. I understand the back of the PC is faulty. But the 2 ports at the front seem fine except when trying to install Windows 7. Could there be 2 seperate issues there? Like the back is fried or whatever... But the front is like a compatibilty issue? Like the motherboard isn't supported in Win7 or something?

EDIT: And I know this is stupid cause it would prob cause problem swith drivers or somethign but... could I maybe put the HDD in another PC. Install Win7 to the HDD and get past the setup etc and then stick the HDD back in to that? OR is that impossible?

Night Hawk · 16 May 2012

If you install the hard drive on another system that first install will have a hardware profile as well as installtion logs for a totally different set of hardwares. Without activating it or installing anything else you could then replace that which would place the first install into the Windows.old folder once back in the Packard Bell.

The idea can work as far as seeing the drive made bootable while the same usb problems will still be there needing a solution! Some have simply been able to fit a micro atx board into an OEM prebuild when not able to order a new board or wanting a different make board on mini tower cases by rearranging(drilling new) mount holes for the board fastening screws.

It definitely sounds like time for a new board which means new cpu, memory, video card, etc. if you are not able to locate the exact same at a site like EBay. The board is plagued by problems and I have to say not one you would want to rely on! Is the main block for usb toast? After 7 or 8yrs. anything is possible!

One idea is what was done for a family here rather then a mid to full tower case I found a mini tower with a carrying handle and built it for a gift. A few basic items nothing fancy for someone who checks the email and does some web browsing was a fast solution! Plus the previous cases were a bit heavier for that person!

With this oldie you have there you may end up simply making it a Linux lunch box and calling it a day sooner or later! You would better off working maybe not with a brand new case but a more recent used on preferrably custom case in good condition and one you wouldn't have to mind boggled over with headaches!

If you should happen to run into another of the same on EBay or other being rare in working condition you could refurbish the two into one and end up with a working system which is what you want. But the company is no longer and the board is the problem!