why doesn't this keyboard work on my pc?

unwashed potato! · 27 Jun 2017 at 18:12

we have just bought the below keyboard from ocuk.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/steelseries-apex-raw-gaming-keyboard-64123-kb-051-st.html

i currently have a saitek eclipse ii.

both are backlight keyboards but the saitek is faulty hence the new one.

as the pc base is in another room, we use a 10m active usb 2.0 cable to connect to a powered usb hub, which then has the keyboard and mouse plugged in.

this works fine with my current setup, but not with this new keyboard. it detects the new keyboard as i hear the noise but then it never powers and works.

if i plug the keyboard straight into the pc base it works fine. if i plug into the active cable bypassing the usb hub, still doesn't work.

any ideas why this might be?

olivier renault · 28 Jun 2017 at 17:29

hmm... Detected as what kind of device exactly?

USB is sometimes finnicky with some devices.

Try this? Hopefully doesn't screw up your mouse.

Else, Steelseries forums? Although could be just a windows thing.

iamthenugget · 28 Jun 2017 at 18:16

i had a steelseries apex keyboard and it would turn itself off after about 30 seconds and i had to unplug it then plug it back in to get it to work.

my problem was i had it plugged into a USB 3.0 slot and when i plugged it into n older USB 2 or whatever the black ones are it worked perfectly fine

sadbuttrue · 30 Jun 2017 at 21:50

An active usb cable draws power from the USB port to repeat the signal. It's likely your keyboard is not getting sufficient power due to being backlit.

unwashed potato! · 1 Jul 2017 at 11:11

sadbuttrue said:
An active usb cable draws power from the USB port to repeat the signal. It's likely your keyboard is not getting sufficient power due to being backlit.

that's why we bought a powered usb hub. the current keyboard is backlit and works fine

sadbuttrue · 1 Jul 2017 at 11:38

I'm just hypothesising here.

A powered hub doesn't always power every device connected to it.
USB devices can negotiate 100mA or 500mA (maximum for USB2 port). Since the hub is using 100mA, that leaves 400mA for the keyboard. The keyboard could be asking for 500mA but only getting 100mA.