Windows 7 - PS/2 Keyboard Cold Boot problem

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6 Dec 2005
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Hi All,

I've stumbled across a very strange problem. I've just bought a new OCUK computer with an Asus P8P67 PRO m/board - as far as I can tell the hardware itself is all working fine; this is the first time I've ever had a computer running Win 7 (or a 64-bit OS for that matter) though.


I'm running all of my systems using a very old 102 key IBM PS2 "Model M" keyboard from 1988 - it has been working perfectly for me for over 20 years.. until yesterday! - The problem I've run into seems to be quite common for people running Windows 7 with older PS2 keyboards.


If I switch the computer on from cold, the keyboard works initially - it lets me get into the BIOS and do all sorts. If I boot into my Ubuntu USB stick, the keyboard also works. If I just let the system boot into Windows 7, then Windows doesn't detect the keyboard at all (Num Lock stays on, but it's unresponsive) and the driver disappears from device manager :confused:

If I then reboot the computer from warm (i.e. Windows 7 has booted up and I just reset it), then the driver miraculously reappears in Windows 7 and the keyboard works fine.

I have done a bit of google'ing and I've seen many, many people talking about the exact same problem - The best theory I could find suggests there's a cold-boot issue with Windows where it fails to correctly talk to the PS2 port - the Num/Caps/Scroll lock lights do not flash on cold boot, but they flash on warm boot

- I've tried flashing the BIOS (didn't work, although I wasn't really expecting it to)
- I've tried a PS2-to-USB converter, although the BIOS didn't even recognise that as a keyboard at all.
- Drivers etc are all installed ok (OCUK did that for me)

I found the following threads from people with an identical problem, and unfortunately there's no answers on google, only other people posting "I've got the same problem".

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/168550-keyboard-now-you-see-now-you-dont-asus-p8p67.html
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-boot-in/c3f6706f-a26e-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5



Has anyone else ever had this problem before? Is there a way to get Windows 7 to recognise old legacy PS2 equipment on cold boot? It seems truly absurd since Windows is happy with it after warm-booting; the motherboard itself doesn't seem to have any problems and Ubuntu works like a charm.
(Note: its not just my keyboard, although I'm loathed to get a flimsy modern keyboard - I also have an old PS2 KVM switch which connects all of my other systems and I don't really have the desk space for multiple keyboards/mice on different PCs. )


TLDR: Anyone ever had issues with Windows 7 and old-fashioned PS2 keyboards? if so - any way to get them working?


Thanks for reading! :)
 
I may have just found the answer to my own question:

Apparently modern motherboards don't always conform to the original IBM PS/2 specification, and old PS/2 keyboards are quite power hungry (that bit makes sense).

I've seen a suggestion to get an "Active" PS2-to-USB converter which converts the electrical signal and draws enough power from the USB to work (drawing more power from the PSU, although I assume I've got plenty to spare with the 750W PSU that I'm running) - apparently normal adaptors are simple line-feeders which don't change the signal in any way.

Although if this is the answer then I'm not sure if I understand why the keyboard even works at all after a warm reboot.
 
TLDR: Anyone ever had issues with Windows 7 and old-fashioned PS2 keyboards? if so - any way to get them working?
I'm afraid I can't add anything apart from a "me too", but yes, I have the same problem, pretty much identical to the way you described it.

I think it's at least partly motherboard-related rather than a purely Windows 7 issue (perhaps stating the obvious), as my much-cherished Model M keyboard works fine on an Asus P5N32 mobo (the older nforce4 model), with or without Windows 7, but my Abit IP35-Pro/Q6600/Win7 setup doesn't like it at all... strange, as it originally worked OK, but now it varies between unpredictable at best and completely non-functional at worst.

I was aware that the Model M sucks a fair bit of power from the PS/2 port which might cause problems, but that doesn't explain why it was working in the first place... maybe it somehow causes cumulative damage to the PS/2 port on some motherboards, eventually leading to an inability to supply enough juice to fire the keyboard up reliably. That's just pure speculation on my part though, I have absolutely no evidence that it's a likely or even possible explanation.

My "solution", if you can call it that, was a Das Model S with Cherry Blues, but I still think I prefer the old Model M... :(
 
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