Computer freezes without a PS/2 keyboard

[MarioAllStar]

Hello everyone. I'm new here, I know it's kind of lame to sign up and have your first post be a call for help...but searching the Internet has yielded no answers.

I have a rather strange problem, where my computer misbehaves if I DON'T have a PS/2 keyboard plugged in. In Windows, this manifests itself by freezing occasionally (less than 1/10 boots) on the Windows 2000 boot screen. In NetBSD, it freezes every single time I enter "startx" to start up Xorg.

My theory is that both operating systems freeze when they probe the PS/2 port.

But why the freezing? Physically, I've poked all throughout my motherboard (ASUS SL-K8tPRO-939) looking for an opportunity where there might be a short in the circuit. The only thing I haven't tried is removing the motherboard completely to inspect the underside (my chasis won't open on that side). I've also tried compressed air into/around the PS/2 port module. I've tried plugging in just a USB-to-PS/2 adapter to see if it just needed a connector. Nope, it needs an actual keyboard to talk to.

With the BIOS, I've tried enabling/disabling USB legacy support for keyboards/mice, but that's done nothing.

Any ideas?

 

[Nagasama]

disable the "halt on errors" function and see if that works.

 

[MarioAllStar]

Sorry for the delay, I meant to come back here sooner. I'm afraid that I have already tried that option, with no effect. I believe it only applies to POST-time errors, such as bad memory or no keyboard found.

 

[MarioAllStar]

Sorry to be a pest, but does anyone have any other ideas?

 

[pokernod]

You sound decently smart so Im going to assume youve tried a different USB Keyboard incase it could be as simple as a key stuck or a button stuck like that stupid "Internet" button or volume, etc.....also differnt USB ports. And you say ALL works fine with a PS/2 kb? Motherboard, BIOS firmware/updates? Checked the plug physically for forien crap or bend?

 

[veedubfreak]

I think i figured out the problem. You are using windows 2000 You know you can just plug a ps2 keyboard in and set it behind the computer or something if all else fails. The computer will work with both a ps2 and usb keyboard at the same time.

 

[MarioAllStar]

Well it has been a while, and I thank everyone for their help.

I never found a true solution, only a work-around.

For NetBSD I recompiled the kernel without the pckbd driver (I think that was the name), which allows support for the PC keyboard, aka PS/2.

I thought I would post that here in case it helps anyone in the future, although the problem I had seems to be pretty rare, and NetBSD is hardly mainstream. I'm sure a similar process could be used for Linux.

Windows only has the occasional hiccup--usually fixed by a reboot or two. So far it has not become enough of an annoyance to pursue any further measures.