# Storm\`hit,\`Computer\`Keyboard\`No\`worK!\` **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282 "2007-07-10T23:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/1 "2007-07-10T23:47:06Z")
Storm`hit,`Computer`Keyboard`No`worK!`Computer`No`See`aNy`Keyboard`hardware!`tried`New`KeyboardS`but`No`ChaNge!!!`adviCe???```` ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/2 "2007-07-10T23:48:26Z")
USB or PS/2 keyboards? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/3 "2007-07-10T23:57:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] USB or PS/2 keyboards? [/QUOTE] PS/2 keyboards ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/4 "2007-07-11T00:03:10Z")
If swapping in a good (i’m assuming it works on another PC) keyboard doesn’t fix things, the motherboard’s probably blown. I’m assuming a lightning strike was involved. If a blown PC is all that happened, you’re very lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/5 "2007-07-11T00:02:58Z")
Possibly fried your PS/2 ports. The PS/2 port has a little surface-mount micro fuse which is prone to blowing from strong power surges. It’s _possible_ to replace it, but I wouldn’t advice you to try any more than you’d advise me to try removing my own appendix–and for similar reasons. You should try a USB keyboard; that should work around the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/6 "2007-07-11T00:04:40Z")
I’d suspect the PS/2 port on your motherboard might be damaged. If it doesn’t work during POST (say, for hitting Del to enter Setup, etc.) and you’ve tried some known good keyboards, that would be my diagnosis. A USB keyboard is an idea; you may also be able to use your mouse PS/2 port instead (unlikely, but perhaps). Or you could keep trying to spell “[boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com)” with the Character Map. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/7 "2007-07-11T00:10:17Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] I’d suspect the PS/2 port on your motherboard might be damaged. If it doesn’t work during POST (say, for hitting Del to enter Setup, etc.) and you’ve tried some known good keyboards, that would be my diagnosis. A USB keyboard is an idea; you may also be able to use your mouse PS/2 port instead (unlikely, but perhaps). Or you could keep trying to spell “[boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com)” with the Character Map. 😃 [/QUOTE] trying to spell “[boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com)” with the Character Map :mad: :rolleyes: ☹ :rolleyes: :mad: :eek: :mad: 😉 I`lltryUSB keyboard l ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/8 "2007-07-11T00:13:09Z")
Yay, The USB port works!!! Thank the gods I had one keyboard with a USB adaptor on it! Many thanks!!! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/9 "2007-07-11T00:14:29Z")
I tell you, using the computer with only a mouse is a challenge. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/10 "2007-07-11T00:15:58Z")
If you have another keyboard, you can switch it out and find if it’s the PC or the KB. You can get a KB for $15.00. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/11 "2007-07-11T00:20:38Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] If you have another keyboard, you can switch it out and find if it’s the PC or the KB. You can get a KB for $15.00. [/QUOTE] Ok, but: > [@The OP](#): > > …tried`New`KeyboardS`but `No`ChaNge!!! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/12 "2007-07-11T00:22:35Z")
About using the other PS/2 port: Does it really make a difference what’s plugged into it? I mean, isn’t a port just a port? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/13 "2007-07-11T00:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] About using the other PS/2 port: Does it really make a difference what’s plugged into it? I mean, isn’t a port just a port? [/QUOTE] All the computers I have used it did matter. There is a keyboard port and a mouse port. There may be computers where they drivers can detect the difference and deal with things being swapped but I have not seen one. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/14 "2007-07-11T00:39:30Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] Does it really make a difference what’s plugged into it? I mean, isn’t a port just a port? [/QUOTE] The keyboard port is bidirectional, while mouse ports are normally unidirectional. You can usually use a mouse in either port, but the keyboard will normally only work in the port intended for it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/15 "2007-07-11T00:53:58Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] `tried`New`KeyboardS`but`No`ChaNge!!! [/QUOTE] I beg your pardon. I would guess the port on the motherboard is fried. As the other poster said, try a USB keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/16 "2007-07-11T01:09:36Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] The keyboard port is bidirectional, while mouse ports are normally unidirectional. You can usually use a mouse in either port, but the keyboard will normally only work in the port intended for it. [/QUOTE] I did not know that. Seems like bad design to me, but then I use USB these days anyway. (I’ve got so many USB ports I don’t know what to do with them.) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/17 "2007-07-11T01:10:21Z")
Being ignorant, I do not understand exactly why the OP has the form it does. Please fight my ignorance. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/18 "2007-07-11T01:21:13Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Being ignorant, I do not understand exactly why the OP has the form it does. Please fight my ignorance. -FrL- [/QUOTE] He’s using the character map in Windows. Basically, he’s trying to type by pointing and clicking on a little keyboard on the screen. Slow and not easy. As he said, using a computer just with a mouse is much harder than doing it with just the keyboard (assuming you know the shortcuts and other things that make keyboard navigation easier/possible.) XP now comes with something marked “On-Screen Keyboard.” I wonder when that happened. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/19 "2007-07-11T02:24:29Z")
Thanks again to **Q.E.D.** & **Nanoda**. I have 6 keyboards laying around. 2 of them have plugs which worked on my old 386 machine, but don’t seem to connect to modern computers. 3 of them have PS/2 plugs, and one has both PS/2 and a USB plug. None of the keyboards would work in the PS/2 or mouse port, but the USB one worked just fine. And I sure would have loved using an “onscreen” keyboard! I used the mouse and cut and pasted a lot from an ASCII text. It certainly didn’t help that my access passwords were so full of characters! Fortunately the guest desktop had no password, and the last thing copied on the guest desktop could be pasted after logout to relog into my own desktop. Getting access to SDMB and then asking for help took the better part of an hour. Google news has lots of words, but seldom the ones I’m looking for. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282/20 "2007-07-11T03:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] I have 6 keyboards laying around. 2 of them have plugs which worked on my old 386 machine, but don’t seem to connect to modern computers. 3 of them have PS/2 plugs, and one has both PS/2 and a USB plug. [/QUOTE] Those should be serial connectors. Unless you’ve got a Mac or a really cheap (and fairly new) desktop, you’ve probably got two (9-pin) serial ports on the motherboard. I’m a little surprised they don’t work. It may be legacy hardware but Windows, at least, has always been pretty good about supporting legacy hardware. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-hit-computer-keyboard-no-work/411282.md?page=2)