keyboard dilemma

[faeychild]

This morning I booted up only to find a non responsive keyboard
No keyboard lights and not able to type in password
The mouse is working so I rebooted and tried to enter the bios but any
input was ignored and the box booted on into the login screen

I tried the keyboard in different USB ports with no results
So my thoughts went to faulty keyboard and a shopping trip for a new one

Then I remembered the old WIN-10 box in the spare room.

I swapped all the necessary cables over to the WIN box and booted up and
got a functioning keyboard -- "OK"!! do I have a faulty motherboard?

I switched the cables back to the Mag-8 box and the keyboard works.


So, fault finding logic has flown up its own fundament and I face an
infuriating intermittent.

I am reminded of the quote-

Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad

[Bobbie Sellers]

Post by faeychild
This morning I booted up only to find a non responsive keyboard
No keyboard lights and  not able to type in password
The mouse is working so I rebooted and tried to enter the bios but any
input was ignored and the box booted on into the login screen
I tried the keyboard in different USB ports with no results
So my thoughts went to faulty keyboard and a shopping trip for a new one
Then I remembered the old WIN-10 box in the spare room.
I swapped all the necessary cables over to the WIN box and booted up and
got a functioning keyboard -- "OK"!! do I have a faulty motherboard?
I switched the cables back to the Mag-8 box and the keyboard works.
So, fault finding logic has flown up its own fundament and I face an
infuriating intermittent.
 I am reminded of the quote-
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad

You have neglected the usual appeasing sacrifices to the Binary
Gods and they have decided to change your mind and thus the keyboard
works on one machine and then does not, then works on another machine
and begins to work again on the original machine. Why? The Binary Gods
have it in for you. Please don't use black roosters at midnight but
maybe very dark chocolate every day. 0 or 1

bliss -“Nearly any fool can use a GNU/Linux computer. Many do.”
After all here I am... Again...

[faeychild]

    You have neglected the usual appeasing sacrifices to the Binary
Gods and they have decided to change your mind and thus the keyboard
works on one machine and then does not, then works on another machine
and begins to work again on the original machine.  Why? The Binary Gods
have it in for you.  Please don't use black roosters at midnight but
maybe very dark chocolate every day.  0 or 1
   bliss -“Nearly any fool can use a GNU/Linux computer. Many do.”
        After all here I  am...   Again...

I have a deep and abiding mistrust of gods, if they exist at all

But I do believe in chocolate ...mmmm

Regards

[Aragorn]

Post by faeychild
This morning I booted up only to find a non responsive keyboard
No keyboard lights and not able to type in password
The mouse is working so I rebooted and tried to enter the bios but
any input was ignored and the box booted on into the login screen
I tried the keyboard in different USB ports with no results
So my thoughts went to faulty keyboard and a shopping trip for a new one
Then I remembered the old WIN-10 box in the spare room.
I swapped all the necessary cables over to the WIN box and booted up
and got a functioning keyboard -- "OK"!! do I have a faulty
motherboard?
I switched the cables back to the Mag-8 box and the keyboard works.

There are a few possibilities...:


1. The cable plug had come loose in the port - i.e. moved just out
of range a little bit from where it ought to sit when properly
plugged in — I had that happen with my mouse a few months ago.
USB ports are hotplug-ready so taking the plug out and plugging
it back in would have remedied the system, provided that it is
indeed a USB keyboard. PS/2 ports are not capable of hotplugging
— anyone who tells you that it worked for them was playing with
fire, because by the same token, you blow the fuse — they were
not designed for that.

2. The cable is faulty/broken somewhere along its length and
intermittently works. By unplugging the keyboard and plugging it
into another computer, you got it to work again, on both machines,
but it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

3. Same thing as here-above, but it's the port itself that's faulty,
and thus by consequence, the motherboard.

[faeychild]

Post by Aragorn
1. The cable plug had come loose in the port - i.e. moved just out
of range a little bit from where it ought to sit when properly
plugged in — I had that happen with my mouse a few months ago.
USB ports are hotplug-ready so taking the plug out and plugging
it back in would have remedied the system, provided that it is
indeed a USB keyboard. PS/2 ports are not capable of hotplugging
— anyone who tells you that it worked for them was playing with
fire, because by the same token, you blow the fuse — they were
not designed for that.

I believe that my first test this morning of trying a different USB port
eliminated this probability

Post by Aragorn
2. The cable is faulty/broken somewhere along its length and
intermittently works. By unplugging the keyboard and plugging it
into another computer, you got it to work again, on both machines,
but it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

The mouse continued to work no matter where it was plugged but the
keyboard didn't. The broken cable theory might fly. I should get a new
keyboard and standby :-)

Post by Aragorn
3. Same thing as here-above, but it's the port itself that's faulty,
and thus by consequence, the motherboard.

As above, trying different USB ports on the Mag-8 box did not clear the
problem

We have been running fine all day and a couple of test reboots and
shutdowns did not trigger anything.
Overnight temp last night was 8' deg.
Maybe I should check all motherboard plugs, something is working lose


Regards

[faeychild]

Post by faeychild
This morning I booted up only to find a non responsive keyboard
No keyboard lights and  not able to type in password
The mouse is working so I rebooted and tried to enter the bios but any
input was ignored and the box booted on into the login screen

OK it is the keyboard

Had the same thing this morning but didn't work in the other box this time

So I left Mag-08 running for a cup of coffee running and when I got back
and rebooted - it's fine.
There must be billions of keyboards floating round them world and non of
them here - pity.

[faeychild]

A new keyboard fixed it
I don't fault find to component level anymore. Replacement is easier.

[TJ]

Post by faeychild
A new keyboard fixed it
I don't fault find to component level anymore. Replacement is easier.

The "disposable society" strikes yet again...

TJ

[Bobbie Sellers]

Post by TJ

Post by faeychild
A new keyboard fixed it
I don't fault find to component level anymore. Replacement is easier.

The "disposable society" strikes yet again...
TJ

And it was so much fun to take a keyboard apart and clean the contacts.
Disposibility is not a good thing for the planet but very
handy for the computerist. As for the keyboard which I maintained it
was an Commodore Amiga keyboard with more tiny screws than is easy to
remember. But after it was cleaned it worked again.

bliss-“Nearly any fool can use a GNU/Linux computer.
Many do.” After all here I am...

[Daniel65]

Post by TJ

Post by faeychild
A new keyboard fixed it
I don't fault find to component level anymore. Replacement is easier.

The "disposable society" strikes yet again...
TJ

    And it was so much fun to take a keyboard apart and clean the
contacts.   Disposibility is not a good thing for the planet but very
handy for the computerist.  As for the keyboard which I maintained it
was an Commodore Amiga keyboard with more tiny screws than is easy to
remember.  But after it was cleaned it worked again.

But could this be a case of if you have just one keyboard to "fix", you
wouldn't bother but if you had five keyboards to "fix" it might be
worthwhile .... maybe ending up with four functional keyboards and a
heap of rubbish??

[faeychild]

Post by TJ

Post by faeychild
A new keyboard fixed it
I don't fault find to component level anymore. Replacement is easier.

The "disposable society" strikes yet again...

Yep I would have to agree with all of you
The fault seems to he heat sensitive; no operation after a cool night
but after the application of a hairdryer it was fine for the rest of the day

I suspect a dry joint/ hairline crack; It now resides in a closet, maybe
one day?


It's also held together with non torx screws, so that is promising