Keyboard locks up? Mouse still works. 1

[tracyw]

This has happened to more than one of our employees.They leave their desk for a few minutes and when they come back the keyboard does not work. Sometimes if I unplug it then plug it back in, it will work, but not always.
I have tried replacing with new keyboards and the same thing happens. The mouse still works, so we are able to close down and reboot. Then the keyboard works again.
Anyone know why the keyboard is doing this???

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alacrity]

Happens a lot during the winter. Static zaps the keyboard when they come back to the system. What we call the Kayboard BIOS is actually a tiny comptuer complete with RAM, ROM and a CPU. THe static hangs the Keyboard and pulling the cable out and re-inserting it "re-boots" the kaybaord bios. Sometimes it's a hard lock that requires a power cycle (shut the whole system down) in order to get it all working again.
I've solved this three ways. A ground wire that the user touches before touching the keyboard, An Anti-static strip on the keyboard, and Ernie (Ultrastat) device. The ultrastat works the best.

Alacrity

 

[NEMS]

The guy is right. Static electricity is the culprit here. Get some anti-static mats to place on the floor for the user and under the computer. Hope this will solve your problem.

 

[rfeenie]

how can static be the issue, the keyboard keys are plastic which is not a conductor of electricity therefore it cannot be this. If in doubt get the Ball Pein Hammer out

 

[chrisstyles]

Used to have the same problem with some old Dell keyboards. In fact they ended up recalling them. I seem to remember it was a static issue.

As for the non conductance, remember that the inside of the K/B is grounded and therefor there is a potential difference (PD) between you i.e. static charged and the ground. The plastic acts as a dialectric forming a capacitor. Plate one is you and ground the other. Should hold quite a charge ZAP!!

You definatly need a discharge method or change the Keyboards for ones that are non susseptable. If you have a large number try contacting the manufacturer.

Hope this helps.

C

 

[Alacrity]

Static Builds up when two insulators are moved near eachother (rub your head with a balloon)Since it does not conduct electrons it builds up on the surface of the keys untill the differance is enough to jump the gap to a ground connection. Usually this is through the ground lead on the keyboard into the computer. It takes less than 50 volts to zap an IC chip but humans can only feel 200 volts of static zap or above (lower voltage if skin is not dried out during winter heating months). If this is on a metal case you should be able to just touch the case to discharge the static. (assuming you have a solid ground connection.)
I had one client that took a coat hanger and bent it so he could reach it while it was jammed into the ground hole in a near by socket (sigh) It worked untill a ground fault sent 85V through his finger tip.
Good luck
Alacrity