Keyboard not detected

[zerosandones]

Here is a symptom I currently have which I have previously encountered several times using several brands of desktop connected to KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) switches.

The one constant is that it only happens to either Windows 2000 Pro or Windows 2000 Server (both running service pack 3). In addition, I have access to both of the problem PCs using NetMeeting.

SYMPTOM
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On starting up the PC, although the keyboard LEDs flash as they normally do, just before coming to the Windows 2000 login screen, the three LEDs (NumLock, CAPSLock and ScrollLock) all flash once together, then turn off - at that point, the PC does not respond to keyboard events. The mouse and video, which are also connected to the KVM continues to work properly.

STEPS TAKEN SO FAR
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1) Switched to another set of KVM keyboard and mouse cables. No effect.

2) Took PC off KVM and connected a dedicated keyboard and mouse. No effect.

3) Tried switching keyboards. No effect.

4) Using NetMeeting from anther PC, connected to the problem PC's desktop, uninstalled the keyboard device, then rebooted the problem PC. No effect.

5) In Recovery Console, modified the i8042prt.sys and kbdclass.sys services to be AUTO rather than SYSTEM, then, rebooted PC. No effect. Changed services back to SYSTEM from AUTO then rebooted again. No effect.

6) Uninstalled Windows 2000 Service Pack 3. No effect. Re-installed Service Pack 3. No effect.

7) Repaired the Registry. No effect.

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Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help.

00001111s

 

[dementg]

I wish I knew. All I can tell you is you're not alone. I have experienced the same problem on 2 machines. One of them is a regular desktop PC, the other is an IBM Thinkpad laptop. Just happens rarely, rebooting fixes it. The laptop problem seems really odd, I wouldn't expect a keyboard problem considering its all built-in. I've always assumed it was a software glitch in windows, not caused by any particular hardware setup.