Did I just fry my PS/2 keyboard port? \ VOGONS

Did I just fry my PS/2 keyboard port?

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First post, by Jorpho

Posted on 2017-05-08, 02:48

Jorpho Offline

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I tripped over the keyboard cable of my main PC just now, abruptly causing the PC to reboot. (I will never recall what I had written down in Notepad. 😢 ) This isn't the first time I can recall this happening, but I can't seem to get the keyboard to respond anymore. Upon plugging it in, the three lights (Num Lock/Caps Lock/Scroll Lock) turn on for a second and then instantly switch off again, after which the keyboard is unresponsive. This occurs with more than one PS/2 keyboard, both of which function normally on a different PC.

The PC is working perfectly fine. The only thing I can think of to do is wait, and hope that some kind of resettable fuse got tripped in the motherboard.

Is this a thing that has been known to happen?

Reply 1 of 5, by Azarien

Posted on 2017-05-08, 11:00

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Is there any visible damage to the socket?
Is it firmly attached to the mb?

Reply 2 of 5, by James-F

Posted on 2017-05-08, 13:05

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you can check for continuity with a needle in the female side and a probe on the bottom side of the PS/2 connector.
I would assume the keyboard receives power but doesn't transmit data back to the MB, therefor the motherboard rejects it.

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Reply 3 of 5, by Jorpho

Posted on 2017-05-08, 19:53

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I haven't cracked the case open to physically inspect the port. I suppose that would be the next step.

Sadly, the board does not seem to have recovered overnight.

Reply 4 of 5, by clueless1

Posted on 2017-05-08, 21:38

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Did you try shutting off PSU and pulling the cmos battery for awhile? I think James-F is on to something.

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Reply 5 of 5, by shamino

Posted on 2017-05-14, 02:28

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Unfortunately, it can happen. I ruined the PS2 port on an old server board when I plugged it in with the power on. You can get away with it about 95% of the time, but then there's the other 5%.
I don't know exactly what the typical failure is at an electronics level.
Some motherboard do have fuses on the keyboard/mouse ports, but I don't think they reset. If you see any obvious fuse there, check it for continuity.
But since the keyboard lights come on, apparently the keyboard is still getting power, and that's the circuit I'd assume the fuse would be attached to so I'm afraid a blown fuse might be unlikely.

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