Also, there is no BIOS setting for the PS\2 mouse.

The only thing PS\2 related is under:
Power Management Setup
**PM Events**
IRQ12 (PS\2 Mouse): ON

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-01, 07:08:

The other 3 pins all show 5V on the multimeter, however I narrowed down the Vcc pin by try and test method.
With the mouse connected to GND and "presumed" Vcc only: the optics are on.

There's a way to determine which are the data/clock lines and which is VCC. With the system powered off, put the multimeter in resistance mode and measure between your header pins and the +5V pin on the motherboard power connector.

For VCC, you should read less than 1 ohm - i.e. a direct connection. For the data and clock pins, you should read a few kΩ. This is because they have pull-up resistors between the pin and +5V.

If you mistakenly have the VCC connected to clock/data, the mouse may still power up because it's sourcing limited power through one of the pull-up resistors, but can't communicate.

Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse.

If you acquire a DIP-40 KBC and jumper it properly it should work. I suspect you have the pinout correct

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:42:

Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse.

If you acquire a DIP-40 KBC and jumper it properly it should work. I suspect you have the pinout correct

After many hours I gave up... for now.
Have multiple keyboard BIOS-es, however these are from 386 and early 486, no PS\2 onboard.
Tried the latest keyboard BIOS and booted (with JP12 closed).
However I got an error, actually two errors:
-No keyboard present.
-Keyboard locked - Unlock it.

I have 2 other motherboards that have PS\2 and keyboard BIOS... aaand they are soldered.
Waiting for a keyboard BIOS that could be compatible and will do re-tests and update this entry just to have it for future.

"Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse. "
- This is currently my feeling exactly. It looks like, it feels like and it acts like... then it must be... 😀

HwAoRrDk wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:17:

There's a way to determine which are the data/clock lines and which is VCC. With the system powered off, put the multimeter in r […]
Show full quote

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-01, 07:08:

The other 3 pins all show 5V on the multimeter, however I narrowed down the Vcc pin by try and test method.
With the mouse connected to GND and "presumed" Vcc only: the optics are on.

There's a way to determine which are the data/clock lines and which is VCC. With the system powered off, put the multimeter in resistance mode and measure between your header pins and the +5V pin on the motherboard power connector.

For VCC, you should read less than 1 ohm - i.e. a direct connection. For the data and clock pins, you should read a few kΩ. This is because they have pull-up resistors between the pin and +5V.

If you mistakenly have the VCC connected to clock/data, the mouse may still power up because it's sourcing limited power through one of the pull-up resistors, but can't communicate.

I am very certain I know which one is the Vcc, however I will measure it as described. It's actually a good idea.
The Clock and Data PINs, I tried in both ways. No change.

Having failed to use PS\2 mouse I decided to add a PCI USB card and use a USB mouse.
Well, I forgot many things about this era... I was thinking it will be simple and I spent many hours with this simple task.

So:
I have two PCI-USB cards based on VIA 6202 and VIA 6212. Both are USB 2.0 cards.
Driver installed fine. No errors, no conflicts.
Plugged in mouse (I have many different kinds)...

Error: Unknown Device (in Device Manager & under Universal Serial Bus Controllers)

- Tried multiple mice.
- Tried two PCI-USB cards.
- PCI-USB card driver installed; re-installed; forced; unforced... reinstalled Win 98. Tried the full pack.
- Disabled USB 2.0; unnecessary for a 486. (under Device Manager)
- Checked PnP OS in BIOS, was set to NO, left at NO. (Tried YES too, no change...)
- Tried forcing a HID driver.
- Choosing driver manually: Win98SE only lists HUB manufacturers in the list. If I force it to a hiddev.inf or msmouse.inf file I get an error that: "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."
- Read countless forum entries. No solution, only lots of tests.
- Finally I've asked Google AI. It provided a solution and I feel stupid. Now I hate AI, and love it at the same time. 😁

Solution:
- Move the god damn PCI-USB card away from PCI Slot 4. Never would I have thought that PCI signaling could have such an effect.
- The fact that "it works", but every connected mouse is forced or acts as a USB HUB is quite strange.
- Also, keep USB 2.0 disabled.

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:57:

After many hours I gave up... for now. Have multiple keyboard BIOS-es, however these are from 386 and early 486, no PS\2 onboard […]
Show full quote

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:42:

Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse.

If you acquire a DIP-40 KBC and jumper it properly it should work. I suspect you have the pinout correct

After many hours I gave up... for now.
Have multiple keyboard BIOS-es, however these are from 386 and early 486, no PS\2 onboard.
Tried the latest keyboard BIOS and booted (with JP12 closed).
However I got an error, actually two errors:
-No keyboard present.
-Keyboard locked - Unlock it.

I have 2 other motherboards that have PS\2 and keyboard BIOS... aaand they are soldered.
Waiting for a keyboard BIOS that could be compatible and will do re-tests and update this entry just to have it for future.

"Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse. "
- This is currently my feeling exactly. It looks like, it feels like and it acts like... then it must be... 😀

It's very possible you also need to add a 7406 buffer chip to make the external KBC work.

Looking at the pic of your board on TRW there appears to be an empty socket for it above the 2nd ISA slot from the bottom.

The KBC being from a 368/486 without ps/2 ports is not necessarily a problem. AMI KBC have had ps/2 support going back to the rev f.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-07-01, 14:41:

It's very possible you also need to add a 7406 buffer chip to make the external KBC work. […]
Show full quote

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:57:

After many hours I gave up... for now. Have multiple keyboard BIOS-es, however these are from 386 and early 486, no PS\2 onboard […]
Show full quote

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:42:

Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse.

If you acquire a DIP-40 KBC and jumper it properly it should work. I suspect you have the pinout correct

After many hours I gave up... for now.
Have multiple keyboard BIOS-es, however these are from 386 and early 486, no PS\2 onboard.
Tried the latest keyboard BIOS and booted (with JP12 closed).
However I got an error, actually two errors:
-No keyboard present.
-Keyboard locked - Unlock it.

I have 2 other motherboards that have PS\2 and keyboard BIOS... aaand they are soldered.
Waiting for a keyboard BIOS that could be compatible and will do re-tests and update this entry just to have it for future.

"Yes I do believe that ALi chipsets have integrated keyboard support but not mouse. "
- This is currently my feeling exactly. It looks like, it feels like and it acts like... then it must be... 😀

It's very possible you also need to add a 7406 buffer chip to make the external KBC work.

Looking at the pic of your board on TRW there appears to be an empty socket for it above the 2nd ISA slot from the bottom.

The KBC being from a 368/486 without ps/2 ports is not necessarily a problem. AMI KBC have had ps/2 support going back to the rev f.

Ordered a 7406 chip and will try when it arrives.
I have a JETkey v5.00G BIOS to test with.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-07-01, 13:42:

It's very possible you also need to add a 7406 buffer chip to make the external KBC work.

The chip arrived.
Added the 7406 chip and no matter of the JP 12 jumper setting, getting:
No keyboard.

With 7406 + Keyboard BIOS + JP12 internal keyboard disabled, I'm getting:
No keyboard detected + keyboard locked messages.
No luck.

Using USB optical mouse. Works fine. 😀

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-19, 11:31:

Keyboard BIOS

you mean keyboard controller 😀

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-19, 11:31:

keyboard locked messages.

this is good, means
1 system can communicate with keyboard controller you used, good
2 keyboard controller you used expects some states on some pins, is reading one of its IO pins responsible for Keyboard Lock and interprets it as Keyboard Inhibit

Theorizing, because I dont have more experience with programming KBCs - it might be the case that KBC will simply not pass any communication to KBD if it sees Inhibit pin at wrong logic level.
Where did you get that Keyboard controller chip from? with any luck its from another known board and you will be able to trace which pin is responsible for KeyLock.

Edit: duh, since I have plenty of bioses I dissasembled I looked into one:

1KBC_Input_Buffer_Full_loop:
2  in      al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_Status
3  test    al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_STAT_Input_Buffer_Full
4  jnz     short KBC_Input_Buffer_Full_loop
5  mov     ah, IO_Port_64h_KBC_CMD_AD_DISABLE_KBD
6  test    al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_STAT_Inhibit
7  jz      short enable_disable_keyboard
8  mov     ah, IO_Port_64h_KBC_CMD_AE_ENABLE_KBD
9
10enable_disable_keyboard:
11  xchg    al, ah
12  out     IO_Port_64h_KBC_Command, al

so bios read status from KBC (the "keyboard bios" chip you installed), saw inhibit bit set (KBC read one of its special pins logic level and decided its a KeyLock high) and disabled keybaord.

TLDR: you are on a right track, just need to trace which pin is responsible for KeyLock on this KBC

rasz_pl wrote on 2026-07-19, 22:11:

you mean keyboard controller :) […]
Show full quote

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-19, 11:31:

Keyboard BIOS

you mean keyboard controller 😀

JAKra85 wrote on 2026-07-19, 11:31:

keyboard locked messages.

this is good, means
1 system can communicate with keyboard controller you used, good
2 keyboard controller you used expects some states on some pins, is reading one of its IO pins responsible for Keyboard Lock and interprets it as Keyboard Inhibit

Theorizing, because I dont have more experience with programming KBCs - it might be the case that KBC will simply not pass any communication to KBD if it sees Inhibit pin at wrong logic level.
Where did you get that Keyboard controller chip from? with any luck its from another known board and you will be able to trace which pin is responsible for KeyLock.

Edit: duh, since I have plenty of bioses I dissasembled I looked into one:

Copy code to clipboard

1KBC_Input_Buffer_Full_loop:
2  in      al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_Status
3  test    al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_STAT_Input_Buffer_Full
4  jnz     short KBC_Input_Buffer_Full_loop
5  mov     ah, IO_Port_64h_KBC_CMD_AD_DISABLE_KBD
6  test    al, IO_Port_64h_KBC_STAT_Inhibit
7  jz      short enable_disable_keyboard
8  mov     ah, IO_Port_64h_KBC_CMD_AE_ENABLE_KBD
9
10enable_disable_keyboard:
11  xchg    al, ah
12  out     IO_Port_64h_KBC_Command, al

so bios read status from KBC (the "keyboard bios" chip you installed), saw inhibit bit set (KBC read one of its special pins logic level and decided its a KeyLock high) and disabled keybaord.

TLDR: you are on a right track, just need to trace which pin is responsible for KeyLock on this KBC

Thank you for the detailed reply!

"you mean keyboard controller 😀"
-Yes! 😁

Where did you get that Keyboard controller chip from?
-I do not remember, I had it for 10+ years, I think it's from a 386 board. It's the latest I have:
JETkey v5.00G. Others are : JETkey v3.00 and two even older 286 or early 386 boards.

I will do another test with a keyboard controller from another motherboard that I know has a working (and tested) PS\2 mouse port.

hmm from googling pin 34 seem to be the standard keylock pin. Your board does have a keylock header J5. Check if any of its pins connect to pin34 of kbc, if pin34 of KBC has any traces going out, and resistance of pin34 to ground.

Keyboard is inhibited when that pin is connected to ground, worst case scenario you could try isolating pin34 when installing the chip, either by putting foil in socket or bending it slightly outward

rasz_pl wrote on Yesterday, 22:04:

hmm from googling pin 34 seem to be the standard keylock pin. Your board does have a keylock header J5. Check if any of its pins connect to pin34 of kbc, if pin34 of KBC has any traces going out, and resistance of pin34 to ground.

Keyboard is inhibited when that pin is connected to ground, worst case scenario you could try isolating pin34 when installing the chip, either by putting foil in socket or bending it slightly outward

When using the internal (ALi) KBC the keyboard works fine.
The lock error only happens when I insert the external KBC (JETkey v5.00G) into the socket.

The keylock would or should disable both internal end external KBC's, right?

>The keylock would or should disable both internal end external KBC's, right?

we wont know until you check that pin34 connection or try isolating it