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PS2 Keyboard Loopback

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9 replies

by ivan the terrible

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I have a old PC that stops on bootup if no keyboard is attached (Press F1 to boot.) The PC will be mounted in a rack and will not have either a mouse or keyboard attached.

Is is possible for me to wire up my own PS2 keyboard loopback adapter to make it think a keyboard is attached?

9 replies

by trockii

In the BIOS configuration there should be something that will allow you to instruct the BIOS to ignore a keyboard not present error. Look for that and set to boot with no keyboard present.

by thechas

A Keyboard loopback is not a simple circuit.

The BIOS actually poles the keyboard controller to verify that it is present and operating.

If you cannot disable halt on keyboard in the BIOS error code section, your next best option would be to buy a used cheap keyboard.
Tear the keyboard apart and mount the circuit board in a small box and just plug it into the PC.

The BIOS does not care if the keys are there, just the controller IC.

Chas

by ivan the terrible

Unfortunately, the PC I decided to use is about three years old and has a proprietary BIOS. So it looks as if my best option is the suggestion from TheChas. I will close the call now as I'm starting to wind down for the Christmas holidays!

by ozi eagle

Hi,
In the BIOS, under Standard CMOS Setup there is a function something like HALT ON or HALT ON ERROR. Set thid to ALL, BUT KEYBOARD.

Good Luck, and a Merry Christmas

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