Explain keyboard not found

I've seen it happen with KVMs (Keyboard, Video, Mouse switches) and without and devices.

If it's a direct connect to your computer, power off the computer and unplug the keyboard. Get a flashlight and check/see if any dust has gotten into the port where the keyboard connects. clean it out (with a can of compressed air). Check the port and mae sure it is secure on the systeboard and make sure no labels interfere with the connector. Reconnect the keyboard, power up the computer and test.

Never connect the keyboard with the computer powered up. The keyboard pulls power from the system and I've seen many ports fry because of users re-connecting a keyboard with the computer powered up.

If you have a KVM in the middel of these devices, then you have four connections to check. Computer-->KVM computer number --> KVM main keyboard --> Keyboard. Make sure each of these connections are secure, no obstacles, and the ports are good.

Generally these problems get worse as the connector comes lose or the keyboard shorts out the systemboard. Your tech will probably recommend replacing the systemboard if that is the case.

ALL devices will go bad over time. Some just happen faster.

Does the keyboard ALWAYS get recognized during boot-up? Does it only "die" after you have booted into Windows? If you boot into DOS mode, does the problem continue?

If you have a spare keyboard available, try switching it out.

Or move the suspect keyboard to a different computer to see if the problem follows the keyboard.

If neither option above is available to you, go buy a new keyboard and try it.

If the problem persists after trying the above steps, try removing the keyboard from Device Manager, reboot and have Windows reload the device drivers. See if there are new drivers available from the keyboard manufacturer.

No sense in paying good money to have atech do these steps, when you can do it for free (or almosty free - a new keyboard will set you back about $20).

If it comes down to the keyboard definitely being the problem, it will be cheaper to get a new one than to have someone fix the broken one.

If you have been plugging and un-plugging the keyboard with power on, both the keyboard and PS/2 port hardware may be damaged.

If your BIOS supports USB keyboards, that may be your only practical option.

Make sure to enable USB legacy support in BIOS settings before switching to a USB keyboard.

Your other option, is to replace the motherboard.

Chas

This is probably a configuration connection issue. It's unusual for keyboards to suddenly fail. They're too simple of a device to have a lot of failures. (But it can happen.)

A common problem is having the keyboard not plugged fully into the connector on the motherboard. There could be dirt in the connectors, and blowing it clean with one of those nifty cans of air might be helpful. You could also have bent a pin that’s not contacting properly (tweezers). Also check the keyboard side of the cable. Has it become loose or damaged? Is the cable stretched or crimped? If so, don’t do that.

There could be a key stuck, probably caused by spilling tomato soup or something - and we all know that keyboards prefer clam chowder. Trythe can of air on and between the keys – dishwashers don’t usually work too well. Try a different keyboard. I know we get attached to the grunge that’s built up on our old ones, but if the problem goes away it means that the keyboard was the problem. And don’t worry, I’ve found that our old grunge will soon reappear.

Configuration Problem:
There could be something weird that happened to the keyboard that makes the communication sporadic. Go into the BIOS and disable the halt on all errors to see if it boots up okay. A PC will, after all, boot up without a keyboard if this is disabled. Does the keyboard work under this condition? If so, it was just a meaningless error - well okay, it meant something, but wewon’t care since the keyboard works.

Go to Control Panel – System – Device Manager – Keyboard – Properties. Does it indicate it’s working properly? If not, remove the device, reboot, let Windows detect the added device and reinstall the drivers. Even if it IS working properly, remove it anyway from device manager and let windows reinstall the driver just to show it whose boss.

Still no

Keybord not found - press F1 to continue....

:)

Check for dust as previously mentioned.

Try another keyboard an see if it happens as well.

But also check the system BIOS settings. Some boards have the capability to using two keyboard connectivities and you can get this problem if the BIOS is expecting a different connectivity to what you are using. I have seen this most often with a USB keyboard plugged into a system with PS2 keyboard connectivity. Unless the PS2 keyboard capability is disabled in the BIOS and the USB keybaord capability enabled in the BIOS it will look for a PS2 keyboard and then may either look for a USB keyboard or have a hernia. This commonly occurs because someone enabled the USB keyboard capability but did not disable the PS2 capability, or just disabled the PS2 without enabling the USB capability, when you trust the machine to think for itself all the time, it wont.

1) Perform a clean boot, and then determine whether an error message appears during startup stating keyboard not recognized

If the keyboard is not recognized on startup
a)Check for damage to the keyboard cable,also check for any bent or broken pins in the cable connector
b)If supported by the motherboard,swap te keyboard and mouse connections.
c)Verify the settings in the Bios Setup Utiliy
If the keyboard is recognized on startup

a) Determine whether the keyboard works at the Command Prompt
b) Check the Device Manager in Normal Mode
Start in Safe Mode and check for Duplicate devices

If possible run a virus scan program

are you sure that the amount of memory installed is enough to support all your hardware. I suggest you check what is needed and that it is available. Another possibility is that you have a bug in one of your memory cards.
Interchange the memory cards and see if the error/result changes, to eliminate that possible error cause. Good Luck