[rescue] Best brains: Dead keyboard ports on PC hardware

[Mike Hebel]

In a fit of angst Phil Stracchino gargled the following:

> Anyway, everything on the machine works fine, and it has a brand new
> install of win2KProSP4, but .... on the final reboot before finalizing
> the install, it fried its PS/2 keyboard ports.  As far as I know, its
> BIOS has support for USB keyboard and mouse at boot ... but it's not
> enabled.  So, it's still perfectly usable ... if I can turn on the USB
> keyboard support in the BIOS, for which I need a working keyboard at
> boot time, for which I need USB keyboard  support enabled so that I can
> get into the BIOS setup to enable USB keyboard support so that I can
> have a working USB keyboard at boot ... well, you get the idea.

Well...if you're desperate you might see if the keyboard port in question
has a fuse on it.  It usually looks like a small green resistor.  Use two
tiny alligator clips to short that and see if the ports work again.  That
will allow you to enable usb provided you don't want to permanently solder
in a new fuse.

Mike Hebel
----
See with eyes unclouded, Think with mind uncluttered, Act with heart
unchained!