So I was using my computer when, all of a sudden, it stopped registering anything I typed on my keyboard, although the mouse still worked. I rebooted the computer, and, before it even started the operating system, it whined to me that I didn't have a keyboard plugged in.
I use a USB keyboard, so I tried plugging it into different USB ports, and it didn't help. So I went into my closet and dug out a brand new keyboard I keep as a spare, which was still in its original packaging, and tried plugging it into different USB ports. Still nothing.
I opened the case (which was easy because the cover is on a latch and lever rather than secured by screws) and had a look around. I ttried rebooting with the optical drive disconnected, with the hard drive disconnected, with live "CDs" on USB sticks plugged in, and so on, but still the same problem.
In an old computer I owned, there was a jumper on the motherrboard that you could move to reset the BIOS. This one didn't have such a jumper. It had two bare pins labelled "Service Mode" but I couldn't cover them with a rejgular jumper. You need a special one.
So I ended up putting my computer aside and thinking about what I was going to do. I spend almost all day on my computer. Could I afford to get it serviced, or maybe buy a cheap backup to use in the meantime in case this ever happened, or just go to an internet cafe and become a member so I could do some of the stuff I usually do on a computer? In desperation, I put the computer on its side on my bed with the cover off and looked at its guts again.
This time, I saw something I hadn't seen in about 10 years: an old-fashioned CMOS battery that looks a lot like a watch battery, and feeds power to the computer when it's turned off and unplugged in order to help it remember BIOS configurations. Having nothing to lose, I popped the battery out and waited about half an hour, then tried to boot up the computer with the battery out.
I got a BIOS configuration error, but the keyboard suddenly worked, so the BIOS had reset. So I shut down and popped the battery back in, and when I rebooted everything was fine again. I had to reconfigure the BIOS the way I like it, but the comptuer saw my keyboard and everything else plugged into it, and my operating system has worked just fine since then.
Just telling you this story in case anything like that ever happens to you. A tech would probably have charged you $200 to do the same thing I did and not told you what he was charging you the money for.
I use a USB keyboard, so I tried plugging it into different USB ports, and it didn't help. So I went into my closet and dug out a brand new keyboard I keep as a spare, which was still in its original packaging, and tried plugging it into different USB ports. Still nothing.
I opened the case (which was easy because the cover is on a latch and lever rather than secured by screws) and had a look around. I ttried rebooting with the optical drive disconnected, with the hard drive disconnected, with live "CDs" on USB sticks plugged in, and so on, but still the same problem.
In an old computer I owned, there was a jumper on the motherrboard that you could move to reset the BIOS. This one didn't have such a jumper. It had two bare pins labelled "Service Mode" but I couldn't cover them with a rejgular jumper. You need a special one.
So I ended up putting my computer aside and thinking about what I was going to do. I spend almost all day on my computer. Could I afford to get it serviced, or maybe buy a cheap backup to use in the meantime in case this ever happened, or just go to an internet cafe and become a member so I could do some of the stuff I usually do on a computer? In desperation, I put the computer on its side on my bed with the cover off and looked at its guts again.
This time, I saw something I hadn't seen in about 10 years: an old-fashioned CMOS battery that looks a lot like a watch battery, and feeds power to the computer when it's turned off and unplugged in order to help it remember BIOS configurations. Having nothing to lose, I popped the battery out and waited about half an hour, then tried to boot up the computer with the battery out.
I got a BIOS configuration error, but the keyboard suddenly worked, so the BIOS had reset. So I shut down and popped the battery back in, and when I rebooted everything was fine again. I had to reconfigure the BIOS the way I like it, but the comptuer saw my keyboard and everything else plugged into it, and my operating system has worked just fine since then.
Just telling you this story in case anything like that ever happens to you. A tech would probably have charged you $200 to do the same thing I did and not told you what he was charging you the money for.
