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View Full Version : Odd keyboard issues - have I effed my old MB?



Yw-slayer
September 23rd, 2015, 07:25 AM
About a year ago, I tried to aggressively OC my 2600K even further. It didn't work, and after that on startup my mechanical Ducky keyboard refused to be detected by any computer. My colleague fixed the keyboard by way of a BIOS reflash of the keyboard(!!) but thereafter it would say "NO Keyboard detected!" in POST, but would be detected and work fine once it had booted into Windows.

However, my external USB Thinkpad keyboard (non-mechanical) was detected and worked fine in the BIOS. Also, it wasn't a real issue to me as I could keep using the Ducky in Windows, and pulled out the Thinkpad keyboard if I needed to enter the BIOS.

In the meantime, at work I was using an old PS/2 Maltron mechanical keyboard on my which cable finally gave up the ghost after 10 years (fair enough) connected to my W520 Thinkpad. I ordered another one and in the interim swapped to an MS Natural Keyboard 4000 (non-mechanical). It was fine, but it obviously couldn't beat a proper ergonomic and/or mechanical keyboard.

Eventually I sent the W520 in for repair and moved my 2600K to work. It worked fine with the MS keyboard, but when I received plugged in the replacement Maltron mechanical keyboard (USB) it exhibited rather odd behaviour. First of all, if only the Maltron is plugged in then again on boot in POST says "NO keyboard detected!" Secondly, in Windows sometimes it will register a double/ghost key-press. Thirdly, sometimes the CTRL, SHIFT, or CAPS LOCK keys would get "stuck" and something like a reboot or even unplugging the keyboard from the USB port doesn't really fix it. Pressing CTRL twice re-sticks it but once clears the stickiness. Fourthly, and most strangely, recently sometimes the whole keyboard would work in applications like Word or Chrome (for example) but I could NOT type anything in the Windows 10 manual. I could use the Windows key or open the new Start menu with the mouse, but not type anything there. I also couldn't use shortcuts like CTRL-E.

I originally put this down to a problem with the Maltron, as Maltrons are handmade boutique (but not really hipster) products, and as my old one was occasionally slightly quirky. However, the quirks of my old one weren't as bad, and were probably due to it being a PS/2 keyboard plugged into a USB adapter for a notebook/desktop. More importantly, any problems could always be dealt with by the devious technique of unplugging the keyboard from the USB hub and plugging it back in.

Today, however, I got utterly fed up with my Maltron as it kept fucking up, and I obviously can't have a keyboard that interrupts my workflow. So I plugged the MS keyboard back in and it felt shit. But I thought I would try the Maltron with my new 6700K at home (which now has the Ducky and has no keyboard problems at all) to see what happened.

Now, of course, the Maltron works perfectly even with the same cable I used at work. I typed this entire screed on it and not once was there a problem. By now on the 2600K I would definitely have had to unstick CTRL a few times.

So, what do you think? Did my OC attempt destroy the MB and/or its USB ports/controller such that it now doesn't play well with any mechanical keyboards, in particular non-standard modeels like the Maltron? I suspect that's the case.

The only other thing I can think of that might be causing the problems is there being too much electronic interference on/around my work desk and that the USB cable used for the Maltrons were affected. But that seems a bit like weird crazy talk as the MS keyboard works fine. Admittedly the cable does run through an area with a 27" monitor, a Sonos, an 8-port switch, and a headphone amp, a USB hub, and some audio and other USB cables, but I would have thought that that EMI interference alone would not necessarily interfere with the operation of a keyboard (I am using what appears to be a standard USB cable that came with the Maltron and that is detachable at both ends). I suppose to test that theory I should actually test the Ducky at work, and if it's screwed up there in Windows then maybe it's the Maltron cable that's insufficiently shielded or something.

If however my initial suspicions are correct, then it looks like my only options are to:

(a) Try and re-flash the BIOS and see if that helps? Although I seem to recall that I did re-flash it after the excessive OC attempt.

(b) Buy and install a USB card to control the Maltron or any mechanical keyboard - but I'm not even sure if that would help if there is a specific part of the MB which detects and interfaces with keyboards is messed up?

(c) Swap to another motherboard (Z68?), or a new MB/processor, for work. Obviously expensive, but it is doable and I could move all my old SSDs etc. over. Alternatively, I could even just move my Silverstone HTPC from home to work, as it is a vastly overpowered i5-4670 and is in a very small and attractive Silverstone case. The 2600K could come home, or I could find something else to do with it. The Sandy Bridge MBs also had some issues with USB3.0 anyway as they were part of the first-gen, so I don't really mind ditching them.

Yw-slayer
September 25th, 2015, 01:40 AM
So my Ducky worked well with my 2600K yesterday, but today it has started to get a bit iffy, missing keystrokes here and there.

I think a new MB, or swapping to that HTPC, might be in order.

Yw-slayer
September 29th, 2015, 04:45 PM
Now the Malton has a slightly sticky CTRL key in Chrome. I can live with it at home though.

I still suspect the 2600k keyboard controller for all the other weirdness.

Yw-slayer
October 12th, 2015, 08:48 AM
I still have no idea what is going on.

With another keyboard I still lost the ability to type anything in an application in Windows. But when I used the mouse to shut down Kaspersky Internet Security it was fine. So I thought it was that, but then I recently had problems with CTRL getting stuck on my old (not mechanical) Saitek Eclipse with the 6700K and shutting down Kaspersky didn't help.

I am seriously wondering if ANY form of OC will interfere with my keyboards, or if it is Kaspersky, or some combination of both.

I tried out a bunch of other keyboards today. Wanted the Corsair K70 RGB but they didn't have one with the switches that I wanted. So I ended up going home, which was good, because it looks like the Coolermaster Quick Fire XTi is the ticket. I'll put that in a keyboard try at work and swap between that and the Maltron (which I can detach as it has a detachable USB cable) as and when I feel like it.

Yw-slayer
October 14th, 2015, 06:20 AM
I went and bought a new Coolermaster Quickfire TK to test it out with my 2600K. Seems fine after about 10 minutes of typing, although the LED behind the "5" key is broken. Not sure I can be effed to return it to the seller, though. I guess I could get my staff to do so.

thesameguy
October 14th, 2015, 01:54 PM
Get your staff to learn to use a soldering iron.

Yw-slayer
October 14th, 2015, 08:38 PM
I got them to return it for another one AND to buy a Quickfire XTi. What else are staff for?

Yw-slayer
October 27th, 2015, 07:16 AM
The USB port which I plugged the XTi into has failed. I'm getting a new Skylake desktop for work, I think.

Yw-slayer
October 27th, 2015, 06:37 PM
This morning I plugged the Maltron back into the "dead" USB port and it works. LOL

Yw-slayer
November 2nd, 2015, 12:22 AM
Now the Corsair doesn't work with the XTi.

Fuck this, buying new Skylake desktop now.

Also my 3M 180 adjustable keyboard/mouse try tilt adjust function doesn't seem to work... #FML?

thesameguy
November 4th, 2015, 12:54 PM
Less is more?

Yw-slayer
November 4th, 2015, 04:20 PM
All fixed. Should be booting up the Skylake desktop this morning.