A few weeks ago, my keyboard and sound just stopped working. I have an HP Pavilion a1646x. I've done numerous things to my PC - all of them were suggestions from HP techs. Nothing has helped. I spoke to a tech at BestBuy and told him what was happening and that when I accidentally type on the keyboard, then the mouse doesn't work. He said that it definitely sounds like my motherboard is bad. One of the HP techs said the same thing (actually was the 2nd out of 5th that I spoke with).
Does anyone know of anything else I could do to make these 2 items work on my PC?? I've ran updates, uninstalled/installed the keyboard, etc. It won't even allow me to install a USB keyboard (original one was PS/2).
ALSO - can I install a motherboard myself?? I've read several articles about it, watched demos on YouTube, etc. I'm a computer teacher and have done some interior repairs to the PCs in my lab.
In article <my3sons.39zyvt@no.email.invalid>, my3sons.39zyvt@no.email.invalid says...
>
> A few weeks ago, my keyboard and sound just stopped working. I have an
> HP Pavilion a1646x. I've done numerous things to my PC - all of them
> were suggestions from HP techs. Nothing has helped. I spoke to a tech
> at BestBuy and told him what was happening and that when I accidentally
> type on the keyboard, then the mouse doesn't work. He said that it
> definitely sounds like my motherboard is bad. One of the HP techs said
> the same thing (actually was the 2nd out of 5th that I spoke with).
>
> Does anyone know of anything else I could do to make these 2 items work
> on my PC?? I've ran updates, uninstalled/installed the keyboard, etc.
> It won't even allow me to install a USB keyboard (original one was
> PS/2).
>
> ALSO - can I install a motherboard myself?? I've read several articles
> about it, watched demos on YouTube, etc. I'm a computer teacher and
> have done some interior repairs to the PCs in my lab.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
Why don't you try another PS2 keyboard and a USB mouse?
my3sons wrote:
> A few weeks ago, my keyboard and sound just stopped working. I have an
> HP Pavilion a1646x. I've done numerous things to my PC - all of them
> were suggestions from HP techs. Nothing has helped. I spoke to a tech
> at BestBuy and told him what was happening and that when I accidentally
> type on the keyboard, then the mouse doesn't work. He said that it
> definitely sounds like my motherboard is bad. One of the HP techs said
> the same thing (actually was the 2nd out of 5th that I spoke with).
>
> Does anyone know of anything else I could do to make these 2 items work
> on my PC?? I've ran updates, uninstalled/installed the keyboard, etc.
> It won't even allow me to install a USB keyboard (original one was
> PS/2).
>
> ALSO - can I install a motherboard myself?? I've read several articles
> about it, watched demos on YouTube, etc. I'm a computer teacher and
> have done some interior repairs to the PCs in my lab.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
It is difficult to see how those things are related, with regard to
the hardware on the motherboard.
One reason for keyboard and mouse to fail at the same time, is a problem
with the fuse that protects +5V to the PS/2 ports. Asus motherboards tend
to use Polyfuses, typically a green colored SMT device, near the
header or port it is protecting. A Polyfuse is an automatically
recovering fuse, meaning there is nothing to replace or have to
renew. Polyfuses work by means of a material that melts when it
gets hot, and recrystallizes when it gets cool. That mechanism is
how the Polyfuse works when overloaded, and later with power removed
to the short circuit, on cooling the connection is re-established.
So a keyboard and mouse failure, could be related to the Polyfuse near
the PS/2 stack. For USB headers, Asus puts one Polyfuse for the whole
2x5 header connector. And for USB connectors on the back of the computer,
one fuse controls the stack of two USB connectors.
Now, I don't see how the sound gets dragged into this. Sound chips use
a couple of DC voltages. One DC voltage is tied to the digital logic,
and probably has no fuse on it. The analog side of the sound chip, uses
the services of a three terminal regulator. For ultimate cheapness, the
motherboard maker uses a tiny regulator, maybe rated for 150mA or so.
Being a regulator, it is fed a higher voltage, and drops that voltage
to a level the sound chip can use. And in doing so, the designer of the
circuit hopes that background noises are filtered off by the
regulator, so that they don't get fed through to the speakers.
So from a hardware perspective, we're looking for a common ingredient
which affects these subsystems.
If there was a problem with the +5VSB rail from the power supply, then
if you short that one out, or if the output is weak, that will actually
cause the power supply to switch off (as if the front power button
was pressed). Your symptoms don't include that problem.
If other rails were weak, the computer would have crashed by now, or the
hard drive would have been corrupted. So the implication is, the fault
probably isn't at the source (bad power supply). The thing is, the hard
drive uses both +5V and +12V, and is relatively sensitive to correct
voltages on those rails. Massive corruption, or shutdown, might
happen if the hard drive is not getting good quality power.
I would take a quick check inside, and make sure all connectors are
seated. Shut down the computer and unplug. Then open the side, and
check that everything is mechanically seated.
Another debugging procedure I like (but is not practical for everyone),
is to boot a Knoppix (knopper.net) or Ubuntu (ubuntu.com) Linux LiveCD.
You download a 700MB ISO9660 file, use a program like Nero to burn a
boot CD. Those versions of Linux can boot straight from the CD, and
don't need to install anything on the hard drive. The purpose of
doing so in this case, would be to verify that all the same hardware
subsystems are broken, as you are currently seeing in Windows. Boot
Linux, open a terminal window, and type some text as a test. Or move
the mouse around, and see if the cursor moves etc.
On my computer here, if I plug in an extra device, it generally works
the same as the existing one. For example, I can have two mice connected,
and moving either mouse results in the cursor moving. I would have
expected, if you wanted to experiment with replacement devices in
parallel, that should have worked without a problem. Maybe this
implies that USB devices are having power problems as well ?
And yes, replacing a motherboard is easy. About the only issue you
might have with a pre-built computer, is the relationship between
the recovery software, and any tattoo used by the manufacturer. If
you start a recovery, and the hardware is not "HP", the recovery
software may refuse to work. If you have a separate copy of Windows,
and install that after the new motherboard is installed, that may
work around the issue. But I'm no expert on tattoos or hardware lock-in
for software provided with those machines. All I can suggest, is
it is something to research in advance, if you are thinking of replacing
the current motherboard with something totally unrelated.
It is G965 based, and is being used with your E6300 processor.
And that design is recent enough, that there might be some
hardware warranty left ?
In terms of Asus retail boards, there is nothing that exactly
matches that OEM board. They don't always have retail boards
that match the OEM ones. This board uses a G965, but the
Southbridge is slightly different. And depending on what
driver and mode was used for the install of your OS, this
board may not boot when your hard drive is connected. It
might depend on whether HP used the AHCI driver for the
boot drive, or relied on the vanilla Microsoft native driver
for SATA. And if you don't have a Windows CD handy, it might
be difficult to do a "repair install" (which doesn't affect
programs or user data), to fix it. So the annoyance factor
for this hardware repair, could be "moderate to high", depending
on how much time you have to spend on it. Certainly not a
problem, if you have a second computer to use in the
interim. You could eventually get it sorted.
Intel also makes motherboards (or rather, contracts someone else to
make them). If I start here, and use 82G965 MCH as the Northbridge,
the Intel DG965OT and DG965SS are microATX (9.6"x9.6") motherboards.
The slot configuration of these options, don't match your board
either. Your current board has a PCI Express x16 and three ordinary
PCI slots. Contemporary microATX, trade some of those ordinary
PCI slots, for PCI Express x1 connectors instead (less useful).
You would also want to compare what add-in cards (TV tuner perhaps
or sound card), that currently occupy the computer slots, as the
motherboard you purchase as a replacement, has to have the
right slots to use with those add-in cards, whatever they are.
It is always possible the slots are empty, but take the side
off the computer and have a look.
Another tiny detail, is the HP PANEL header. It could be a 2x4 pin
header. It is possible the Intel DG965OT is similar looking. Sometimes,
there is a mismatch on pin spacing for the wiring, and some
"customization" of the wire harness is required. The picture on
the HP web page shows a 2x5 with one pin missing, meaning it
probably uses 8 pins on the connector (four twisted pair wires).
The Intel DG965OT also has a 2x5 with one pin missing. Intel
has PWR switch, RST switch, HDD status LED and PWR status LED.
The PWR status LED on the Intel, is compatible with dual color
computer case LEDs. So at least the pin count is the same :-)
HP probably doesn't document their pinout, so examine what wires
are plugged where, on the PANEL header in the lower right corner
of the motherboard picture.
On May 25, 8:37*pm, my3sons <my3sons.39z...@no.email.invalid> wrote:
> A few weeks ago, my keyboard and sound just stopped working. *I have an
> HP Pavilion a1646x. *I've done numerous things to my PC - all of them
> were suggestions from HP techs. *Nothing has helped. *I spoke to a tech
> at BestBuy and told him what was happening and that when I accidentally
> type on the keyboard, then the mouse doesn't work. *He said that it
> definitely sounds like my motherboard is bad. *One of the HP techs said
> the same thing (actually was the 2nd out of 5th that I spoke with). *
Paul has discussed the most likely reason for failure to keyboard
and mouse - Polyfuse. Reseting the fuse means removing power. Power
off is not removing power. Disconnect the AC power cord from the wall
to reset that automatically resetting fuse.
However, as Paul also notes, this would not explain soundcard
problems.
my3sons wrote:
> A few weeks ago, my keyboard and sound just stopped working. I have an
> HP Pavilion a1646x. I've done numerous things to my PC - all of them
> were suggestions from HP techs. Nothing has helped. I spoke to a tech
> at BestBuy and told him what was happening and that when I accidentally
> type on the keyboard, then the mouse doesn't work. He said that it
> definitely sounds like my motherboard is bad. One of the HP techs said
> the same thing (actually was the 2nd out of 5th that I spoke with).
>
> Does anyone know of anything else I could do to make these 2 items work
> on my PC?? I've ran updates, uninstalled/installed the keyboard, etc.
> It won't even allow me to install a USB keyboard (original one was
> PS/2).
>
> ALSO - can I install a motherboard myself?? I've read several articles
> about it, watched demos on YouTube, etc. I'm a computer teacher and
> have done some interior repairs to the PCs in my lab.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
1. What OS are you using?
2. You may want to purchase a external USB hub/w LED's & external
power supply. You will be able to see if the BIOS in finding
the USB hub followed by the OS finding the USB hub.
3. If you have a geek shop near you or a Fry's close buy look into a
small ATX power supply ( 20 or 24 pin) that has ground fault LED's.
** note - have have seen where my USB bus will drop(when loading windows
drivers) out especially when I am using a heavier load USB device like
an external USB drive.
How do I know if I need a new motherboard? 
Linear Mode
