Static electricity when attatching keyboard to laptop

Hello, Gods & Goddesses of Geekdom,
I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 (Win XP) that I got last year. Sometimes I attatch an older Dell ergonomic keyboard (SK-6000) (using some cables from Radio Shack; don't know what info I need to tell you 'bout with them) to make typing easier. But invariably the application freezes; it will repeat a symbol (usually ````) until I alt+F4 and then reboot.

In searching your hardware forum for "static" the only things remotely similar talked about video cards, and to my untrained mind this didn't seem relevant.

What info should I give to help you geniuses sort out this problem? Or can you tell me right away, "Hey, Grammaw, you can't use another keyboard with that laptop, duh!"?

Thanks to all who can contribute info.

As my screen name suggests, I am very low on the scale of puter knowledge although I can figure out how to do a few things if it only involves point'n'click.

 

Does the connector look like this?


Or like this?


If it looks like the first picture, you'll need to make sure you plug the keyboard in before you turn the laptop on.

 

Re: Static attaching keyboard

Dummy me; I forgot to tell you guys that the keyboard is the ps-2 connector in picture one, but what I bought was an adaptor to make it fit my USB (picture 2). The only one I could find is a split thingy so you can attach a mouse and a keyboard, but I only use the keyboard round PS-2 attatchment. (I hope I'm close on terminology; I learnt what to ask for last year when I bought the adaptor and don't retain info well.)

So it matters in what order I plug in? Gee, I'm innocent.

Could it be a problem like I should never have tried to go from old to new with the adaptor? The Manhatten brand adaptor is the old pokey 1.1 USB and says it works with Win XP.

Still flummoxed,
Grammaw

PS -- I am SO glad for all you smart guys'n'gals who take time to help the technologically challenged citizens.

 

If it was me, I'd plug your PS2 keyboard directly into your PC and forget about using the USB intermediary cable. The less connections the better, IMHO. It is how I use my separate keyboard and mouse. Keep your USB ports for USB devices like printers, etc.

As mentioned earlier, make sure your PS2 keyboard is plugged in BEFORE switching on. Bazza

 

yah, but ...

... my new laptop doesn't HAVE a port for attatching the old ps-2 keyboard; that's why I went thru the rigamarole of buying the adaptor. That, and I was too cheap to buy a fancy-schmancy new keyboard so I figured I'd just hook up the old one. (Do I merit a lecture for that, or a mere finger shaken in my direction?)

There is a small round port, but the holes do not match the ps-2 male pins at all, and I think it is intended for TV or video something.

I will try again, this time being **positive** all is connected before powering on. Will be difficult pushing buttons and attatching cables with fingers crossed, but Grammaw is game.

Merci encore, chers amis.

And if anybody can think of another reason it gets stuck, please feel free to fire away. I can survive with the laptop as is, but it would sure be easier on my long old fingers to have that swooshy keyboard instead.

 

If the jack on the back of your computer has a S with what looks like a TV with a arrow pointing out, that is your S-Video connector.

 

If your USB-->PS 2 keyboard connector doesn't work, you are gonna have to outlay $$$ for a new USB keyboard. Sorry, I've no more ideas. Bazza

 

Actually he should go into the BIOS and make sure that 'Legacy' Devices and USB Keyboard are enabled, due to if not, the Bios will not detect them during the boot up process.

 

but if computer recognizes keyboard

Before I start into the dark depths of the BIOS, let me ask a simple question. If it works when I plug it in, does that mean the computer recognizes it? Because it WILL type for a while, respond to numbers, arrow keys, whatever, but after a certain time it just repeats that ` mark and freezes. I don't think it's overheating b/c I can use the puter tons longer in normal circumstances and never have a problem.

The first coupla times it happened, I called support and Dell told me it was building up static, and how to discharge it, but no cluesies as to how to prevent it in this circumstance.

Sigh. Thanks for your patience with me.

 

Re: but if computer recognizes keyboard

Sorry to say this, but Dell Techs have static on their brains and nothing between the portals. The computer will recognize the keyboard when going through the POST process, but when the bootstrap starts up, what happens is the Bios hands off to the bootstrap to recognize hardware, and if it cannot communicate with the IRQ that the device is on, it will develop amnisia.

The BIOS part is easy, you press the key to get into it (DEL, F1, F2, F10, INS) depending on the model of the Bios and as long as you do not save the changes, you can look at the pages to your heart's content.

 

meh, i would just shell out a few bucks and get a usb keyboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=63&Submit=Property

 

Same avatar, same advice. Bazza

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