G4 Macos9.1 -- Keyboard problem --Help

frankbnylife · #1 June 16th, 2007, 04:57 PM

...was working on the computer and experienced a sudden and unusual internal surge --the system went down (includung the UPS)for no apparant reason. Upon restart, the mouse only functions while booting up on the restart but not after it completely boots. I checked all connections, the mouse, the keyboard allows me to power up (but nothing else). The USB ports (1&2) on the keyboard are working--I was able to upload digital pix from the camera to the desktop) The mouse works on other computers as well. Any suggestions? Is my keyboard shot? Thanks

sinclair_tm · #2 June 16th, 2007, 05:03 PM

the keyboard and mouse work on other computers, but not this mac? have you tried a flash drive, or any other device that requires the port to be powered to work? the camera may of worked because its self powered. the mouse and keyboard on the other hand must get their power from the port, and it the port isn't provideing power, than they will not work.

DeltaMac · #3 June 16th, 2007, 05:07 PM

You said you tried the mouse on another computer. Did you also try the keyboard on that different computer?
Does your mouse work when plugged directly into a built-in USB port on your Mac?

frankbnylife · #4 June 16th, 2007, 05:25 PM

Thanks for the quick replies, to both of you...Just to be clear...the mouse worked during the reboot only. Once the reboot had completed, the mouse went still. I never had a chance to see if the keyboard worked (and I don't have another mac to try it on--would it work on a PC -- or is that a dumb question --I'm not a techie by any definition)

I think you nailed it, DeltaMac..I plugged a flash drive in to the usb port on the keyboard while doing another restart off the CPU, and the message I got was that there was not enough power to run the flash drive.

DeltaMac · #5 June 16th, 2007, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbnylife

-- I don't have another mac to try it on--would it work on a PC -- or is that a dumb question --I'm not a techie by any definition)

I think you nailed it, DeltaMac..I plugged a flash drive in to the usb port on the keyboard while doing another restart off the CPU, and the message I got was that there was not enough power to run the flash drive.

The flash drive message would not give you a definitive answer. Keyboard USB ports often don't supply enough power for some devices.
Your Mac keyboard will also work on a PC. You can see if it works (typing, etc)

You may have both keyboard and mouse bad. I have seen this type of failure a couple of times where both fail together. Don't ignore the possibility that the USB port(s) have also failed, which can cause USB devices attached to those ports to fail also.

Related to this question - does your UPS also plug into the USB port? Has the battery in your UPS failed? Maybe you should disconnect the UPS from your Mac to fully test the USB ports, and to eliminate the UPS as a possible source of the problem.

Kees Buijs · #6 June 22nd, 2007, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbnylife

Thanks for the quick replies, to both of you...Just to be clear...the mouse worked during the reboot only. Once the reboot had completed, the mouse went still. I never had a chance to see if the keyboard worked (and I don't have another mac to try it on--would it work on a PC -- or is that a dumb question --I'm not a techie by any definition)

I think you nailed it, DeltaMac..I plugged a flash drive in to the usb port on the keyboard while doing another restart off the CPU, and the message I got was that there was not enough power to run the flash drive.

If possible, try to find a USB hub with external power supply. Noe the usb hub will provide power to the attached devices (including keyboard / mouse), not the computer anymore. Also try to hook up the flash drive to the computer directly and see what happens (the keyboard sure does not provide enough power to support anything else as 1 mouse).

Good luck, Kees