So last night I hooked up a USB hub and rewired everything to a new surge protector.
Everything works, but my keyboard died.
I tried plugging it in every possible port, tried unplugging the USB hub aaaaand… nuthin'.
Did I somehow fry my keyboard?
Has anyone else ever have a keyboard go bad?

Only when liquid was spilled on them.

OK, so I brought an old Apple keyboard home from work, and this didn't work either.
Is there a preference file I can trash?
This is really a bummer, man

Soetimes I have an issue plugging my Apple kb into my Apple 20"... it works better plugged into the actual box.

Do other USB devices still work either with or without the new hub?

Didja reboot?

Everything else is working. 2 External HD, printer, wacom tablet, microphone, etc.

I've plugged the keyboard into every USB port I can think of (Apple display, back of the Mac, USB hub…) with no luck.

PowerMac G5 1.8

Rebooted dozens of times.

Remove the hub and try?

Well I did that last night, several times, but not today with the other keyboard.
I will try again at lunchtime.
Google has let me down. Can't find anything on the subject that relates to my problem.

Is the USB hub self powered - does it have its own power supply?

OK, home from lunch.
Unplugged USB hub (with power supply), connected only keyboard and mouse to back of MacPro, rebooted, and only the mouse works.
It's like there is no power going to the keyboard. Not even the Caps Lock light goes on.
I trashed several prefs in hopes that would work.
It didn't.

Is the mouse plugged into the kb? Maybe the built in kb hub is shot? Which kb is it? Can you try a different USB cable on it?

Since the hub is self powered, that rules out the hub draining all the power from the Mac's USB bus.

Sorry about that. Mouse is plugged into back of Cinema Display, not keyboard.
The KB is the kind that came with the G5, resting in a clear plastic tray.
The other KB was from an old G4 that still works.
I should bring my KB to work to see if it's the KB or the Mac.
I'm stumped.

Here's an idea.
Has your computer accidentally paired with a wireless kb elsewhere in the house?

You might also try..


SMC RESET
• Shut down the computer.
• Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Attach the computers power cable.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.

Nope, no wireless keyboards.

SMC Reset? You might be on to something.
As I was arranging and rearranging wires last night, the KB was working. After several rounds of plugging/unplugging things, it stopped.

This will have to wait until I get home.
I can hardly wait to find out!

Edit: Damn. SMC RESET is for Intel only.

I bought a replacement PRAM battery months ago, but never installed it. Could that be part of the problem?

Do you have an app called "Mouse Keys"?

Google game me some suggestions:

1) Try removing this file:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.UniversalAccess.plist to the desktop

then restart the computer.

This preference file stores the keyboard output settings. It will regenerate once the computer is restarted as a new file.

2) Log in as another user to see if it's a problem localized to your user, or it's system-wide.

If it's localized you your user, then the fix above may help. If it's system-wide, it's a more serious problem.

Already tried trashing UniversalAccess.plist. Nada.
I have Mouse Keys turned off.
I don't have another user (my bad) and can't create one without the KB.
I CAN log in using Back to my Mac and try to do it remotely.
We're havin' some fun now!

Isn't there a PMU reset for PPC machines? If you're going in, might as well do the battery.

Do you have another computer that you could login via a remote desktop session? If you don't have Screen Sharing enabled, you may be out of luck on that one.

Try booting into Open Firmware by holding [command]-[option]-O-F at startup. Can you type at that point? If so, type

reset-nvram [return]
reset-all [return]

The computer will reboot at that point, and let us know what happens.

If you CAN'T get into Open Firmware by holding the key combo at boot, try holding down the power button from a powered-down state until it goes into Open Firmware and see if you can enter the above commands.

Most definitely.. PRAM holds all kinds off settings and stuff. Couldn't hurt to put it in there.

It sounds like you're ready for one of these...
The Wheel

Boot from an install DVD. That will tell if it's hardware or software.

If the keyboard isn't responding C may not work so you'll need to mouse around to the Startup Disk preferences to set the DVD as the boot device. If the keyboard won't open the tray you'll need to hold the mouse down at startup to open the DVD tray.

OK, third times a charm.
Sort of.
As a last ditch effort, I decided to do an Archive and Install.
Big mistake because it asks for a password at login.
No keyboard, no login.
I called Apple help last night, and they've never heard anything like this.
I love setting a precedent!
This morning I brought home an Apple aluminum keyboard aaaaand: It worked!
BUT, the login keeps rejecting my password.
Multiple attempts to boot from the DVD failed.
It keeps ejecting the DVD at startup, even when holding down the C key.
Maybe I should do a PRAM reset?
Any suggestions?

Is it the correct DVD for that machine? It seems it may not be. Is it the one that came with the machine? Going to need some details. What machine is it exactly. What kind of install DVD is it. The DVD should have a version number and date on it.

Did you follow my instructions above for booting from the DVD?

If the keyboard isn't responding C may not work so you'll need to mouse around to the Startup Disk preferences to set the DVD as the boot device. If the keyboard won't open the tray you'll need to hold the mouse down at startup to open the DVD tray.

You won't need to enter a password to do that, as long as the Startup Disk prefs aren't locked.

One last thought, have you tried another mouse? Maybe it's fubarring the keyboard commands. Set the startup disc like I mentioned above then immediately unplug the keyboard and mouse after you restart.

Wonder if it would see the keyboard then.

PowerMac G5 dual1.8.

I'm using the Leopard install DVD, which worked a couple days ago.
I'm sure I still have the original discs that came with the computer, just need to fine it. I'll try that next.
Can't choose a startup disc, since the only thing that comes up is user login asking for password.
Maybe boot into Safe Mode?

Okay, sorry, you did mention the machine earlier on, it got lost in the shuffle.The Leopard should boot it. The optical drive was okay?Couldn't hurt, hopefully it sees the Shift key.

I see, so only the log in screen is coming up. So you haven't been able to boot past that this whole time.

As far as the PMU or SMU, the first gen dual 1.8 had a PMU. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1939

The second gen had an SMU http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436

You can try doing an fsck http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417 to repair the disk, but that involves a working keyboard.

How about... FWTD mode and run disk repair on it.

Target disk mode is another good idea. Either put the G5 into TD mode and see if its hard drive can boot another machine and the keyboard can work, or TD another machine and see if it can boot the G5 and have the keyboard work.

I'm baaaaack!

Well… That was fun.

What are the odds that I would fry my keyboard after six years, and then test the computer with a defective one?
If I had only tested a third keyboard, I would not have saved myself a lot of trouble. The third "new" aluminum keyboard that I borrowed from my job, works perfectly.

Tomorrow I buy a new keyboard.

Mark, the guy I talked to at the Apple Help Line (or whatever), was really helpful. Everything he suggested, I had already done. Made me feel smart.
He was great, and I wish I could thank him for a great job.

Thank you, everybody, for the help.
I learned more thru MC, MM, MT, AC than I have on my own.
Ya know, I actually cleaned out the fuzz bunnies from inside my computer. I couldn't have done it without you.



Time to get back to bad jokes and witty witticisms.

Glad it is sorted out. Hmmmm, two bad kbs, eh? What a coinkydink! Well, everything you did probably helped more than it hurt.

I am convinced all my periphial problems are being caused by my "top of the line, Staples 7 port USB hub".
External hard drives disconnecting at will, Wacom tablet goes dead, and yes, even the new keyboard dies.
This thing is the cheapest piece of plastic #%$$@#!%@$##! I've ever bought, but I figured after all these years, any USB hub should be able to do it's job.
I guess I was wrong.

Any advice for a reliable model?

Maybe Belkin?

Is it self powered or powered from the internal bus?

Self powered.
I've had enough of this cheap crap.
At this point, I'm willing to pay more for a device that will work right the first time, and last 3-5 years.
Is that so much to ask?

I can't be the first person to ask for a reliable USB hub.

(Goes to check Google).

USB PCI card(s). Most any generic USB card works, especially with 10.5.8.

I bought 2 of these a few months back.

Nope, but they don't exist. What works fine on one configuration won't on another.

Exactly what I would prefer.
I should have slots to spare, considering I've never added one on the ol' G5.
Thanks for the direction.

But one whole dollar? Really? In this economy?

I know, there's those exorbitant shipping costs too.

They come from Hong Kong so it does take about 10-14 days BTW.

OK!
I have been thinking about adding one to my tower.. for a buck you can't go wrong......

Crap.. that won't work on my Mac Pro quad last gen...... I'll look around some more...

For $10 you can get a PCIe aka PCI Extreme. Good price for a PCIe card. You get a 4 port at NewEgg for around $23 shipped. Here locally they're selling for around $60 to 70, so $10 shipped is pretty good.

For parts or not working...

Sigh....

Oh, I see.
$15 is the best then.

Howz bout I just jump to the 3.0 standard for a few more bucks...?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Super-Speed-USB-...9#ht_2528wt_907

It's all backwards compatible, right?

Well first off since we're poor cheap bastards I was running with that.

That card only has 2 ports, and do you have the need for the extra speed. Here's a linky I found that explains the current situation pretty well. It seems that currently the bottleneck in the real world may be the SATA to USB controller.

Soon 3.0 will be up to par price-wise. Unless you have the drives and the need for the speed it's a pissing match, which is always important to win.

Thanks.. I'll be going with USB 2.0...


Do you think the one you linked to will do the job?
Basically a USB card is a USB card.. right?