PC problem - can anyone help please?

Hi all, can some of the IT types on here shed any light on this problem for me please? I'm sure I'm probably missing something obvious but I need a gentle shove in the right direction

I installed a new IDE DVD writer today and also a new monitor. Since doing that, every time I shut down or restart the pc, when it boots back up the keyboard and mouse do not work at all (I'm not getting a POST error for the keyboard when the machine boots up though). If i then restart the machine by using the reset button on the case, the mouse & keyboard work ok again, until the next time i ask windows to shut down or restart the computer, whereupon they stop working again when the machine boots up the next time.

I've obtained the latest drivers that I can find for everything but this doesnt seem to have had any effect.

I've checked the event viewer and it keeps repeating the same three errors that coincide approximately with the times that I'm rebooting the PC:

The source of all 3 errors is 'i8042prt', and the event descriptions are 'incorrect response following a mouse reset', 'could not set the keyboard indicator lights' and 'Could not set the keyboard typematic rate and delay'.

Any ideas? it's driving me

those things are usually set through the BIOS.. you may need to update it for full compatibility with your new devices (although it sounds like a bit of a long shot)

Seems odd that its done this since installing the drive and monitor. How about taking the drive out and use the old monitor and see if the problem happens. If not then add in just the one device and try that.

Try flashing the BIOS also aswell as any motherboard drivers.

Though saying all this ive just noticed googling "i8042prt" brings up a number of problems and solutions.

For example this one...http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=98

Google is the way forward my friend

Cheers guys.

Falc - sadly using the old monitor isn't an option - it's currently residing at the local council recycling centre!

I'll try removeing the new dvd drive though and see if that cures it. I already have the latest mobo driver but I'll try flashing the bios as a last resort - although I don't really understand how this could be the problem as eveything works fine except for when Windows restarts the PC, so wouldn't this point to a windows problem?

Oh, I probably should have also mentioned I'm running WinXP Pro SP2, not Win 2k.

boot up pressing f8 go into safe mode close then come out sometimes this can fix and issue or 2

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by falc

How about taking the drive out

This is what i would do first. Flashing the bios is a good idea, but be careful to follow the instructions properly or you mess up the BIOS and have to get a new BIOS chip or motherboard. If you have the DVD and the HDD on the same IDE cable try seperating them if you have two IDE controllers on your motherboard, or if you have them on seperate ide controllers try running them off one, You'll need to set the HDD to master and the IDE to slave on the jumper settings on the drives to get this work though.

It seems weird that its messing up the keyboard and mouse ports, I'm wandering if somehow you've pushed the motherboard down onto it mounting points or onto the case somewhere and the motherboard is shorting agains the chassis of the PC.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

This is what i would do first. Flashing the bios is a good idea, but be careful to follow the instructions properly or you mess up the BIOS and have to get a new BIOS chip or motherboard. If you have the DVD and the HDD on the same IDE cable try seperating them if you have two IDE controllers on your motherboard, or if you have them on seperate ide controllers try running them off one, You'll need to set the HDD to master and the IDE to slave on the jumper settings on the drives to get this work though.

It seems weird that its messing up the keyboard and mouse ports, I'm wandering if somehow you've pushed the motherboard down onto it mounting points or onto the case somewhere and the motherboard is shorting agains the chassis of the PC.

Cheers Fizz. I've flashed the bios on a couple of PCs before now so am comfortable doing it, but only as a last resort.

The DVD writer is on it's own IDE cable and the jumpers are set to master (my HDDs are both SATA, and my DVD-ROM drive is on the other IDE cable).

As for the motherboard, didnt even touch this when installing the new drive so I doubt i've affected it. My case (a chieftec something-or-other) has quick-release clips for all the 5.75" drives so they're a doddle to take out & reinstall without having to move other cables out of the way etc.

[fizzwheel]

I've done it loads of times, sometimes the pressure of plugging in a new ide cable will sort out the motherboard on the case mounts....

The only other thing i can think of is windows barfing on one of the drivers. The error in the event log might be hinting at this. I would go on the Microsoft.com website and then into the knowledge base, pop the event number in the event log into the search engine and then see what that brings up.

Also it might be worth updating the motherboard drivers ( IDE Controllers etc etc ) for XP with the latest ones for your motherboard*

*edit I see you've done this already

Possibly flash the DVD drives firmware if they've got a website. Mine needed doing 4 revisions for it to become totally reliable

DVD drive was working fine though...

DVD drive now disconnected - fault still occurs

It suddenly dawned on me that my KVM switch might not like the monitor so I unplugged it and connected the keyboard and monitor directly to the PC - fault still occurs.

I found out that as well as the keyboard and mouse not working in windows, the keyboard also doesnt work during the boot-up after shutting down or restarting from windows (i.e. I can't get into the bios settings by pressing delete), but it works ok after restting using the reset button on the case.

I loaded the CMOS defaults by using the jumpers on the mobo - fault still occurs and now i also have a problem with the bios correctly detecting my processor (it used to show 'AMD Athlon 2800+' after powering on, but now it just shows 'AMD 2083'. I think 2083 is the right clock speed for the processor, but why doesnt it show it? Confusingly, when you look at the CPU settings in the bios, it correctly shows it's using settings for a 2800+?!?)