Several reasons why the keyboard does not work on the computer

A person who suddenly discovered that the keyboard has stopped working on the computer, few will envy. And, as often happens, such troubles most often occur when the reports are "burning", a set of the diploma project is being executed , during the battle for the fate of the world in another computer game, etc. On the other hand, the question "why the keyboard does not work on the computer" is not set too often, since with the beginning of the "USB era" many "childhood diseases" in this area of computing devices are in the past. In light of this, a breakdown of the keyboard is an occasion for a peculiar pride in its "luck".

Connectivity

In all modern keyboards, a serial USB interface is used to connect to the motherboard. Before the PS \ 2 standard is removed from production, it has a number of advantages, among which we can especially note the possibility of "hot swapping". That is, the user can theoretically, with the system unit on, connect and disconnect the USB plug to the corresponding free connector. And many use it, especially the owners of portable computers. In this case, there are two negative aspects. First, it was noticed that frequent switching of the device leads to the fact that the spring-loaded contacts in the plug lose their elasticity, as a result of which the operability is disrupted (the power line or data line disappears). It's no wonder that the question "why the keyboard on the computer does not work" follows this. Thus, with frequent connections, the plug is worn out and needs to be replaced. Secondly, sometimes with hot replacement of the device it went out of order, so this possibility should not be abused. To check the contacts, you need to turn off the computer, disconnect the keyboard plug and gently plug it back in again, gently pounding in the connector. Sometimes contacts can be returned with a needle in the previous spring-loaded state.

Electrical problems

Like any other USB device, the keyboard receives power directly from the port. And since the features of the internal implementation of the bus are such that several connectors are connected to one control chip at the same time, when they are powered by powerful devices (with a current of 500 mA) their performance is not guaranteed. The solution is simple: if the question "why the keyboard does not work on the computer" arose, then you need to disconnect all USB devices except the most necessary ones and check the functionality. With a large number of simultaneously used USB peripherals, you need to use an intermediate splitter with an external source. Also, quite often the problem with USB is observed in old computers and laptops, power supplies and other elements of which have exhausted their life and do not give out the required voltages. The solution is similar to the above. And, of course, do not forget that the fault can be in the connector itself: for testing, you need to plug the plug into another USB port.

Software failure

Modern operating systems for interaction with the keyboard use the control program driver. Sometimes it stops working correctly. As a result, the user can not understand why the keyboard on the computer does not work. It is necessary with the mouse to go into the "Device Manager" and try to update the driver in the "Keyboard" item. If it does not help, then you need to remove the device, remove the driver with the appropriate command and reconnect the keyboard to the computer - the Plug & Play mechanism should work.

The incidents of settings

In the modern BIOS of motherboards there is a point that allows to refuse the use of USB, by setting the mode Disable. If, for some reason, this happens, you need to find the old PS / 2 keyboard, use it to go into the BIOS (the Del button immediately after power-up) and allow USB. Another option is to reset the settings to the initial state by closing the corresponding Clear CMOS jumper on the board (the exact location is specified in the instruction manual). Beginners sometimes face the fact that the keyboard on the right does not work. This can be caused by accidentally pressing the NumLock button, which switches the modes of the right digital block. If the indicator of the same name is lit, then it must be switched to another state by pressing the button again.