problems with computer lock

[conradspitfire]

hi, i've just got my hands on a 486 dx4 100mhz computer... and it seems to work allright, but the lock (physical lock, at the side of the reset and turbo buttons) its in the lock position... and i dont have a key and i dont know where i could get one! any idea what i should do guys?

 

[modem7]

Welcome to the forums.

Normally all that switch does is enable/disable the keyboard. On the power up of some computers, a message comes up on the screen indicating that the computer needs to be unlocked and on others, the only symptom is that the keyboard doesn't work.

Look at the switch from inside the computer. You'll probably see two wires connected to it. Trace where those two wires go, and you'll end up at a small connector that plugs into the motherboard. Note where the connector plugs into. If the connector has more than two wires attached to it then note the orientation of the connector as well (for possible later reattachment).

Unplug the connector from the motherboard. Does that fix your problem? If not, try putting a jumper over the two pins that the connector plugged onto.

 

[Terry Yager]

Look at the switch from inside the computer.

He can't, it's locked...(three green, two yellow)...

--T

 

[conradspitfire]

hi!

anyway, firstly, i forced the lock to turn with pliers, and it did, but no luck.. so i opened it and i realized that the wires leading from the lock were already disconnected... so i connected them (where it says "keylock" and played around with the lock again, but still nothing... maybe the problem its bigger than i think...

so i've got just one ps2 port, and a ps2 mouse and keyboard... so i can't have them both at the same time... no message from the computer about the lock either... it just starts win98 and shows me that the mouse its unplugged... even when its plugged in

in short: i've got no mouse or keyboard

please help :ashamed:

 

[NeXT]

So you tried both dropping a jumper on the keylock pins and not shorting the pins and both gave you either a beep error or an error on screen that the system was still locked?



If the front keylock wasn't even connected in the first place, either it's something in the BIOS that's doing it (9/10 times, removing the battery and clearing the CMOS will fix that) or (I doubt it though) there is some strange card plugged into the system that's locking the system on you.

 

[conradspitfire]

So you tried both dropping a jumper on the keylock pins and not shorting the pins and both gave you either a beep error or an error on screen that the system was still locked? .

no beep or error... the keyboard just doesnt work at all (the num lock light lights on though). i get as far as the "no mouse connected" message in windows and that's it... i can't do anything because i have no input device... didn't try the jumper either... and i don't have all that knowledge about hardware either :ashamed:

maybe the ports arent working? should i get an old dim keyboard?
i'm gonna try the battery anyway... to see what it does...

 

[cosam]

didn't try the jumper either... and i don't have all that knowledge about hardware either.

Then try it! ;-) What do the key lock pins on the motherboard look like? If they're two next to each other, you can use one of these or failing that a piece of wire.

maybe the ports arent working?

Most likely because they are disabled, i.e. the computer thinks the lock is still in the locked position.

 

[conradspitfire]

ok, i tried the jumper and still no luck...

and i can't find the battery... where is it? i've took the batteries of other computers before, but i cant seem to find it in this one...

i didnt know i was so bad at this

 

[modem7]

He can't, it's locked...(three green, two yellow)...

I missed the "physical" bit.

I have no excuse. The green and yellow pills had kicked in by the time I had answered the post.
Gees. I really don't want to tell my psychs about this. I just know that they'll add red pills to the mix, and the red ones give me diarrhea sumfin fierce.

 

[modem7]

so i've got just one ps2 port, and a ps2 mouse and keyboard... so i can't have them both at the same time...

That reads to me like the keyboard you are using has a PS/2 connector, and sometimes you are powering up the computer with the keyboard plugged into your only PS/2 port, and other times, you are powering up the computer with the mouse plugged into your only PS/2 port
If so, then there's an issue right there, and one that might explain the 'keyboard not working' symptom.

Your computer is a 486. Is there a brand and model number? That will help a lot.
If your computer is one of the many unbranded clones of the time, I would expect that such a 486 has the old style keyboard port, not a PS/2 keyboard port.
Have a look at the photo immediately below. The circle is about 13 mm in diameter. If you have that type of socket on your computer, then that's where the keyboard plugs into.

Does your computer have type/size of socket?
If so, you'll need a keyboard adapter, like the middle adapter in the following photo, to adapt your PS/2 keyboard to the larger socket.

and i can't find the battery... where is it? i've took the batteries of other computers before, but i cant seem to find it in this one...

On these forums, when people say they can't find a battery, we usually tell them to look for a module such as that shown below (it has a battery in it).
The common part numbers are: DS1287, DS12887, 12C887, BQ3287

 

[conradspitfire]

yeah, that's a din connector, i have one of those and i'm going to get an adapter... but what about the mouse? shouldnt it work? im going to get a serial adaptor for the ps2 mouse too..

also, i was wrong, its a 586. 133mhz... i'll post the brand and all later...

 

[patscc]

pics

pics

conradspitfire, While you're posting the make/model, could you also post some pertinent pics ?
It'll help all us stabbing in the dark.
patscc

 

[modem7]

yeah, that's a din connector, i have one of those and i'm going to get an adapter...

Okay, that should remove the 'keyboard not working' symptom, although keep in mind that you may also need to put a jumper on the two 'keylock' pins on the motherboard.

but what about the mouse? shouldnt it work?

Yes, I would have thought so.
Even newish PS/2 compatible mice work. I brought out my Pentium 133 clone, which has a PS/2 port, and connected a Microsoft Basic Optical mouse. The mouse is labeled 'USB/PS2 compatible' and includes a green adapter to convert from USB to PS/2. Windows 95 detected the mouse and worked with it fine.

im going to get a serial adaptor for the ps2 mouse too..

Careful there. Some of those adapters only work if you connect them to a mouse that is designed for both PS/2 and serial operation. For example, I have an old Microsoft serial mouse, labeled "Serial - PS/2 Compatible Mouse", that can be converted to PS/2 by attachment of an adapter cable that was supplied with the mouse. In that example, the 'smarts' to support both serial and PS/2 is in the mouse, not the cable.

 

[conradspitfire]

so you think that the mouse will work when i have the keyboard working and i can start windows? because i can't get past the "mouse not connected" screen, so windows never really starts...
and when i connect an optic mouse (with ps/2 adapter) to the ps/2 port, the lights on it dont turn on, like in other computers... does that mean something?

anyway, i'm getting the keyboard adapter soon... anything i should try in the meantime?

 

[Ole Juul]

... anything i should try in the meantime?

I don't know how important that particular MS-Windows installation is to you, (I guess I missed something) but why not check out the hardware seperately? It seems prudent to first find out where the hardware is at and seeing if the ports and keyboared work. Then after that worry about whatever OS you're going to run or saving whatever someone else happened to leave on the drive if that has any interest to you.

I would boot a DOS disk. Who knows - you might like it?

 

[conradspitfire]

i already like it

i don't care much about the OS really... i'm just worried about the keyboard and mouse...

 

[modem7]

so you think that the mouse will work when i have the keyboard working

Normally the keyboard and mouse are unrelated, and so normally my answer would be "no". However, sitting in the background is the unresolved 'keylock' issue, and there remains the possibility that if the PS/2 port functionality is provided by the motherboard, then the 'keylock' functionality may have disabled the PS/2 port as well as the keyboard port.
And so I suggest that you get the keyboard going (and that will be shortly because of the adapter you're getting shortly) and worry about the mouse later.

and when i connect an optic mouse (with ps/2 adapter) to the ps/2 port, the lights on it dont turn on, like in other computers... does that mean something?

That's a bad sign.
Is this mouse the same "PS2" mouse you tried earlier?
Consider these possibilities:

1. Faulty mouse, or faulty PS2 adapter, or the two aren't designed to work together. Do you have another computer with PS2 port, a notebook for example, that you could use to test the mouse/adapter combination?

2. Faulty PS/2 port on computer. Either it's been like that since you got the computer, or maybe plugging the keyboard into the port has damaged it.

3. PS/2 port not connected. Is the PS/2 port on a card that plugs into the motherboard, or do wires run from it to a connector that plugs into the motherboard (i.e. motherboard provides the PS/2 port functionality)?

4. If the motherboard provides the PS/2 port functionality, then the 'keylock' possibility I wrote of earlier.

5. If the motherboard provides the PS/2 port functionality, then the PS/2 port may be disabled in the BIOS setup.

 

[conradspitfire]

ok... lets see...

i have 2 other computers (desktop and laptop) but no ps/2 ports on them...

i just took a few pictures of the ps/2 port and of the motherboard, (which i'll post in a sec) and i turned the pc on to check the model and a new error message appears... right on the first screen (where it checks the memory and all that) it says:

keyboard error or no keyboard present.
cmos checksum error - defaults loaded

the keyboard is connected on the ps/2 port, and the num lock light is on...

what now?

 

[conradspitfire]

ok, there's a pic from the back... you can see that they drilled the case or something to make room for the ps2 port... then from the inside, and i put a pic of the keylock thing just in case... if you need any other pic, just let me know...

also, the computer its a Am5x86-p75-s 133mhz

 

[modem7]

So we know now that motherboard provides the PS/2 port functionality.

keyboard error or no keyboard present.

That message may have always been there but you didn't notice it because the computer quickly moved on to booting Windows.

cmos checksum error - defaults loaded

That's an error that normally appears after the battery has been removed/replaced.
If your battery was low (another cause of a checksum error), I would have expected another error message indicating such.

In any case, because the motherboard has lost the setting for the hard drive, you'll probably find that computer is no longer booting the hard drive.
Nothing you can do about that until the keyboard is functioning.

the keyboard is connected on the ps/2 port, and the num lock light is on...
what now?

You've tried jumpering the 'keylock' pins with the PS/2 keyboard connected and that didn't work.
So another possibility is that the PS/2 port is designed for a mouse only, but your PS/2 mouse isn't working for other reasons (some of which I covered earlier).

Without keyboard functionality, the computer is useless, and so we could expend a lot more effort into investigating the no-mouse symptom only to discover later that the computer is a throw-away because the keyboard circuitry is dead (e.g. faulty keyboard controller).

So let's wait for the keyboard adapter to arrive and attempt to get the keyboard functionality working first.

In the meantime, have a look for a motherboard part number. It wont be on a chip but will be either on a label or will be printed on the circuit board itself. With that, we might find some documentation that reveals which devices (keyboard, mouse, or both) that the PS/2 port supports.