05-08-2006, 02:03 PM

Hi,

I put boot camp on my iMac and seem to have a problem with my keyboard cutting out every 5-10 minutes. I hear the "ding" XP makes when a USB device is disconnected, then I unplug it and plug it back in and its fine for another 5-10 minutes. I disconnected all USB devices except my mouse and keyboard, but still having the problem. I'm using the standard issue keyboard and mighty mouse.

I've downloaded all the available updates for my mac.

Thanks - Keith

05-08-2006, 08:42 PM

Windows XP isn't fully compatible with the Apple keyboard and mouse, because of some reason. I don't quite remember why, but i read it on cnet. If it is a wirelesss keyboard/mouse that increases the chance that it won't work. But anyways, the computer can sometimes reject the peripherals. Either contact Apple to see if there is a patch (probably not) or get a keyboard and mouse that is compatible with Mac and Windows.

05-08-2006, 08:58 PM

Sounds like you have a bad keyboard, it should work just fine with Windows.

05-08-2006, 09:14 PM

As it is a USB keyboard, there should be no issue with this at all. Have a look in control panel > system > device manager under USB, click on properties and power management tab and untick "turn off this device to save power."

You may have several USB listings in device manager, do not worry about it, just go through each one, click properties, and those with a power management tab, you can untick for Windows not to turn off the device.

If power management is not the problem (which it sounds like it could be), have you tried a different USB port on your system?

05-11-2006, 11:37 AM

I've tried every USB port and unfortunately cannot seem to fix the problem. I did install the keyboard update but to no avail. I also checked all the power settings.

This only is an issue when in Windows - I never have problems with the mouse or keyboard when in OS X. My XP is also completely up to date.

It does seem power related to me. The keyboard works fine when it works, then just all of a sudden disconnects itself. Strange thing is, if it disconnects itself and I had pressed the caps lock key, the light on the caps lock stays on. Seems to me if it had no power upon disconnecting, this light would go off.

Really quite annoying and I'm not sure why I would have this problem and no one else would - everything is straight out of the box vanilla setup.

05-13-2006, 04:52 AM

Have you updated the USB drivers for windows? I think the USB patch is available in windows xp SP2 - if not, put SP1 and SP2 on and do all critical updates.

It still sounds like a power management issue, in that, if you are not typing on it for 10 minutes or so, windows will shut the USB hub down until it is ready to be used again.

Have you unticked "turn off this device to save power" under ALL USB references in device manager?

05-26-2006, 11:37 AM

I've still yet to resolve this issue.

I can't imagine no one else is having this problem? I really have just a standard setup. I did apply all my XP updates (even the optional ones!). I guess the next step would be to just try a different keyboard....

05-28-2006, 05:13 PM

Issue finally resolved (or worked around at least). I hooked up a USB port hub (that plugs into the wall) and plugged my keyboard and mouse into that. No problems since then. Before hooking up the hub, I started getting random dialogs while even in OS X about a USB low power warning. Not sure whats up with that, but the hub fixed it.

05-31-2006, 02:50 AM

Originally Posted by keithnyc

Issue finally resolved (or worked around at least). I hooked up a USB port hub (that plugs into the wall) and plugged my keyboard and mouse into that. No problems since then. Before hooking up the hub, I started getting random dialogs while even in OS X about a USB low power warning. Not sure whats up with that, but the hub fixed it.

I've been having the exact same problem, except they don't kick out quite as often. Hopefully I can find a hub somewhere..

05-31-2006, 04:23 AM

Have you done the keyboard & mouse upgrades for that machine?

Apple updated something a while ago, make sure you have all the latest OS X updates (some of them were firmware updates that would affect Windows as well).