[MatthewPapa]

I have got a small problem going here. I have been trying to work it out all morning and I am just about out of ideas.
I recently acquired an old 344Mhz Athlon machine to set up an FTP server on so I could mirror some files for some friends here. Well I got it all of the hardware set up properly which includes:

344 MHZ AMD k-6
512 RAM (2 X 256)
2 SCSI HDD with PCI adapter
1 IDE HDD 5 GB
1 IDE CD-ROM Drive
Integrated graphics and 4 USB ports

My problem is that there is no PS2 mouse or keyboard slots. I considered this to be no problem at first as I was installing windows XP and I had a perfectly fine USB keyboard and mouse. I started the install and I could get through the initial stages (the blue, DOS configuration screen) all right all up until it asks you for your keyboard settings and language. At that point my USB keyboard and mouse are inoperable for some reason or another. I cannot press next. I immediately re-tried to install and paid closer attention this time. I can see my mouse arrow and can move it when windows setup first resumes, but I lose functionality sometime when the devices are being installed. I have already tried several things like installing XP on that hard drive with another computer (that wouldn’t boot because I got a stop error), I tried to put a PCI USB adapter in to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with the main-board USB slots, that had no success. Does anybody have any ideas on how I could bypass that step or get the keyboard or mouse to work? Any Ideas will be helpful. Thanks.

(Don’t ask me why I am not using Linux, I would but this machine has to be easy to operate for reasons I cannot explain right now)

[Whitelight]

Is usb enabled in your bios, this is just a guess, but it may help.

[Zarax]

Try posting into MS newsgroups about it, you will surely find better help than here...

[MatthewPapa]

Yea, I know. I just thoguht somebody might know here.

[Zarax]

Q: How is it that you don't have serial and PS2 ports there?

[an0n]

You're probably better off using XP over linux in regards to USB's. C'z by the time Longhorn comes out, all the next-gen USB devices are going to be non-Linux compatible thanks to MS flexing it's economic muscles again.

[MatthewPapa]

Yea. I djust dont think I am quite ready for linux yet. I think is what I am going to try to do next is installing Windows 98 and then once thats installed I am going to install XP over it. Maybe that can circumvent the problem.

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]I dunno man, I was considering that most of the people who use cutting edge gear are the same group who tend to be savvy enough to choose linux over windows.

Anyhow, look at DVD encryption; they busted that wide open, hell you can even skip through all the warnings and there's no menu skip lockouts etc. on even retail DVD's.

I'd give it a few weeks before somebody cracks it and then a month or so before the friendly version appears.
[/color]

[karajorma]

I suspect that Whitelight was on the right track. Check that USB mouse and USB keyboard are enabled in your BIOS.

[Stealth]

Why aren't you using Linux?







naaa j/k.  you're better off with Windows anyway if it's just a small server for mirroring files for a few friends.  you're obviously more familiar with it, and the security and stability aren't really something you'll have to worry about