ps2 keyboard not being recognized

Question

ps2 keyboard not being recognized

hello,
My brother bought a mac mini. great machine but only 2 usb ports. I told him to get a good usb hub (7 ports). He bought one and it works fine. It sees the ipod, printer and mouse.

He's got ps2 mouse and keyboard from old PC, so he also got the usb/ps2 adapter. this seems to work fine because it does see his mouse but it fails to see the keyboard. It gets stuck for along time on 'Identifying your keyboard'. It says to hit the key to the right of the shift key.

Is there another way to make this machine see the ps2 keyboard? It's a generic PC keyboard with PS2 connector.

Thanks,
Oskar

mac mini, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Dec 23, 2007 12:26 PM

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Answer 1

Boece

Level 5

6,264 points

Dec 23, 2007 12:40 PM in response to Community User

I'm guessing that your ps/2 to usb converter is some kind of Y-shaped cable that takes two ps/2 inputs and converts to one usb output.

What happens if you plug the usb output directly into the mini, and don't plug it into the usb hub?

(BTW what is the key you are pressing that is to the right of the shift key?)

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Answer 2

Dec 23, 2007 3:55 PM in response to Community User

Hi! My experience is that psII to usb adapters don't work will with Macs. Tom

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Answer 3

May 26, 2015 7:14 AM in response to Boece

yes, the adapter is y shaped. I've tried putting the usb directly to the mac with the same results. I've left it searching for 1 hour and it still doesn't find the keyboard.
the key to the right of the 'shift' key is the letter 'Z' key.

Thanks,

Oskar

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Answer 4

Dec 24, 2007 7:44 AM in response to Thomas Bryant

I read this thread before I got my Mac Mini today and I was able to get both a PS2 keyboard and mouse working using a USB adapter that I got from NewEgg. The adapter item code is SBT-PS2U. This adapter worked for my Logitech mouse and two different PS2 keyboards.

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Answer 5

Euchre

Level 4

1,275 points

Dec 24, 2007 8:29 AM in response to Community User

I used a generic PC USB keyboard initially with my first Mac mini. It was not readily recognized, I had to hot plug it to get it to work. After being connected for a fair amount of time, it would start having issues. I later bought a real Apple wired keyboard (the now superceded acrylic kind) for $30. It proved to be a cheap investment for far better performance. The fact it includes 2 USB ports also helps the first generation Mac minis greatly.

More recently I came upon some USB to PS/2 adapters from Belkin on a clearance. I wanted to use my second mini without having to unplug my first, so I gave it a try. It did work, but the performance is also tempermental. I'm looking forward to getting a BT mouse and keyboard set to go with my new mini. Real Mac specific keyboards are worth the investment in my experience.

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