USB - PS2 Keyboard

I have a similar problem - I've an old G4 xserve that won't talk to my KVM (which has ps/2 inputs)

I just purchased an 'elcell' branded usb to ps/2 adapter and it doesn't work at all.

So if anyone has a brand of ps/2 to usb adapter that absolutely works I'd be glad to know about it.

Thanks
Jon

If you buy an Apple USB keyboard, it will work well. If you buy any other USB keyboard, it will probably work well.

I suspect your problem is that your PS/2 keyboard requires a PS/2 driver even when it's connected via a USB adapter, and there are no PS/2 drivers at all for Macs because no Mac ever had a PS/2 port.

...apart from, of course, all those hackintosh machines out there. There does seem to be some noise on the web about a kernel extension for PS/2 devices. The annoying thing is that there also seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence of USB-PS/2 converters actually working.

I think it may be down to whether the USB-PS/2 converter reports a device descriptor that OS/X understands; I'm looking now at the results of running the XCode USB prober on a system with the converter attached, and the Keyboard and Mouse devices are both visible... but with an unknown vendor/product ID.

I've ordered a belkin USB adapter on the basis that I may get more joy from a better-known vendor. Will post my findings when the darned thing actually arrives.

...apart from, of course, all those hackintosh machines out there...

...which, of course, aren't Macs, and don't work like Macs.

Good luck with the Belkin adapter. I remember having a trackball twelve or fourteen years ago that came with a PS/2 plug and a USB adapter, and it worked just fine on my desktop Mac clone running OS 8 and OS 9. But I never used it in OS X, so I don't know whether it would have worked. I gave it away three or four years ago, along with the old desktop.

EDIT: Hmmm...now that I think about it some more, that trackball actually came with a USB plug and a PS/2 adapter that I didn't use. So no wonder it worked so well.

Message was edited by: eww

For the record: I bought a belkin USB/PS2 converter and it worked straight out of the box. (I'm on Leopard Server and a G4 xserve). A generic one didn't work at all, even though the two units look practically identical.

The moral of the story: all USB/PS2 converters are not created equal.

You don't need to buy an Apple keyboard if you don't want to — just buy a USB keyboard.

Yes it's certainly possible to use an external keyboard with a MBP. there might be an issue with appropriate drivers.

Neville

With USB keyboards as inexpensive as they are, you'd be wise just to buy one and forget the PS/2 KB.