Some time ago, I had a Windows box that was plagued by random reboots. These weren’t crashes, or bluescreens, or lockups: I would be typing away at the computer and then, suddenly, the screen would go black, I’d hear the floppy drive seeking, there would be a POST beep, and then I’d see my computer booting up again. This was mysterious.
I tried out many potential solutions to the problem: I reduced the variety of programs I used, upgraded software packages, and looked for crash logs. Nothing helped. I did notice something a little odd: These reboots only happened when I was using the computer. Never when I was away, or asleep. (This box stayed on 24×7.) In fact, I began to get a vague impression that the reboots only happened when I was actually typing ….
I’d had trouble with the PS/2 ports on this machine before. When I bought it I’d hooked up my old PS/2 trackball, and used it successfully for some years. One day, however, the trackball simply stopped working. A little investigation revealed that the trackball was ok, and that the problem must lie with the computer. I did the reasonable thing: I bought a USB trackball and moved on with my life.
Thinking about all this, I decided to try swapping out the PS/2 keyboard for a USB unit. And, what do you know: No more reboots. My guess is that there must have been a marginal electrical connection on the MB somewhere around the PS/2 components, but I (obviously) don’t really know. Funny, though.
It all seems a little reminiscent of this story. (And no, Crash Anecdote isn’t Crash Bandicoot’s 2nd cousin once removed.)
