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I have an Apple keyboard and I want to connect it to my PC at work. They have the USB ports disabled. I tried using a USB to PS/2 adapter but that didn't work. CapsLock light wasn't even lighting up, so there must not be enough power in the PS/2 port to get the keyboard to work. Any ideas would be appreciated. Does anyone know of a working solution for this?

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What do you mean by PS3 to USB adapter? I thought PS3s took USB natively? – Charles Hooper Oct 27 '10 at 19:20
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migrated from serverfault.com Oct 27 '10 at 19:56

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2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

I assume you mean PS/2 adapter, not PS3 as in PlayStation, based on your context. If that's the case, there's tons of cheap adapters out there: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,23864,26637,27048,27101,27103,27164,27182&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=ps2+usb+adapter&cp=8&pf=p&sclient=psy&aq=f&aqi=g5&aql=&oq=ps2+usb+&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=4ba096ba63ca8429

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Whoops. Totally meant PS/2. – Sixty4Bit Oct 27 '10 at 19:39
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up vote 1 down vote

Are you sure the PC has USB ports disabled? Have you tried a non-mac USB keyboard? Have you tried a Ps2 keyboard in there? (make sure the ps2 port is ok!) If they were really disabled, you could try enabling them in the BIOS. Have you tried the MAC USB keyboard in a PC's USB port (where the PC doesn't have USB disabled).

maybe MAC keyboards are different.

I have used a USB keyboards loads of times, with those little adaptors and they work absolutely fine. And regarding power.. PS2 and USB are both 5V.

It's actually Ps2 in a USB port that have an issue! And need a big style adaptor.. But USB in ps2 - never a problem! I've only used PCs though.

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Yes, USB ports are disabled. Yes, non Mac USB keyboards don't work either. Yes, PS/2 keyboards do work. Can't enable the USB since it is locked down by the IT department (password protected and everything). – Sixty4Bit Oct 27 '10 at 23:11
Could be the adaptor is bad.. i've had some that work in some computer's and not others(or perhaps, some usb ports and not otherS). And i've had other usb-ps2 adaptors that worked in both comps.. A pack I bought on ebay all were "strict", then a pack I bought elsewhere maybe an lectronics shop, were better and worked in both comps.. The one that looked like this img.tomshardware.com/us/2005/11/23/pc_interfaces_101/… didn't.. but hte slightly smaller one looked like cablesdirect.com/prodimages/USB-PS2F_LR.jpg did. Just was a better build. – barlop Oct 27 '10 at 23:29
you may not have hte same experience with the size of them.. but it may be a bad usb-ps2 adaptor.. I have even had a VGA connector on a VGA card in a sony vaio desktop, that was so "strict" that it would only work with one monitor I had! And other monitors weren't working with it. Sometimes you get these weird incompatibilities. You may have a very picky adaptor and/or picky ps2 ports! You could try that keyboard and adaptor, on other computers. I haven't encountered picky ps2 ports. I have encountered picky usb ports and certainly picky usb-ps2 adaptors, It could be the adaptor is funny. – barlop Oct 27 '10 at 23:34
I would try other usb-ps2 adaptors (perhaps better if not the same model adaptor) since i've had whole packs of them not working. And, I would try the same keyb and adaptor, in other computers. – barlop Oct 27 '10 at 23:35
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