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I am really frustrated. I have 2 computers, both with relatively expensive keyboards. Both computers are protected with a full disk encryption (FDE) product. On both systems I cannot type the password to unlock the encryption using my main USB keyboard attached to those systems. But I can provide the password using a cheap Dell keyboard.

After the encryption password is provided with the cheap keyboard and the computers are booted the main keyboards work just fine.

Is there some good reason, that I can provide my password for the FDE using my cheap Dell keyboard on both systems, but My DAS4 or G11 doesn't work on either?

This issue applies to both Truecrypt, and Bitlocker. One system is running Windows 7 Pro, and one is Windows 8.1 Pro. I have tried 3 keyboards in the two systems, a DAS4, a Logitech G11, and a cheap Dell. Only the Dell works for providing the FDE passwords.

Since the same symptoms seem to apply to multiple computers with multiple FDE products, it is hard to blame the BIOS or anything specific to a computer. Is there some feature of some USB keyboards that makes them incompatible with providing any input at the point of booting where bitlocker & truecrypt prompt for a password?

Computer 1

Computer 2

Details about symptoms.

  • Both computers have been booted with only the keyboard(s) [DAS4,G11] connected and no other USB devices.
  • I have tried connecting the keyboard to each USB port on the back/front. Just incase some ports were special for some reason.
  • The non-functioning keyboards show no sign of any keys functioning at all when I attempt to type. Compared to '*' that shows up in the password dialog when I use the cheapo Dell keyboard.
  • I using US/English version of Windows, the keyboards are a standard US/English layout. My password doesn't have any particularly special characters, it is just long.
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  • The most obvious explanation would be that the keyboard layouts differ in some subtle way causing you to type the password incorrectly on one of the keyboards.
    – kasperd
    Mar 23, 2015 at 20:53
  • Good point there. Are the PC's configured to a different native language than the OS? Also, have you used any extended characters in your passcode? Try resetting the code to something simpler as a test,
    – Julian Knight
    Mar 23, 2015 at 20:55
  • Bitlocker at least displays a * for each character typed into the password inputbox. Even if the keys were not mapped correctly I would still expect to see it recognising that I was pressing the keys. Nothing shows when I type on the DAS4 or Logitech. It is as if not even connected. The password is ~30 characters that match the regex [-_a-zA-Z0-9.,$^]. Everything is set to US.
    – Zoredache
    Mar 23, 2015 at 20:55
  • Hang on, what else is plugged in to the USB ports? Have you tried unplugging everything else?
    – Julian Knight
    Mar 23, 2015 at 20:57
  • Yes, I have tried unplugging everything else. Even with only the keyboard connected I see no indication of any activity when typing.
    – Zoredache
    Mar 23, 2015 at 20:58

2 Answers 2

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Is it possible, that your cheap dell keyboard has a PS/2 connection? If so, check your BIOS settings to see if you have legacy usb (or similar) disabled in the bios options. If disabled, no usb HID drivers will be loaded until the OS boots and loads the OS specific device drivers.

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Well after buying a Corsair K70 Standard Keyboard things are working. The Corsair seems to work flawlessly. It seems something is incompatible or broken with the DAS4, at least in conjunction with my system.

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  • Seems to be a general compatibility issue, the keyboards must be somehow communicating in a nonstandard manner.
    – bwDraco
    Sep 28, 2015 at 22:52
  • Can you get into and alter the firmware settings (BIOS or UEFI, whichever) with the DAS keyboard?
    – Jamie Hanrahan
    Sep 28, 2015 at 23:01

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