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I have an issue with Windows 10 (latest), when disconnecting my keyboard (magnetic tip cable so can be disconnected by accidentaly hitting it) sometimes Windows will not recognize the keyboard once I reconnect it. When I try to connect any other keyboard, whether it is bluetooth, cable or a 2.4Ghz dongle, it simply won't work. I tried all kind of corruption commands for Windows, reinstalled drivers, but nothing seems to work other than to restart my computer, which is really frustrating because I don't want to restart when I'm in the middle of work.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do? I won't reset my computer, because I'm not convinced that it can't be solved without resetting.

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  • What model of keyboard is it? Why did you add a bluetooth and wireless-keyboard tag if the keyboard has a connector?
    – Romen
    Commented Oct 24, 2019 at 16:48
  • The keyboard is a Microsoft Modern keyboard, which supports both cable and bluetooth. It has nothing to do with my keyboard though, because connecting any other keyboard after it won't work either.
    – Jason
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 11:29
  • Can you reproduce the problem without that specific keyboard? You can't rule out the keyboard as the cause of the problem unless you can...
    – Romen
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 14:28
  • Yes, I also had it with my previous keyboard, which is really annoying
    – Jason
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 14:34
  • OK, a few more questions: What caused the problem with your previous keyboard? Did it also have a loose connection or did it just happen when you tried to reproduce the problem? When the problem occurs, did you try a keyboard in every possible USB port on your computer? Do other USB devices stop working too? Do two keyboards already plugged in at the same time both stop working? What motherboard do you have?
    – Romen
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 14:41

1 Answer 1

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Sometimes USB problems like this can be related to motherboard BIOS settings. The fact that it only affects keyboards is a hint that the BIOS's USB keyboard support could be giving you trouble.

On your specific motherboard there are three settings that can affect USB keyboard functionality.

Legacy USB Support

Enable or disable Legacy OS Support for USB 2.0 devices. If you encounter USB compatibility issues it is recommended to disable legacy USB support. Select UEFI Setup Only to support USB devices under the UEFI setup and Windows/Linux operating systems only.

You should turn this setting off if you're using Windows 10. On some motherboards this may disable USB keyboard support in your BIOS though. It helps to have a PS/2 keyboard for configuring a BIOS in those situations.

PS/2 Simulator

Enable the support of I/O port 60h/64h emulation. This should be enabled for the complete USB keyboard legacy support for non-USB aware OSes.

You should turn this setting off if you're not using the "Legacy USB Support" option above.

XHCI Hand-off

This is a workaround for OSes without XHCI hand-off support. The XHCI ownership change should be claimed by XHCI driver.

You should turn this setting on if you're using Windows 10.

This setting basically allows the USB controllers on your motherboard to be directly controlled by the operating system & drivers. When the setting is off, the BIOS will retain ownership of the USB controllers even after booting and exposes USB functionality to the operating system differently. On Skylake CPUs and later this setting is must be on for USB 3.0 support.

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  • I haven't got any troubles with disconnecting after these sertings, thanks. The only problem I encountered was when I set the legacy support to off, because it locked me out of my bios as no USB keyboard / mouse could do anything with it. After clearing the CMOS and doing the same thing, I set the legacy to "Enable for UEFI only", which resolved the issue. Maybe add something like that as a note or warning?
    – Jason
    Commented Nov 14, 2019 at 9:04
  • @Jason, That setting may behave differently across other motherboards, but the quote in my answer is taken directly from your motherboard's manual. It does explain that "UEFI Setup Only" is the setting to use to support USB in the UEFI BIOS. (I guess your motherboard still has a PS/2 port, which justifies this setting if you can disable USB 2.0 entirely in your BIOS)
    – Romen
    Commented Nov 14, 2019 at 14:20

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