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[Rizzo]

The situation is thus: I'm attempting to get my flatmates old tower up and running so I can install ubuntu on it and muck around.

The problem: I can't get into the bios to change the boot order because I can't get it to recognise my keyboard. I've tried all the USB ports on the motherboard, the 2 front USB ports on the case, the 2 strange USB ports on a device that's plugged into the motherboard.
I've brought 2 USB > PS2 converters and tried my keyboard and mouse in these to no avail.

I can't even get the mouse or keyboard to work in the XP login screen once it boots.

I don't know what I can do to get the various ports working at this point. I find it impossible to believe that none of them work however, that seems so highly unlikely.

I'm not exactly a complete noob but feel free to suggest even the most obvious and basic solutions as I've probably overlooked them.

[bicostp]

Try native PS/2 devices; those USB adapters are hit or miss depending on what you're trying to use with them.

It's possible the USB ports are disabled in BIOS, or the motherboard's plain hosed.

If all you want to do is fart around with Linux (why?!), just install VirtualBox on your PC and run it inside that. It's pretty much as fast, but you won't have to go through a bunch of esoteric workarounds to get it up and running properly with sound and networking.

[Rizzo]

It's the esoteric work arounds that interest me Plus the challenge of making this tower work to my schedule.

If any of the Aussies read this may I borrow a ps2 keyboard (if you've got it)? Est, Lunchbawks?

[Rizzo]

Bump a bump! Any plugs etc on the motherboard I can check or whatevs?

[McTaggart]

It's probably a good idea to invest in a ps2 keyboard because in my experience this sort of thing happens a lot. They're one of those things that are always handy to have around.

[schimmy]

but you won't have to go through a bunch of esoteric workarounds to get it up and running properly with sound and networking.

FYI, Ubuntu nowadays works an pretty much any system out of the box, so long as the graphics card isn't made by Nvidia.
And on that note, give me a shout if you are using an Nvidia graphics card, Rizzo, the guides on the internet to get it working are a little hard to follow, but I've had to do it a few times now, so I can probably give you some pointers.