Novatouch TKL dies at random

[saldot]

It just dies... Without any warning it stops working.
The only solution I've found is to unplug the USB cable and reconnect it, after that it works. (for a while)

If anyone has any ideas what it could be any help would be appreciated.

Some info.
[*]It happens at random. It has happened while playing games, while browsing the web and while entering data into a spreadsheet application. Sometimes it dies once/evening, sometimes 3 times in an hour.
[*]Unplugged it and used my old keyboard over the weekend. It didn't die once so the problems are - as far as i can tell - only with the novatouch.
[*]I thought it could be a faulty keyboard so I've had it replaced but I get the same problems with the new keyboard.
[*]When it dies nothing changes in windows device manager. The same amount of keyboard devices are there even when the keyboard isn't working which would indicate that the computer can still see the keyboard but it cant receive keystrokes.. or the keyboard isn't able to send keystrokes. If i unplug it to fix the problem 2 keyboard devices disappear, reconnect it and they reappear.
[*]I've connected another keyboard to the computer while the novatouch was "dead". That keyboard was working fine but at the same time the novatouch was dead so it's not a general "no keyboards work", it's only the novatouch.
[*]I've updated the motherboard BIOS to the latest version and I've updated the chipset driver to the latest version. Didn't solve the problem.
[*]I've tried enabling and disabling "USB legacy support" in BIOS, makes no difference. Keyboard has died with it enabled and hit has died with it disabled.
[*]Which USB port it's connected to doesn't matter. I've tried almost all of them, both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.
[*]Added all updates available in windows update.
[*]In power settings in the control panel I've disabled "USB selective suspend setting". Didn't help.

And that's about it.

[Muirium]

Try it on a different computer. I bet there's no problems there. Your replacement NovaTouch behaves the same way, so it's not the fault. The computer is.

I must admit I've never had a USB keyboard fail like that. Both my NovaTouches are solid, like everything else I have. Crapping out is more the sort of thing you'd expect from wireless boards with dying batteries.

[chzel]

Perhaps NKRO is misbehaving/conflicting with something in WIndows? Could be driver related!
IIRC Mu you are Mac only, right?

[saldot]

Forgot to mention that. Took it to the office and used it there for a few hours without any issues.
I'm aware that the keyboard isn't broken, it's a compatibility issue between it and my computer at home. But there must somehow be a way to fix that.

As far as i know the Novatouch doesn't have or require any drivers. Could be the driver for another device tough, but that would be really hard to find out.

[chzel]

Take the office computer home?

[saldot]

Well, it is portable....

[Muirium]

Yeah, I'm Mac only. Saves me a lot of trouble with compatibility issues in general!

Good point re: NKRO. The NovaTouch does something different in Windows to appear like that. It's regular 6KRO on my Macs. (Which is fine by me.) I'm not sure how you'd disable that. You're right it requires no driver. No good keyboards do. They simply comply to the USB HID spec, and are supported everywhere equally. But the NovaTouch plays that double personality game…

[chzel]

Does it have any key combo to switch to 6KRO?
Can it work over PS/2?

[Muirium]

Don't know, and don't know! I have a fancy Soarer box I built for all my PS/2 boards, but I don't have a simple passive USB>PS/2 adapter to connect the NovaTouch to it!

[saldot]

No switches and it doesn't work over PS/2.
Tried it, had a converter for my old keyboard for 6kro, but it didn't work on the novatouch. Saw on CM homepage that it doesn't support ps/2.

[Muirium]

That's a bugger. Would have been a sneaky workaround for your problem, otherwise.

[saldot]

Died on me again a few minutes ago so adding all possible windows updates and changing power settings for USB in the control panel didn't help.

Only thing i can think of now is a fan controller i have that's connected via usb inside the computer.. if that somehow could interfere with the keyboard. I've unplugged all other external devices except for the keyboard and the mouse.

[Muirium]

Is the keyboard on a hub?

If so: plug the keyboard directly into a USB port.
If not: plug the keyboard into a hub!

[saldot]

Don't have a hub but i could get one. Would it matter if it was powered or not?

[chzel]

No, powered or not, the hub just adds another layer of abstraction and could possibly resolve the issue.
Try this: go to Device Manager and uninstall every keyboard you see there (right click - uninstall), then unplug the NT and plug it in again. It might force a reload of the driver and hopefully fix it.
Other than that...I am running out of ideas!

[saldot]

Ill try it with a USB-hub tonight.
If that doesn't solve it next step is to re-install windows. Not something i look forward to but i do love the feel of the Novatouch. Besides, solving this has become my new goal in life. I'll get it working if it's the last thing i do!

[cookie]

It is obviously broken, sell the sliders to me! Thanks!

[saldot]

If i sell you the sliders, where am I going to put the dampeners I'm going to buy from you?

[gogusrl]

Before reinstalling windows try a ubuntu live cd or similar.

[matt3o]

mobo make/model?

[saldot]

Asus maximus iv gene-z (not gen3)

[saldot]

USB hub didn't help.. next step is to re-install windows.
Thought about using a liveCD but it can take anything from 10 minutes to 2 hours and more between crashes so cant be bothered to try it. Computer could use a re-install anyways. It's after all windows, you should install it once a year. :>

[matt3o]

have you installed the USB3 drivers?

try the following.

1. Uninstall the USB drivers
2. shut down
3. unplug everything from USB
4. completely reset the BIOS, I would go as far as removing the battery for a couple of minutes to be sure (but maybe you can press the reset button for 10-15 seconds)
5. connect a keyboard to the PS2 or to the USB-2 front panel (do not connect to the back!)
6. reboot and reconfig the BIOS
7. reboot and enter windows and install the USB drivers from here http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?S ... 0Extreme-Z
8. reboot and connect the devices to the back panel

[cookie]

If i sell you the sliders, where am I going to put the dampeners I'm going to buy from you?

We could swap sliders Don't you wanna try Topre caps on your novatouch? Isn't that awesome?

[Muirium]

Not quite so simple…

http://deskthority.net/review-f45/a-tal ... ht#p197457

[saldot]

Who would have guessed, re-installing windows (seems to have) solved the problem.

At the moment i'm dualbooting Win8.1 and Win10 so i could do some further troubleshooting to see if the problem is still present in Win8.1. Might do it, might not.. we'll see.
I still have can't get my head around how one keyboard would act like that but another doesn't when both use the default windows keyboard drivers.

Thanks for all the help, deskthority seems to be a really helpful an friendly community.

Next order of business.. Cookie, I want those dampeners!

[Findecanor]

Glad that it worked out for you. Btw, have you tried replacing the cable?

[saldot]

Yes, tried with different cables, didn't help.

[_robban]

It isnt just some Power Manager settings for the actual USB device that isnt set correct?
If (and when ok) you look at the Device Manager and Keyboards you find under the Power Manager tab a box that state "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" In my case the box isnt ticked and all is working ok.