Gateway Astro - no usb in normal mode

Working on a Gateway Astro pc:

Celeron 400
64 MB
Win98 SE

This uses exclusivly a USB keyboard and mouse - no ps2 ports at all.

kybrd and mouse work in safe mode but die as computer boots into normal mode.


Here's what I've done:

Scanreg back to earliest entry before problem.
Removed mouse/keyboard from device manager.
Removed all VID keys referencing mouse keyboard in registry.
Removed all references to USB from device manager.

All fail to correct the problem.....

Once removed from registry the new hardware wizard does redetect them on startup and loads the usb controller driver but as soon as that driver loads the mouse and keyboard die - they also die if you click on cancel to prevent the driver from loading.

The bios sees them fine as unplugging the keyboard and booting yields a - keyboard not detected message.

Have also tried it with and without the mouse - same result - does same thing with a different USB keyboard so I'm convinced this is a windows thing.

Gateways site has proved fruitless - there is a USB patch but I have tried that as well to no avail.

I'm leaning towards the USB entries in device manager being corrupt. I did find no less than 16 different VID keys referring to the same keyboard mouse combo in the registry. Anyone know how to get 98 to rebuild the registry keys without reloading the system??

Any help appreciated..

ICE

 

Well, I got the keyboard and mouse to work but I did not get the problem fixed.....let me explain.

I got to the point where the machine would redetect the USB root hub and controller and keyboard and mouse at startup in normal mode. But of course when it prompted for the source of the keyboard and mouse drivers without said devices functioning there was no way to point the system to the location.

So, removed all traces of USB again from safe mode and then the keyboard and mouse would work when the computer was restarted in normal mode until you installed the driver for the USB controller - then the USB dies.

A friend discovered that by installing a USB modem driver for the USB controller rather than the correct driver for the USB controller that they computer would boot into normal mode with both keyboard and mouse functioning normally.

Of course, the USB modem shows up in DM as installed incorrectly but for some reason it allows the keyboard and mouse to function in normal mode.

This one has me beat. It's by no means a permanent fix but it gives the guy enough time to back stuff up before he reloads the machine.

ICE