The time of the classic "Keyboard missing. Press F1 to continue."
this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
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You know that thing that you don't have? You should press buttons on it.
Fuck you computer....
The error message sounds bad, but it was actually a good thing. A better phrased error message might have been "Keyboard missing. Connect a keyboard and press F1 to continue." But, in the early days every byte mattered.
The system wouldn't work without a keyboard, and if you get further into the boot process you might not be able to shut down cleanly if you didn't have a keyboard attached. That error message gave you a chance to attach the keyboard, or to troubleshoot why the keyboard wasn't being properly detected (like the plug got bumped and wasn't making good contact anymore).
It was annoying when the lack of a keyboard was intentional. Like, you wanted to use the machine as a server. But, AFAIK you could disable this check if you knew the machine was going to be a server with no permanent keyboard attached.
I actually wanted a PS2 port because it works with interrupts rather than polling but they aren't really included anymore.
I feel like they don't make boards for people like me who want small boards with a super niche port.
When a MoDT Mini-ITX board comes out with a PS2 port I will buy that instantly
Are these not still in use?
I've not built a tower in a few years granted, but the last one I built had PS2 ports. Heck it even had VGA for the onboard graphics.
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i have a gaming pc built this decade that has both of those ports dude
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Back in my day they weren't color coded.
That's because color hadn't been invented yet and therefore people could only see in black and white. That's why old shows don't have color.
Back in my day days didn't exist /s
These aren't old. I had one in the early 2010s, it was handed down by a relative because my parents were poor.
I'm Gen Z