Last night I installed a KVM switch and everything worked fine – for about an hour. Eventually I had to restart and in doing so encountered a rather large problem: the machine wouldn’t boot. So I unplugged everything and restarted but got hung up on the motherboard starter screen that usually disappears after a fraction of a second.

The motherboard at this point is testing three things: the processor, the ram, and the keyboard. Long story short, I’m pretty sure the KVM switch blew the keyboard relay on the motherboard. I tested a few different keyboards on the usb and ps2 ports but nothing even so much as powered on. So the problem is in the motherboard, but there is no point in replacing just the motherboard.

Why bother? It would cost $150 plus shipping and Id have to install it and configure the jumpers. Do I really want to spend that much money on the same system I already have, or would I rather spend a little more on a new barebones system that will scream?

I love it when they scream.
I’ll post the specs when I pick it out.