Talking about my keyboard and headset occasionally losing input, though I'm unsure where it's coming from
Talking about my keyboard and headset occasionally losing input, though I'm unsure where it's coming from
I've been experiencing some unusual problems with my computer lately: my keyboard and headset occasionally stop working without warning. The only workaround is to turn off the PC using the power button, which is quite cumbersome. My mouse, however, remains fully operational. This issue started roughly a month ago, and at first I thought it might be caused by a bug in one of the mods I use for the games I play. It mostly happened when I played Europa Universalis IV and Stellaris—both Paradox Interactive titles—I assumed there was a connection between them. But recently, it also occurred with World of Tanks, which is unrelated. Now I suspect the problem could be related to my computer, the operating system (Windows 10), or some associated software. My keyboard model is RK Royal Kludge RK84 75% Triple Mode, and my headset is a SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5.
The first step I tried was simply turning off the headset (it uses a dongle connected to an USB port on the motherboard at the back of the tower), but that didn’t resolve the issue. This confirmed that the headset itself wasn’t the cause, as the sound still played when it was powered on or off. I then attempted to disconnect and reconnect both the dongle and my wired keyboard, which also failed to fix the problem. Both devices remained lit up and functional. My mouse is wireless and uses a USB dongle, but it still worked. It’s installed in the USB port on top of my PC tower, near the power button.
Because of this setup, I decided to test whether the motherboard might be faulty. I temporarily removed the mouse dongle and connected everything directly to the motherboard, but nothing changed. Power was still reaching both devices. My keyboard also didn’t seem affected—its lights responded when I pressed keys, even though it wasn’t being recognized by the computer.
I’ve tried disabling and re-enabling the drivers for each device, but that didn’t help. Interestingly, after a reboot, the drivers (especially for the headset) appeared twice: once in "Sound, video, and game controllers" and again in "Audio inputs and outputs." Then, whenever the problem occurred, the drivers vanished from "Audio inputs and outputs." This suggests an issue with the motherboard’s audio input/output settings.
Another odd occurrence was that when I tried to shut down the PC using the start menu, it didn’t work. The monitor turned off normally, but the computer kept running. I left it in this state for about half an hour, hoping it was just a slow shutdown. It still ran, which made me think either the motherboard or the OS might be the culprit—but I’m not sure.
I’m starting to wonder if something is wrong with the drivers, but that’s also confusing. I’ve tried disabling them for each device and re-enabling them, but nothing resolved the problem. It would be helpful to know how to properly troubleshoot this without replacing the motherboard, especially since I’m unsure whether it’s covered by warranty.
Check the Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or informational events around the time the system stopped working. Both the keyboard and headset may have logged related data prior to the issue.