Solved Can't enter Safe Mode because keyboard won't turn on

I'm doing a DDU uninstall of Nvidia and replacing my GPU with an AMD, so I need to enter Safe Mode but when I am at the selection screen (press 4 for safe mode, 5 for safe mode with networking, etc) my keyboard won't turn on. I have never entered Safe Mode with the motherboard I have now, the ASRock Gaming Phantom 4 Z570 chipset. I did look in the instructions because I keep my boxes and I can't find information if it is there. But I'm not the smartest tech guy so if I miss something that's not a shocker.

I don't have USB 2 ports on the motherboard afaik, only USB 3 ports on the board itself and a USB 2 header for my case ports which I have already tried. I have a green and purple PS2 port but I hate the idea of buying a PS2 keyboard and waiting for it to arrive just to see if it might work. I had 3 keyboards and a Razer Orbweaver plugged into this sucker in different ports and I've restarted and tried 4 times and I could do no inputs. So it seems like I can't do anything with a USB port. Interestingly, I can enter my UEFI BIOS and navigate with my keyboard and mouse like it's just another program on my desktop if that helps. Is there a way to reboot into safe mode from the UEFI?

Any thoughts? or am I looking at buying a ps2 keyboard? Thank you for any help given.

In Windows Go to search or press the Windows key +r and type msconfig and press enter.
Go the Boot tab put a check in the box
Safe Boot. Apply and OK Restart the computer.
It should boot into Safe Mode.

At the Advanced Boot screen where you select Safe Mode with Networking, use the On Screen Keyboard.

you can access it by selecting the Accessibility button in the lower-right corner of the screen and then choosing the On-Screen Keyboard option

Do you mean an X570 motherboard vs Z570?

Spunk said:

In Windows Go to search or press the Windows key +r and type msconfig and press enter.
Go the Boot tab put a check in the box
Safe Boot. Apply and OK Restart the computer.
It should boot into Safe Mode.

At the Advanced Boot screen where you select Safe Mode with Networking, use the On Screen Keyboard.

you can access it by selecting the Accessibility button in the lower-right corner of the screen and then choosing the On-Screen Keyboard option

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I feel really stupid for overthinking it like I did. I just did this, and now I have my 9060xt running benchmarks. Thank you for your help.

BamaInArk said:

Do you mean an X570 motherboard vs Z570?

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argh! I meant X570. Spunk's solution worked though so I'm happy. I overthink things...

Thready said:

argh! I meant X570. Spunk's solution worked though so I'm happy. I overthink things...

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Good but you should still see your keyboard working in the Bios/UEFI. I'm wondering if there are some USB settings in the bios itself that may make the USB 3 ports work natively? Alternately you could plug in your USB keyboard to a front panel USB 2 port(as a test only)...assuming your case supports that and is connected to the motherboard front panel connector.

On some motherboards you may need to enable legacy usb support to have some keyboards work. It is usually buried in the options somewhere.

Also, some motherboards have usb ports designated for mouse and keyboard, check your motherboard manual.

andrew129260 said:

On some motherboards you may need to enable legacy usb support to have some keyboards work. It is usually buried in the options somewhere.

Also, some motherboards have usb ports designated for mouse and keyboard, check your motherboard manual.

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I've heard of legacy support but I thought that was for older electronics that used old USB interfaces from like Windows XP. I didn't know it could be for a keyboard I bought in 2015 though. I guess legacy means something else in my mind. I'll look for a way to enable that.

BamaInArk said:

Good but you should still see your keyboard working in the Bios/UEFI. I'm wondering if there are some USB settings in the bios itself that may make the USB 3 ports work natively? Alternately you could plug in your USB keyboard to a front panel USB 2 port(as a test only)...assuming your case supports that and is connected to the motherboard front panel connector.

Click to expand...

I tried the front panel but that didn't work. I might end up getting a PS2 mouse anyway for future upgrades because I'm going to change out my boot drive and soundcard too.

Thready said:

I've heard of legacy support but I thought that was for older electronics that used old USB interfaces from like Windows XP

Click to expand...

usually yes, but I have experienced myself some motherboards where enabling that would work.


Maybe the keyboard just died?