Minipac ground problem - only first button on ground daisy chain registering

[Dervacumen]

I've really struggled with this.

I have a minipac.  I need it to work.  Here's what I've tried.

Originally I made my own PS2 - PS2 cable but didn't have all the wires connected so it didn't work.  I couldn't even get past BIOS post due to lack of keyboard detection.  The led on the minipac never lit up using this homemade cable. I finally found a PS2-PS2 cable online and hooked it up, and now the computer will boot no problem, so the cable appears to be good.

The ground wiring is daisy chained from the Minipac header to all of my button inputs.  When I press the first button wired to the minipac the led lights up.  When I press any other button in the chain the led does not light up.  I tried connecting the ground on the first button directly to the ground on the second button using a length of wire and two alligator clips, and still when I press the second button no led lights up.  I would think that with an obvious connection between the two buttons pressing either should have the same effect on the minipac: lighting the led.

Where have I gone wrong?  When I load up notepad none of the buttons register key presses, including the first one in the chains that lights up the led when pressed.

I don't have a PS2 keyboard to check the keyboard pass through on the minipac.

Any direction would be appreciated by my daughter who has been looking at her machine for the last month, otherwise complete but not working until I figure this out.

[BobA]

The ground wiring is daisy chained from the Minipac header to all of my button inputs. 

Not sure what you mean by this.  All your ground wiring should be daisy chained from the ground on the minipac to all the common lugs on your microswitches.   The N.O. lug on the microswitch should be wired to the proper input for that button on the minipac. 

[Dervacumen]

I mistyped.
The ground from the minipac does indeed daisy chain to the grounds of each of the microswitches, not the input.  Sorry for the misinformation.  All of the normally open lugs on the switches connect to their respective inputs on the minipac.

[BobA]

Ok if wired properly then the minipac may be damaged.   Not sure which model you have but some have jumpers that select the key programming and usb/ps2.

[DillonFoulds]

Take the LEDs out of the scenario, and try doing only the buttons, it's simple circuitry from there. Once you've got that working 100%, add LED by LED. This will be tedious, but it'll be the best way to diagnose your issues.

[Dervacumen]

Again, I don't seem to express myself properly with the written word.
The LED I refer to is the one on the minipac.  I have no LED's as parts on my machine.

I will try more troubleshooting steps, namely hooking a keyboard up to the keyboard connection on the motherboard to make sure that connector is not at fault.  I need to find a PS2 keyboard to do that as all the ones I have are USB and I don't have an adapter here.

[DillonFoulds]

My mistake, i was reading with the thought of an illuminated pushbutton in the circuit...

So basically, what you're saying is none of the inputs actually work, aside from button 1? What about grounding one end of a bare stripped wire, and manually, one by one, testing the button inputs, without any switches?

[BobA]

Have you got any pictures?   Which minipac model do you have and did you get a harness from ultimarc or did you build your own?

[Bender]

yeah, my guess is that there is a bad connection in the daisy chain between button 1 and 2 if not more further down the line
plus have you checked with the software sometimes the buttons must be assigned

[AndyWarne]

Something not right here because the LED should be lit all the time, not only when you press a button.
It might be best to resolve this by email: andy@ultimarc.com

[Dervacumen]

Thanks Andy,
I'll send you a message.

[Dervacumen]

Okay I just want to wrap up this thread because I hate searching for answers and see people with the exact same problem, but frequently we see no solution.  I know it's been several months, but here goes:

I contacted Andy via email and we exchanged a few ideas and he was, as always, very helpful and gracious.  He finally asked me to send the minipac back because the LED wasn't lighting at all.  That's really why I thought it must be defective.  So I sent it back, and in abut three or four days I got a minipac in the mail.  Now, I'm in the US and Andy's in the UK so I thought that was too quick for turn around.  There were no notes in the package but I wondered if mine was returned because I didn't fill out the customs paperwork properly.  So I emailed Andy, and it turns out he cross shipped me a new minipac.

So I had my new minipac, plugged it in, wired everything up, and ... chaos.  Some buttons worked, others didn't.  BUT the minipac LED came on, and I was at least getting some response, so I eliminated the minipac as a reason for my woes.  Thanks Andy!!!

I ended up finding a new ps2-ps2 cable to replace my hacked one, and that didn't help.  I figured I must have just wired the harness wrong.  All wrong, like in the wrong orientation or something.  I was so fed up at this point I put the project on hold until inspiration struck.

Well, Saturday I went to CAX (California Extreme - look it up) and that was all the inspiration I needed.  On Sunday, I rewired the entire harness, fired her up and SUCCESS.  Except I didn't have an old PS2 keyboard, having given all mine away over the years, so I couldn't set the ESC, PAUSE and TAB buttons.  So I posted an wanted ad on freecycle and picked one up yesterday about a mile from my house.

Now I have a working machine.

In summary, if the LED on the minipac isn't lighting, it's probably bad.  If the LED on the minipac is lighting, you've probably got a bad harness.  You can't use a ps2-USB adapter to hook a USB keyboard up to a legacy minipac that only has PS2 inputs.  Always keep a PS2 keyboard hanging around the garage in a cabinet somewhere.

Questions?