XPS600 and Logitech G15 Keyboard

I have a XPS 400 and the G15 keyboard.  I have had no problems with booting. Have you tried a different USB slot.

 

I have a XPS600 + the Logitech G15 keyboard.  I had a lot of problems with it at first, where the keyboard wouldn't come on at boot and I couldn't enter any passwords.  What I found eventually was that the G15 apparently draws too much current from the USB port to boot.  Oddly, if I booted with the stock Dell keyboard, then plugged the G15 in, it worked OK. 

What worked for me, was to plug the G15 into a powered USB hub.  However, the G15 still won't come up until the USB drivers are loaded, so I still cannot use a BIOS password with this setup.  But once it boots, it works fine.  I even can use it through my KVM with two different PCs, this way.  Although, it takes a few seconds for the keyboard and wireless mouse to come up when switching PC's, as their drivers are being loaded.

Of all the currently available lighted keyboards, I think the G15 does it the best, although some of the key legends could be a bit larger.  However, if mine were to fail, I probably wouldn't replace it, because of the quirkyness of the XPS600 with it.  I plan on replacing it as soon as another manufacturer makes a simplier, less power hungry and software dependant keyboard with the same kind of lighted keys.  I don't really need all those programmable hotkeys, although I have to admit, I'm kind of hooked on that silly LCD display.    

 

I have tried the keyboard on a different computer where it worked just fine.  I did that to rule out the keyboard itself.

In the mean time I've managed to find a couple more people with the same G15 + XPS600 issue and it seems the workaround is to use a powered USB hub.

I like the keyboard enough that I'm OK with this.  Since I rarely go into the BIOS I don't think that's going to be a problem. 

I don't know if this this is a hardware limitation with the XPS600.  Maybe a firmware upgrade down the road can address this. 

Wish I'd checked this forum before buying a new G15 for my XPS 600. 

The keyboard seems to work on initial installation, but then the system hangs on reboot and will not launch Windows. 

At least now I can stop trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong and go back to my old keyboard, but this is ridiculous -- a high end gaming computer should be compatible with the state of the art gaming keyboard!

Anyone know if there are problems on the XPS600 with other Logitech keyboards?  I've been using the G7 cordless mouse with no trouble at all. 

Wonder why it works fine on the XPS400 and not on the XPS600.

The tip noted above in this thread about using a power source other than the XPS600 for the G15 keyboard seems to work.  I was about to look into getting a powered USB hub when I realized that my Dell monitor, which is separately powered, has a couple of USB ports.  The G15 seems to work OK plugged in there, at least the computer will boot normally.  Haven't tried to use the G15 to access the BIOS yet.

All,

The XPS 600 may be trying boot from that USB device.

* Click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Disconnect all USB devices except for any USB mice or keyboard (which must be plugged into a REAR USB port)
* Turn on your computer, and watch the keyboard lights. As soon as they flash, press the F2 key
* The message, Entering Setup should appear
* Under Onboard Devices, set USB Controller to No Boot
* Under POST Behavior, set Fastboot to Off
* Press the Esc key and then press the Enter key to save the changes and reboot the system
* Once in the operating system, click Start- Turn Off Computer- Turn Off
* Reconnect the other USB devices to the rear USB ports
* Power the PC on

Chris,

Thanks for monitoring this thread and providing the additional advice.  I will try out your suggestions when I get home tonight.

As I indicated in a prior note the G15 worked fine when plugged into my Dell monitor (which has USB ports), but kept showing up as "new hardware" every time I rebooted.  Under "Keyboards" in "Device Manager," the G15 was listed twice as an "unknown device", even though it functioned fine (including the special LCD screen features).  I tried clearing both devices and reinstalling the software several times, both from the CD and the logitech website, but could never get rid of the "new hardware found" wizard on reboot.  I wonder if the computer is not recognizing the G15 as a keyboard?

What do you think about using an adapter to plug the keyboard into the PS/2 keyboard port instead of a USB port?

"What do you think about using an adapter to plug the keyboard into the PS/2 keyboard port instead of a USB port?"

I have not tested this.

Oh well -- thanks SlyderJay for saving me the trouble of trying out the PS/2 adapter approach.  I'll try Chris's recent suggestion tonight.

The G15 is really cool if it could be configured to work properly with the XPS600.  Last night I discovered you can set FRAPS to read out on the G15 LCD display.  (For anyone who's not familiar with it, FRAPS is a nice free program that measures your frames per second in games and can also be used for screen shots or to record.) 

After installing the G15 software from the logitech website, I discovered a new checkbox had been added to the FRAPS control panel allowing FRAPS to be displayed on the keyboard LCD.  It displays as both an FPS number and a line graph as you play the game. 

I've Tried this and it doesn't help, 1 out of 3 reboots get hung up in the post or right after at the blinking cursour.

Just go to www.fraps.com and download the latest version (2.7.3).  It's a great little program.  In addition to showing your frames per second on the G15 LCD (that option will appear after a reboot) you can also choose to display your FPS in a corner of your screen while in game.  It's particularly useful to help you see how changes in settings (resolution, video card settings, etc.) affect gameplay.