Hello. When I reboot my computer, it tells me that my mouse is not
connected to the serial port. Sometimes it goes into safe mode. If I
continue rebooting over and over again, eventually (2-10x) it reboots
correctly. Please advise if there's any way to repair the problem.
Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by deadlychiapet-ga on 05 Nov 2002 13:05 PST

Hi there,
What OS are you using, and is your mouse connected via the PS/2 port or using USB?

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Clarification of Question by shuko-ga on 06 Nov 2002 06:47 PST

Thanks for your reply. Using Windows 98 connected through USB port.

have you tried connecting a different mouse to see if that helps? or
making sure the connection of the mouse to the back of the pc is not
loose?

Thanks- tried a different mouse and checked that the USB connection is
secure. Neither helped.

Have you checked to see that the card with your serial port is firmly
seated? The card itself may be loose or damaged.

If your computer's BIOS has set your USB ports to enable "Legacy"
support then this would explain it fully. I can speak from experience
that this issue has been a serious problem time after time. If you
enter your BIOS (Usually you'll see a "Hit F2 to Enter Setup" or
F12=Setup during the first few seconds of your system powering on) you
can usually change this to Non-Legacy or Standard USB.

Microsoft's article reads:

The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Driver Development Kit (DDK)

SYMPTOMS
On a Windows 98-based computer, when Universal Serial Bus (USB) legacy
support is enabled in the basic input/output system (BIOS), your
computer may not detect USB devices or may stop responding (hang) when
you start or shut down your computer.

CAUSE
This problem can occur if there is a conflict between Windows and the
BIOS that involves the USB host controller. BIOS uses SMI# to
periodically read the controller status to provide USB legacy support.
During startup, after Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
enumeration, control of USB is changed from the BIOS to Windows.
Sometimes, during Windows PCI bus enumeration, the BIOS may not obtain
a correct value for the host controller base address, which results in
the inability to transfer control of the USB controller to Windows.

This condition can result in the USB devices not working, your
computer may hang during startup or shutdown, or a Windows message
that states that the PS/2 keyboard or mouse cannot be found (if the
USB keyboard or mouse is not found, software may search for a PS/2
keyboard or mouse).

RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, BIOS vendors can either disable USB legacy
support or include a workaround patch.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;250635

On a helpful note...
It wouldn't hurt to update your motherboard's BIOS too, it's always
nice to let your BIOS know what kind of newer hardware it can accept
and how to take full use of it!