Mk320 wireless kit and windows 98se

frankr2994 · October 3, 2019

Hi long shot here but I bought a Logitech mk320 keyboard and mouse kit for a windows 98se build. I only bought this because I had a mk185 mouse that worked fine. So in the kit there is one USB dongle the mouse that came in the kit is the same mk185 I had and it worked after a reboot. The keyboard however will not function. Works fine on a windows 10 machine so I know it works. I have ps2 drivers and hid drivers. If I restart the computer and press keys before and during post windows goes crazy when the desktop comes up. It says it found new hardware and then 10 windows 98 help windows come up. If I go into file explorer and click up in the address bar it just forever types the letter h. Is there a different driver I need to be looking for. Customer asked for wireless and after I first made the mouse work (before purchase of kit) I said I could do it.

Doramius · October 3, 2019

Win98SE is a tough one because it's back before a lot of auto-install drivers were available for USB. Usually, on those older systems, you have to use directly-paired closed wireless devices. This makes it difficult for bluetooth and similar type devices that can connect with many wireless peripherals or accessories can be difficult to connect, or may not be compatible at all. The Logitech unifying adapters fall into this category. You'll have to check the logitech site and see if there is anything that will allow you to install the driver, or see if there is a person or group that has gotten the unifying dongle to work on Win98SE.

Again, You may need to purchase something like the Logitech Cordless Elite Duo.

frankr2994 · October 4, 2019

This is not a unifying product. I made sure of that because I read there were issues on older systems. I didn't expect there to be only one dongle though. I cannot pair it there are no options or buttons. And the mk series stuff seems like it's pretty old tech. I read a post from 2014 about trying to get this stuff to work for msdos the OP said that he got some modded drivers to work on 98 but couldn't make them work on dos. I haven't found any more info. I will look into the product you mentioned though. Seems like a decent keyboard I may just keep it for myself and buy the different one.

frankr2994 · October 4, 2019

Or I could be wrong. Took me a little to find it but download page for the mk320 if I look at the very bottom it has unifying software for xp and older os. Going to give it a shot. I swear I researched this unifying Bs before lol

Doramius · October 7, 2019

While you might find ways to get the dongle identified, pairing a unifying device with a unifying dongle needs to be on a newer OS. There are links of people trying to get the unifying software to pair in XP, but it has a very poor track record of working. Vista seems to work much better but still has issues. Most materials say to use Win7, at minimum, to pair unifying devices. The consensus is use a newer system to pair the dongle with devices, if needed (The devices are usually pre-paired with the included dongle). Once the dongle and the devices are paired, if the drivers recognize the unifying dongle properly, the KB and Mouse will automatically work.

Again, the track record for unifying devices on older systems is NOT good.