Having a bit of an issue...

Alright, so... I've definitely been more of a lurker than a poster, but I wanted to run this situation by the smart people here, and see what you all think. Note: I am taking my iMac in today to be serviced, but if I can save that trip then maybe this post will be worth it! Bare with me... this is a bit lengthy...

I'm currently running a 21.5' 2011 iMac. It's all up to date with Lion 10.6.whatever number they are on now, lol. Attached is my USB keyboard (Apple) and USB mouse (Logitech), as well as my external HD and my secondary monitor.

Last night, I was playing a game and, out of nowhere, my external monitor and harddrive stopped working. I unplugged them both, and still had full function over my keyboard and mouse. Another 3-5 minutes pass by, and then my keyboard and mouse stop working, and have not worked since. Since this whole debacle started, though, my mouse has gone from being 100% unresponsive upon plugin to the sensor light on the bottom flashing quickly when plugged in, but then becoming unresponsive after. If I plug my external monitor in, I get nothing. If I plug my external HD in, the light on the HD lights up as if connected, but I have no way of telling if it truly is or not. All of these things work when connected to other computers. My husband's keyboard has lights that show up when they are connected to a computer, so I plugged his keyboard in, and the light came on, but the keyboard was unresponsive. His mouse was also 100% unresponsive when plugged into my computer.

As for solutions, obviously, I've tried unplugging everything and restarting. I've tried SMC reset multiple times. I've tried PRAM reset, which obviously wouldn't work due to no keyboard, but it never hurts to try I suppose. I've noted the Screen Sharing app, and cursed myself for not having it enabled on my iMac. This cursing continued when I realized I have no sharing enabled on my iMac. Even more cursing came about when I realized I had disabled bluetooth connections, and therefore cannot connect my wireless keyboard, wireless magic mouse OR trackpad. (You can better believe I will have all these enabled when this issue is resolved, though!!)

So, pretty much, it seems as if my USB and thunderbolt ports are either disabled or dead, but I can't check because ... no keyboard or mouse.

Like I said, I'm taking it in, but hey... if you have any ideas that I haven't found by searching (and I think I've pretty much picked the internet clean with searching...) then please feel free to help me! (Luckily, too, I have Applecare...) Thank you in advance!

 

Figured I'd post a reply to let those who posted know what happened...

I carried my iMac into my service shop (thankfully, there's a authorized service place closer than my Apple Store!!!) and plunked it down, looked at the guy and say "SAVE ME!" He chuckled, asked what was going on, and started poking around. It was powering random things (powered his magic mouse just fine!), but the data was getting mixed up, hence why I couldn't actually use my keyboard or mouse.

Diagnosis? I need a new logic board. I was sitting there thinking "That's all? Really?! Phew!" Parts and labor covered (thank you, almighty beings wherever you are, for Apple Care!!! lol) and I can pick up my shiny next Wednesday.