keyboard not recognized in FC2

[hakanh]

I've migrated from RH9 to FC2 and now my keyboard does not work. If I boot with
the 2.4 kernel - then the keyboard (PS2 Natural Keyboard Elite) works fine - when
I boot with the 2.6.10 kernel the keyboard doesn't work. It doesn't matter which
runlevel I use - the keyboard isn't recornized. The keyboard works fine under grub.

The strange thing is that once in a while (maybe every 20th time) - kudzu suddenly
recognizes the keyboard - and everything works the way it should. Next time i
reboot the keyboard is gone again. Again, when I boot with the 2.4 kernel the keyboard
works everytime.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

/Vincent

[hakanh]

I've now figured out what the problem was. There's a setting for 'USB emulation' in the bios for the Precision 420 - and for
some reason this was turned on. 2.4 could apparantely deal with this - wheras the keyboard is not recognized in 2.6 with
this setting. After switching this off - everything works fine with the keyboard.

/Vincent

[hakanh]

I was a bit early in proclaiming success for this problem. After rebooting today - the keyboard was again not
recognized - so the problem is not due to the bios. Again - booting with 2.4 works without any problems, whereas
when I boot with 2.6 the keyboard is not always recognized. Any ideas/suggestions are appreciated!

/Vincent

[oll]

hakanh,
I have the same problem, it will help if you post your system information. I think it is a kernel 26xx problem. Here is a link to my post on this problem: oll post (http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31947)

The fact that you have the same problem confirm it is a bug that can be replicated.
Your keyboard is PS/2 or USB? My keyboard is PS/2.

Hope we can help each other...

oll

PS - I will place a link in my post tu your post.

[hakanh]

yes, it seems that there are many people reporting keyboard problems with the 2.6 kernel (I found this post regarding
the same keyboard I use: MS Natural Keyboard Elite: http://kerneltrap.org/node/3809)

I have the following config:
vmlinuz-2.6.10-1.9_FC2
Dell Precision 420 (Bios version 13A)
MS Natural Keyboard Elite (PS/2)
MS IntelliMouse (PS/2)

Again - it's a very annoying problem - since the keyboard is sometimes recognized - which seems to imply it's not
a configuration problem. But with 2.4 the keyboard is allways recognized.

/Vincent

[oll]

hakanh,

I agree it is very annoying problem. Thanks for this link... did you try the work around with PS/2 to USB adapter?

I will try this as soon I get one. But this will mean 1 less USB port for other hardware :mad:

This kernel need a fix on this.

oll

[hakanh]

No, I haven't tried with a USB adapter since I don't have one. Here's another intresting thread regarding keyboard
problems with 2.6.10:
http://seclists.org/lists/linux-kernel/2005/Jan/0027.html

There are a number of suggestions there to try to fix the problem. I haven't tried them out - but I think I'll wait
until a patch comes - since I have a workaround (I reboot a couple of times - and eventually the keyboard is
recognized).

/Vincent

[oll]

hakanh,

This thread confirm again it is kernel 26xx problem.

I just try the PS/2 to USB adapter (radio shack #26-226) and now the keyboard works!!! :D
I'm posting this reply from FC3 in my PC. It is important to note that it need suport from bios(suport USB keyboard by bios option enabled) for it to work correct.

Downloaded the most resent kernel but still not test if the keyboad problem is fixed.

oll