Arch Linux

dhasenan

Member

Registered: 2006-10-11

Posts: 9

Keyboard input not working at boot

Hello --

I don't get keyboard input for ~30 seconds at boot, and I'm not sure why. I'm using a hand-rolled kernel with no initrd, though when I use the stock Arch kernel with initrd it does the same thing. According to my kernel logs, the keyboard is recognized before the root filesystem is mounted (and it appears to be PS2, not USB), and from reading the rc scripts, little or nothing happens after the ttys are started.

udev starts before the root fs is mounted, and when root is fscked at boot, I don't encounter this problem. Therefore I think udev is at fault. Via I can't find any information on telling udev to deal with the keyboard earlier.

Any ideas on how to fix this? Other than putting "sleep 30" in my rc scripts, that is.

---

It's my fault.

ralvez

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2005-12-06

Posts: 1,718

Website

Re: Keyboard input not working at boot

It may be related to the fact that it is a USB keyboard. Try using an adapter USB to PS2 and see if it recognizes it right away.
Since you are not using initrd there is no point to change config files I would guess.

R.

lilsirecho

Veteran

Registered: 2003-10-24

Posts: 5,000

Re: Keyboard input not working at boot

Perhaps the system is locked....Try the keyboard elements at boot prompt...

EDIT: Slow keys in KDE will also seem like the keyboard is dead.

Last edited by lilsirecho (2007-03-15 21:25:31)

---

Prediction...This year will be a very odd year!
Hard work does not kill people but why risk it: Charlie Mccarthy
A man is not complete until he is married..then..he is finished.
When ALL is lost, what can be found? Even bytes get lonely for a little bit!     X-ray confirms Iam spineless!

Pajaro

Member

Registered: 2004-04-21

Posts: 884

Re: Keyboard input not working at boot

i haves this problem too it is USB related. What i do is to plug a PS/2 keyboard to be able to get into the BIOS, and then i enable USB Legacy support (only if the keyboard, if possible).

dhasenan

Member

Registered: 2006-10-11

Posts: 9

Re: Keyboard input not working at boot

Sorry, I wasn't being very clear.

I'm using a laptop, and lsusb doesn't report anything except the buses themselves. Therefore I concluded that my keyboard is not a USB keyboard, as I mentioned above.

This is booting to a tty console, not to X, so it can't be a KDE issue. And I have full control of my keyboard with GRUB; it's just the kernel that hesitates to acknowledge its existence.

---

It's my fault.

Aziere

Member

Registered: 2007-03-16

Posts: 23

Re: Keyboard input not working at boot

I've noticed this as well. There is about a 50% chance for me to not have keyboard functionality on boot. I'm using a PS/2 keyboard though. But I do use a USB mouse, so it may be from the same source. I suspect the kernel is at fault, because after a clean ftp install it can still happen. No clue what's causing the conflict though.