Since I upgraded from 11.1 to 11.2, I find that some of the stock “default” kernels work okay and some do not. All kernels boot up fine from Grub. Keyboard input works as expected for the Grub menu. For the “bad” kernels, all keyboard input is ignored after the full boot. Usually, both level 3 (console, failsafe) and level 5 (X) have dead keyboard. For level 5, mouse is also dead.
“desktop” version is no better than “default”.
Now I have set the kernel packages to multiversion in zypp.conf. Due to this, updates no longer kill me, but they sure are annoying: I accept the standard update list, then boot up but all I can do with the beautiful screen is power cycle the box. The kernel upgrade snuck in and killed me. After power up, I grub back to the old kernel. No longer totally corrupted, thanks to multiversion.
But, YAST does not understand that I am running a down level kernel so I have to be careful.
Note: I do not hack kernels. What I am describing is straight from OpenSUSE-11.2-Update repository.
Also, I have not hacked the grub menu (much). I do reset the default to the back level kernel. Grub menu items look appropriate as installed by the kernel update.
I do dual boot with Ubuntu (as a sanity check). MS Windoze has never been installed here.
Please supply more info, computer make & model, make & model of keyboard &mouse, which desktop you’re using (kde, gnome, etc), what modules are being loaded.
A warm welcome here. The more easy solution: tell Yast to never update the kernel.
What you have done so far, may very well be the cause of the keyboard trouble. I cannot tell exactly, since you did not describe.
If you want help fast, please provide as much info as you can, specially on these matters:
openSUSE version
KDE4/Gnome
32/64bit
If a ready built system or laptop, brand and model.
Hey, that bit about telling YAST not to update the kernel would help me a lot. How?
By the way, I am not looking for “help fast” as there exists, and I do have, a stock 32-bit kernel that works great with my KDE 4.3.5 desktop running on my Sun Microsystems (may He rest in peace) Opteron 5 (AMD-8151) W110z workstation over its original BIOS with the default CMOS setup.
I put up this report mainly to inform others who might be having the same problem.
Or, maybe, for kernel builders who would want to scope out the problem.
The only “weird” hardware in my setup is a GeForce 8400 GS PCI graphics adapter. The AMD motherboard comes with AGP support, but it has a known timing bug which shows up when large graphics memory is installed. The standard work-around for the timing bug is not supported in the stock Linux kernel. (I moved my new AGP card to a decrepit Gateway XP system that the kids use for gaming and switched to sub-optimal, but stable, PCI graphics card for my workstation.)
Please recall that the desktop is unlikely to be a root cause for the dead keyboard. The runlevel 3 console is also gets a dead keyboard with the bad kernels, as does the KDE login screen at runlevel 5.
I have swapped keyboard and mouse hardware to no avail on the bad kernels. What I am using currently:
Keyboard: Logitech Illuminated USB
Mouse: Logitach Optical USB
I put up this report mainly to inform others who might be having the same problem.
Or, maybe, for kernel builders who would want to scope out the problem.
Then it would be even more prudent to report this problem where the people in charge can be found, this is certainly not the place to get the latter done.
This might be related to my kernel/keyboard problem. Need to check it more.
The fact that I have an Atheros wireless card now seems relevant. (I should have mentioned that before, I guess. wifi on a workstation is a bit weird.)
It seems I should have installed the madwifi package from the start to run my Netgear WG311T wireless PCI adapter. Don’t do that. On the other hand, wifi works fine with vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-0.1-default, as is, on my system, without the madwifi package.
Maybe I should not disturb it. But what the hell. Just let me get some “real” work done first.