Bug 156426

Summary:	Keyboard quit working
Product:	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4	Reporter:	Van Snyder <van.snyder>
Component:	kernel	Assignee:	Pete Zaitcev <zaitcev>
Status:	CLOSED WONTFIX	QA Contact:	Brian Brock <bbrock>
Severity:	high	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	4.0	CC:	davej
Target Milestone:	---
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	i686
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Bug Fix
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2012-06-20 15:52:42 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description Van Snyder 2005-04-29 23:15:43 UTC

Description of problem:

I have a venerable IBM 84-key AT keyboard.  It has served me well for 21 years,
including in all releases of RedHat Linux since 5.1.  When I installed RedHat
Enterprise Linux version 4, it quit working.  It works if I boot Windows or DOS.
 It works to select a system in grub.  It quits working as soon as the system
boots, even in single-user mode, so it's not an X or KDE problem that's causing
it not to work.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

2.6.9-5.0.5.ELsmp

How reproducible:

Every time I plug in the keyboard to the PS/2 port, via an AT (DIN-5) -to- PS/2
(mini DIN-6) adapter.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Plug in an IBM AT 84-key keyboard to the PS/2 port using an appropriate adapter
2. Boot the system
3.
  
Actual results:

Keyboard does nothing

Expected results:

Keyboard works as it did from RedHat Linux 5.1 until RHE 3 (kernel
2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp)

Additional info: I got the keyboard to sort-of work by connecting it to the USB
port via a PS/2-to-USB adapter.  There is something wrong with the adapter, USB
port, or driver software, however: It forgets what shift keys are depressed. 
For example, if I try to type ")*" (as frequently occurs in development of
scientific software), I frequently get ")8" which clearly indicates that
somebody forgot that the shift key is still depressed.  It works fine if I
release and re-depress the shift key -- but that hadn't been necessary at all
until RH4 and until I connected the keyboard via the PS/2-to-USB interface. 
CTRL and ALT have the same problem.

Comment 1 Van Snyder 2005-04-30 00:39:48 UTC

This apparently does not depend on an IBM 84-key AT keyboard.  I have the same
problems with a Compaq model RT101 keyboard (101-key PS/2).  The computer is
Dell model 530, service code CDKMQ01, BIOS A09.

Comment 6 Van Snyder 2005-05-26 22:13:44 UTC

Keyboard works correctly on PS/2 port if USB legacy support is disabled in the
BIOS.  This was not necessary with kernel 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp.

Comment 7 Pete Zaitcev 2005-05-27 01:41:25 UTC

What does happen if you add "usb-handoff" into grub.conf (where root= is)?

Comment 8 Jiri Pallich 2012-06-20 15:52:42 UTC

Thank you for submitting this issue for consideration in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The release for which you requested us to review is now End of Life. 
Please See https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/

If you would like Red Hat to re-consider your feature request for an active release, please re-open the request via appropriate support channels and provide additional supporting details about the importance of this issue.