Keyboard faliure at login and with LiveCD

[bwheler]

Hello, I am new to Kubuntu and have just installed it on my P3 using the 7.10 alternate CD. The install works fine without any problems, however, when it is finished and I reach the login screen there is no response from my keyboard (thus I cannot log in). The mouse works fine.

Similarly, when I use the LiveCD (7.10 regular CD) everything works fine: it starts up and I can open applications, move things around etc using the mouse, but the keyboard does not work. There is no response to any button pushing, caps lock/num lock lights do not respond, nothing.

Any suggestions or ideas? I really don't want to reinstall windows 2000 on this computer...

Thanks.

[saransk]

Re: Keyboard faliure at login and with LiveCD

How are your keyboard and mouse connected?
Are they USB or PS/2 (the green & purple plugs)
Since they both work initially the system BIOS appears to be connecting them fine.
I suspect one of 2 things might be the cause.
1 - If they are USB, the kernel is reading the PS/2 ports and not loading the USB drivers for the Keyboard. Make sure the "legacy USB" is enabled in your BIOS.
2 - Conversely, if they are connected to a set of PS/2 ports, the kernel may not be scanning those and that's why the driver isn't setup correctly.

One trick - when it boots and you get to the "log-in" screen, if your keyboard is connected by USB, unplug and then re-connect it. that often is enough to force a rescan of the USB bus and a proper connection. We get that all the time on our Dells that have all USB connections.
the other is to move the connections around. even thought you have 4-6 USB ports, there may only be 2 "hubs" and you are actually sharing one with both the mouse and the keyboard.

On the Live CD there are various choices and F-key selections. Not sure which might work but due to the age of your system, you may have to "fudge" the install to "see' your hardware.

good luck - trying to get newer software to work on older systems sometimes takes some doing, and in the case of VISTA, is impossible.

[bwheler]

Re: Keyboard faliure at login and with LiveCD

Thanks for the reply.

The mouse is USB and the keyboard is old style. The mouse works fine, it is only the keyboard that does not respond.

[bwheler]

Re: Keyboard faliure at login and with LiveCD

Is it likely that an older Kubuntu release would work?

[Snowhog]

Re: Keyboard faliure at login and with LiveCD

I'm going to guess that you keyboard is working just fine. When at the login screen, just type you password and press enter. If you don't see anything, don't worry. If after pressing enter you are launched into your desktop, your keyboard is working. Once at your desktop, press Alt+F2 and type kcontrol Click on Security & Privacy > Password & User Account and see what is marked under At Password Prompt If it is marked Show nothing then check Show one star for each letter Click Apply and close the window. The next time you reboot and login, you will see black dots when you type in your password.