Keyboard doesn't work in the graphical boot menu or in the live CD session

[Alin Hanghiuc]

In the graphical boot menu for the Jaunty release that I got from http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/info/2204 , the keyboard doesn't work. Actually only the Esc key works.

Someone on #ubuntu-bugs suggested to me to try to see if my computer has the same problem with the latest stable release. I booted from an Intrepid release and I encountered the same problem.

If I don't touch the keyboard, after the timer reaches 0 the live CD desktop loads fine. But at any key press, the image gets blurry and a login screen appears. This only happens in Jaunty.

Here are my computer's specs:
- motherboard: Soltek SL-75KAV;
- processor: AMD Athlon XP 2000+;
- RAM: 1GiB;
- video: Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT based video card + 22in LCD monitor;
- 500GB HDD, DVD-RW drive, DVD combo drive;
- USB mouse and keyboard.

On another HDD on the same machine I run Windows XP and have no problems, so the hardware must be fine.

[shawnlandden (shawnlandden)]

can you use the keyboard in bios? the boot loaders uses the same "drivers" from bios.

To get usb keyboard suport in bios you need to turn on "usb legacy emulation" in your bios, if you cannot get to bios because of your keyboard you need to use a ps/2 keyboard to do it.

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

Yes, the USB keyboard is enabled in BIOS and it works.

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

Just to be clear: the keyboard works in BIOS.

[aesis05401 (aesis05401)]

This issue was widely reported following the Jaunty alpha2 iso releases - including 64 bit and alt livecds.

If you are still experiencing this issue with a current Jaunty .iso, please change the status of this report back to 'New' and add an update in the comments.

If this issue is fixed with your current Jaunty .iso, you can either mark this report 'Invalid,' or take no further action and it will expire in 60 days.

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

I've retested for this problem using the final Jaunty release. The second part of the problem, the one with the image getting blurry after the live desktop is loaded, is solved. But I still encounter the first part of the problem, the one with the USB keyboard not working in the graphical boot menu.

I've tested also with a PS/2 keyboard on the same machine, and I've encountered no problems with it.

The problem with the USB keyboard not working in the boot menu also happened to me when using the following bootable CDs:
- a MSDN CD containing two Windows XP editions (Home and Professional, 32bit); this CD required me to chose between the two editions by pressing "A" or "B";
- a firmware update CD for a Seagate HDD, that I think used DR-DOS;
- bootable memtest86+ CDs.

So I'm inclined to think that the fault lies in the hardware, most likely in the motherboard. I wish there was a way to know for sure.

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

Should the summary be updated to reflect the current status of the problem?

So instead of:

"Keyboard doesn't work in the graphical boot menu or in the live CD session"

should be:

"USB Keyboard doesn't work in the graphical boot menu"?

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Alin,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid.

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 310523

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 2734 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'CA0106'/'Audigy SE [SB0570] at 0xe800 irq 10'
   Mixer name : 'CA0106'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 35
   Simple ctrls : 18
CurrentDmesg: [ 186.066482] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c51a Logitech, Inc. MX Revolution/G7 Cordless Mouse
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
MachineType: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash --
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
RfKill:

Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2777): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2777): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (nautilus:2836): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2860): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
dmi.bios.date: 12/22/2003
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 PG
dmi.board.name: 8363-686A
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvr6.00PG:bd12/22/2003:svnVIATechnologies,Inc.:pnVT8363:pvr:rvn:rn8363-686A:rvr:cvn:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: VT8363
dmi.sys.vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

I've tested with the latest lucid iso from here:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/20100419.1/lucid-desktop-i386.iso

And I still encounter the problem.

I've run apport-collect, as can be seen above. For this I've used a karmic live CD, but I can run it again in lucid, if this is needed.

I'll return with a comment after I test with a mainline kernel.

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Alin,
   Apologies for the delay, do you still find this issue in the latest release or development versions. Also, I see you had planned to test some mainline kernels, are you still willing to do so? Any further information we can get will help us move this issue forward.

Thanks!

~JFo

[Alin Hanghiuc (alinhan)]

I also apologies for the delay, but life got in the way and in the end I couldn't commit the time I wanted to, to take care of my part in this issue.

The situation right now is: I was supposed to try to use "the latest upstream kernel", and see if the problem goes away. That was too complicated for me, especially since another problem, that I never got around to report, got in the way (it was a GRUB 2 related issue), and also because I'm a Linux newbie.

But in the meantime, the computer's motherboard and processor broke. So the issue might go away after I install new ones and we can somehow close this bug the easy way :). I'll try to get back to this as soon as possible, but it might take a few weeks.

Thank you!

[Seth Forshee (sforshee)]

Alin, it's impossible to test this with a mainline kernel, so please ignore that request. If possible it would help if you could check whether or not you have issues with the natty live CD. If you won't be able to test due to the problems with your machine then we can just close out this bug. Thanks!

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.