My keyboard is jacked-up after tryin to install Suse9 on Virtual Pc

Hello all, I am new to Linux and new to this forum, its nice to meet you all. I was trying to install Suse 9 on Microsoft Virtual Pc. I get almost to the end of the installation where it ask me to create a username and password, I go to type it in and my Virtual Pc minimizes! I press other letters on my keyboard and they do other functions now. Even when I close Virtual Pc and disregard all changes, and just use Windows Vista, my keyboard keys do other functions, I cant even type a paper, I cant even do my school work! Help please.

I don't know how MS's VirtualPC behaves, but this has never been a problem for me using Oracle's VirtualBox VM tool. Who knows what VPC did to the keyboard. I doubt very much it was SUSE, though version 9 is pretty old (they are at 11.4 or so now). To see if it is the physical keyboard and not how the operating system has mapped the keys, try another keyboard. If it behaves the same, then it is something in the OS, and that has zip to do with SUSE or any variety of Linux. If a different keyboard works ok, then something has reprogrammed the keyboard at a very low level, and that is something that I know Linux doesn't do. The X server software that controls the GUI and keyboard input will take the keycodes generated by the keyboard and map those into the appropriate stuff for the system, but it won't manipulate the keyboard registers and processor, as far as I know. Anyway, here is some information on how Linux deals with keyboards: The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO

Anyway, from that document, here is something that may be relevant

Quote:

---

4.1 Keyboard hardware reset

Things may be wrong on a lower level than Linux knows about. There are at least two distinct lower levels (keyboard and keyboard controller) where one can give the command "keyboard disable" to the keyboard hardware. Keyboards can often be programmed to use one out of three different sets of scancodes.

However, I do not know of cases where this turned out to be a problem.

Some keyboards have a remapping capability built in. Stormy Henderson (stormy@Ghost.Net) writes: `If it's your keyboard accidently being reprogrammed, you can (on a Gateway AnyKey keyboard) press control-alt-suspend_macro to reset the keys to normal.'

---