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Something very weird is going on with Xwindows at one of my servers atm, whenever I start the computer, the keyboard will work as normal, until the point when Xwindows ...
  1. 02-16-2009 #1
    morfanaion
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    Keyboard does not work after starting X11

    Something very weird is going on with Xwindows at one of my servers atm, whenever I start the computer, the keyboard will work as normal, until the point when Xwindows starts. From that moment on, I get no response whatsoever, pressing NumLock or Capslock does not turn on the appropriate lights on the keyboard. Looking in Yast, I still see the keyboard. It doesn't seem to matter whether I plug in a PS2 or a USB keyboard, neither one will work. But here's the real twist. If I logon through SSH and restart the xservice, the keyboard will suddenly start working again!

    Anyone has any idea why this happens?
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  2. 02-16-2009 #2
    gogalthorp
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    I have no idea what would cause this but have you looked at the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. That is where all human I/O is defined for the X system.
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  3. 02-16-2009 #3
    morfanaion
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    Yeah, I have, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. The file is exactly the way it was generated at install. And, if there would be something wrong with that, wouldn't it be so that the keyboard would never respond in x? I mean, restart x and it works again....
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  4. 02-16-2009 #4
    gogalthorp
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    This is a head scratcher. Which desktop? Have you tried one of the others?
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  5. 02-17-2009 #5
    morfanaion
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    there are 4 servers in the rack that have received an identical installation, but only this one seems to have the problem.
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  6. 02-17-2009 #6
    gogalthorp
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    Are you using a KVM switch?

    I have had a problem with my mouse and KVM switches on cold boots. It is a BIOS problem. The mouse is not recognized if the computer is selected by the switch on cold boots. Warm boots or if the computer is not the selected one it is ok. In my case I have two machines one running Suse (Athlon 3200) and the other a running Win98 (Athlon 800mhz) It happens on both machine if they are selected when cold booting. On the Win98 the keyboard is dead too and it must be warm booted to get things to work. On the Linux side the mouse is dead but the keyboard still works. It happened also when one of the machines was XP and the other Win98. Go figure
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  7. 02-17-2009 #7
    morfanaion
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    well, the keyboard works when only restarting x (so no actual reboot), so that would already show that it's not a BIOS problem. On top of that, num lock light goes on at startup and stays on until X starts, that's when it goes off and the keyboard will not work.

    We do not use a KVM, keyboard is directly plugged into the server.
    Last edited by morfanaion; 02-17-2009 at 08:56 AM. Reason: forgot about the KVM
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