USB keyboard problem

[Bilou_Gateux]

I have a problem maybe related to my specific hardware (USB keyboard) and i have described the problem on boot-land forums http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10770.

boot-land member Lost gives me link to this post on PLOP forums and it was very usefull to find a solution to my problem.

@Elmar
Have you already heard of some USB keyboards and Plop hanging when loaded

Hardware:
hp d530 Ultra Slim Desktop (latest BIOS release)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11632_na/11632_na.html
+ hp modular keyboard
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12004_na/12004_na.HTML

[Elmar]

hi,
what output do you see in the boot manager window?

can you try to put an usb hub between the pc and the keyboard. does then the boot manager hang too? if yes, does it hang with only the hub connected too?

regards
elmar

[Bilou_Gateux]

I don't have USB hub to check.

I have checked the same HP modular USB keyboard with a more recent hp computer (dc7700 USDT). Same boot sequence with kbd plugged and no problem.
It may be an issue with BIOS of old d530 USDT. after checking hp support
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=fr&cc=fr&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=316727&prodNameId=316729&swEnvOID=1093&swLang=17&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=PSG_I21558-105711
BIOS Version 2.43, is a web release only and will not replace BIOS Version 1.14 in the factory. I may try to update 1st with web release and check again.

Message i get:

[Linux-zImage, setup=0x800, size=0x9ed4]

followed by blinking _ cursor
at this step, nothing i can do with keyboard keys. if i unplug keyboard, PLoP is loaded and i can boot.

[dukenukeme]

hi , it appears there is no 'usb legacy' option inside bios setup

maybe try enable or disabling folowing two options ?
it seems that those two take up DOS memory (where plop loads usb drivers)

ACPI/USB Buffers @ Top of Memory (enable/disable).
Enabling this feature places USB memory buffers at the top of
memory. The advantage of remapping is that it allows space in
the DOS Compatibility Hole range, below 1MB, to be made
available for additional PCI plug-in cards that need option
ROM space. The disadvantage is that a popular memory
manager, HIMEM.SYS, does not work properly when USB
buffers are at top of memory AND the system has 64 KB or less
of RAM.

NIC Option ROM Download (enable/disable). The BIOS
contains an embedded NIC option ROM to allow the unit to
boot through the network to a PXE server. This is typically used
to download a corporate image to a hard drive. The NIC
option ROM takes up memory space below 1MB commonly
referred to as DOS Compatibility Hole (DCH) space. This space
is limited. This F10 option will allow users to disable the
downloading of this embedded NIC option ROM thus giving
more DCH space for additional PCI cards which may need
option ROM space. The default will be to have the NIC option
ROM enabled.

from: document c00072736.pdf
Service Reference Guide
Business Desktop d500 Series

you may also check for this security feature, that disables usb storage transfers

Serial, Parallel, USB, or
Infrared Interface Control

Prevents transfer of data
through the integrated serial,
parallel, USB (universal serial
bus), or infrared interface.

From the Computer Setup
Utilities (F10) menu.

also try this: usb ports are grouped by two
and thay share power consumption
If there is 4 usb ports plug the keyboard into other gruop
(you may have just topped total power on that branch?)
this also helps on functional level of usb functioning sometimes