[OldSpiceAP]

Hey - this is the first time I have encountered a problem like this. Whenever I try to start any kind of shell or konsole, it opens fine, and menus and such work, but there is no way to type. The text portion remains blank. There is a white square but nothing to indicate its working. This is a recent development, and no hardware has been added. I can boot to init 3 and use the text based interface there, but thats the only way. I'm used to tail-f /var/log/messages to solve problems but since I can't open a console I can't even view that - checking the log doesn't reveal anything anyway however.

Specs:

Yoper Linux - 2.6 Kernel
Compaq Armada 7800
PII 350
256 MB Ram
Linksys WirelessG PCMCIA Card
Colorful sparkly zebra sticker I found while at work one day that I sutck on for some reason that I can't remember but I'm sure it was good.

Any help would be appriciated because I can't compile or really do anything useful now. I'm stuck using the run command to run quick scripts I write.

[martouf]

is your window manager really KDE (as suggested by you saying you're
having trouble opening a konsole)?

that's weird. your keyboard input is going somewhere other than
the newly opened xterm/shell/konsole.. hmm...

does the keyboard seem OK if you try to check on your system from a virtual terminal?
that is, with X Windows running, type CTRL-ALT-F2 to pull up tty2 and log in.
(to return to X, type ALT-F7)

[danleff]

Did you follow the instructions on the Yoper forums on installing the 2.6 kernel located here?

[OldSpiceAP]

Ctrl + Alt + F2 Login works fine. No problem on keyboard input there. In response to the inquiry about the 2.6 kernel install, I did follow the instructions, but had no problems. I had been using the 2.6 kernel for quite some time now without any problems. The problem started after the laptops power was unplugged. It didn't turn off or anything as it was powered by the battery, but one of the quirks is that if you plug the power cord in while its running, the keyboard stops working entirely, though the eraser head mouse and mouse buttons work fine. Also, another new problem is that when the computer starts up the mic is set to full, and being so close to the inbuilt speakers it makes a horrible screaching sound clear until KDE is started. Also, the terminal keyboard input problem is not limited to KDE, it also does it within GNOME, and several others. If I could solve any of these problems (which appeared all within the same week) it would be great.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[martouf]

right, the keyboard isn't really dead if it seems dead in the GUI
but works just fine in the virtual terminal (CTRL-ALT-F2).

1. it seems the mixer settings aren't getting saved or you're
leaving the mic unmuted as a default (which is probably a Bad Thing)

after setting your sound system the way you like it (go ahead and mute the mic),
run as root 'alsactl store' and your setting should be saved in
/etc/asound.state .. make sure the permission bits are -rw-r--r--
with 'ls -l /etc/asound.state'.

2. the keyboard quitting on you after a power mode change speaks to me
of the keyboard input getting captured by a Power Monitor Applet in the
toolbar (caused by a window/app focus change).

right after you login, can you right-click the power monitor applet
and tell it to quit?

OTOH, try booting with the kernel parameter 'apm=no' and see what happens
when you cause a power mode change.

[OldSpiceAP]

There is no power monitor applet running that I can locate so I don't think that could be the problem. Thanks for the help with the mic though, your solution worked fine. Booting the kernel with apm=no had no effect on the loss of keyboard after unplugging and replugging in the power cord. I don't think it was even enabled to begin with. But still, the problem remains, - opening a Terminal (Konsole, shell, whatever) still doesn't work. Try as I may, I can find no one with the same problem as me either - it seems somewhat unique. Hopefully someone knows what the problem is, because I am about to do a reinstall, which I would rather avoid, because with the exception of that problem, I finally have my system configured the way I want it. Well - thanks for all your help, any more would be greatly appriciated.

[martouf]

your problem doesn't strike me as Something Which Can Be Fixed By Reinstallation.

Sorry.

can you be certain there aren't any error messages hinting at the problem
on vty10 (type CTRL-ALT-F10 to check on this while X is running)?

If there aren't any messages on vty10, then login on vty2 and see if you can
run 'xkbreset'. <-- no, scratch that .. you'd need to be typing this in a konsole!

Grrr.. all the things I'm thinking to try are things needed a freaking working
keyboard. ;(

Can you not even type anything in the KDE/Start -> "Run Command" ??

[cibi3d]

Hi, I'm having the same problem. I can use the tty1-6 normally. My keyboard y running fine into KDE, but I can't neither use a shell with konsole nor using "Run command...". If I login as root and run KDE then I can use konsole. I think it's something with the PATH because if logged as my normal user I try to change the date&time for example, and the WM ask me for the root password then it give me an error saying: "The command 'su' is not in your PATH".. but it is!!! I can SU from a tty1-6.

Thanks, i'm working on it, if I find something I'll write it here.

[martouf]

cibi3d: you're saying you can type something in the 'Run Command' textbox?
and you can start up an app or a shell from there, right?

oldspiceap: can you confirm the same symptom as cibi3d ?

If you can type just fine in a KDE app or applet or textbox but not
in a shell, then the problem is caused by a lack of pseudoterminals.

One or all of the following questions may apply:

Are you missing /dev/ptmx ?
Are there never any entries in /dev/pts/ ?
Do you not have the 'devs' package installed ?
Have you missed/skipped running the 'makedevs' script ?

[OldSpiceAP]

HEy - It does sound plausible that its a path problem, though I'd assume its slightly different from mine. I can use the run command, and can't use the Konsole no matter who I log in as. Still, its a good thought - I'll look into it some more. IF anyone else has any ideas please let me know.

[OldSpiceAP]

My problem is not quite the same as cibi3d. My problem does not change depending on who is logged in, and I can type in a run command, though I can't start a shell from the run command. I can however, run shell scripts from the run command - they run transparantly and I can't see whats happening, but I know they are working because one shell script starts my wireless network card using ndiswrapper. I'll check on the things you mentioned though. Also where is makedevs??

[cibi3d]

I've solved it.. Sorry for the delay. In gentoo you have to add the users that will use konsole and stuff like it to the "tty" group. I hope it solve yours.. Good luck

[martouf]

oldspice: run "ls -l /dev/ptmx" and "id -a" logged in as the regular user account
with which you've been having trouble.

I realize you may need to login to vty2 (CTRL-ALT-F2) and copy down the output.

Is the Yoper distro RPM based? running "rpm -ql devs | tail -10" ought to show
a few documentation files/scripts included with the 'devs' package.
(and probably in the /usr/share/doc/packages/devs directory)

cibi3d: interesting. on my (working) system, my regular user account is not
a member of the tty group, and yet /dev/ptmx and all /dev/pts/* are group owned by tty.
In fact, all /dev/pts/* are user owned by my regular account in addition to group
owned by tty.