Re: 2.6.{28,30} Keyboard not working on oldish machine

H. Peter Anvin
2009-06-14T06:40:53Z

Dr. David Alan Gilbert wrote:
> Hi,
> I've got an old Pentium 90 machine that's been running a 2.4.x
> kernel for a long time, seems to work OK on a 2.6.18 kernel
> but doesn't seem to like anything newer.
>
> 2.6.30 no keyboard - but otherwise OK
> 2.6.28 no keyboard - but otherwise OK
> 2.6.26 reboots just after parsing ELF (maybe one more line)
> 2.6.25 reboots almost immediately
> 2.6.18 works OK
>
> The 2.6.18 and 26 are Debian kernels (etch and lenny), the
> rest are vanilla from git.
>
> So it looks like something got fixed between 26 and 28 that
> stops the early reboot.
>
> Attached is the .config from the 2.6.30 and a dmesg from that boot.
> /proc/interrupts shows 8 interrupts on interrupt 1 from the i8042
> but it doesn't go up if I type. I've tried a couple of different
> keyboards, so I don't think it's just a dislike for the keyboard.
>
> I can see a /sys entry for the i8042 - I just don't get any input.
>
> It has an ISA VGA card (Trident 1M) (I needed the PCI slots
> for another net card!).
>
> I compiled it on a 64bit Ubuntu machine.
>
> [ 0.000000] Linux version 2.6.302.6.30gort1 (dg@davros) (gcc version 4.4.0 (Ubuntu 4.4.0-5ubuntu1) ) #2 Sat Jun 13 18:18:17 BST 2009

It would be good to try an unmodified 2.6.30 kernel here...

> [ 0.000000] KERNEL supported cpus:
> [ 0.000000] Intel GenuineIntel
> [ 0.000000] AMD AuthenticAMD
> [ 0.000000] NSC Geode by NSC
> [ 0.000000] Cyrix CyrixInstead
> [ 0.000000] Centaur CentaurHauls
> [ 0.000000] Transmeta GenuineTMx86
> [ 0.000000] Transmeta TransmetaCPU
> [ 0.000000] UMC UMC UMC UMC
> [ 0.000000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
> [ 0.000000] BIOS-88: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009f000 (usable)
> [ 0.000000] BIOS-88: 0000000000100000 - 0000000004000000 (usable)

Is 64 MB correct for this machine?

> [ 3.147416] PNP: No PS/2 controller found. Probing ports directly.
> [ 3.174456] serio: i8042 KBD port at 0x60,0x64 irq 1
> [ 3.174961] serio: i8042 AUX port at 0x60,0x64 irq 12
> [ 3.186312] mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice

It does, correctly, identify the keyboard and mode port, so it's
somewhat odd that it doesn't get used...

-hpa
--
H. Peter Anvin, Intel Open Source Technology Center
I work for Intel. I don't speak on their behalf.