[CLUE-Tech] HELP! Keyboard Freezing

[Matt Gushee]

On Sun, Jun 01, 2003 at 03:16:00PM -0600, Jed S. Baer wrote:
> 
> I'd be quite surprised at a RH install that, by default anyway, would tell
> the bios to turn the fan off at startup. However, laptop power management
> functions can sometimes be tricky under Linux -- or so I've heard. I'd
> make certain that all apm or other power-management utilites are turned
> off for testing purposes, although I can't think of any reason why an
> errant suspend state, or something like that, would cause the keyboard to
> be ignored.

What he said. I'd just add that if you want to be able to manipulate the
fan, I believe there are utilites specifically for doing that kind of
thing on Dell laptops, though I'm not sure where to find them. I have an
Inspiron too, so one of these days I intend to figure that stuff out.

Also, I hate to dump this on you when you're just getting started, but
if you do find that APM is causing problems, you will probably want to
compile a kernel specifically for that laptop. Don't worry too much
about that right off--and if it works as is, then it works--but it's
something to keep in mind. Anyway, if you find you need to go that
route, compiling kernels is a well-trodden path, and there are plenty of
people on this list who can help.

> > Another website suggested installing GPM,
> > some mouse software, but the installation requires libtinfo.so.5 which
> > is extremely rare and i have not been able to find. what can i do?
> 
> Adding more software won't help you debug the problem, as it just adds
> more possibilities. GPM shouldn't affect the keyboard anyway, as it's a
> console mouse utility. FWIW, I have GPM running on my RH8.0 box, without
> libtinfo. You might check here:

Yes, I think that stuff about libtinfo, whatever that is, is utter
nonsense ... unless it's required for some specially modified version of
GPM. Every distribution I've seen in my 6 years using Linux includes
GPM; most of them install it (though not necessarily activate it) by
default. And would tend to agree with Jed that GPM shouldn't affect the
keyboard--except that laptops are weird.

> http://speakeasy.rpmfind.net//linux/RPM/redhat/9/i386/gpm-1.19.3-27.i386.html
> 
> where there's no mention of libtinfo in the requisites. I'm quite
> surprised that a RH install didn't include GPM.

Are you positive it isn't installed? Try this:

  $ rpm -qa | grep -i gpm

If a package name is displayed, that means you have it installed.

Actually, if you find GPM is installed, you might want to *disable* it.
Personally, I've never found much use for GPM. The purpose is to allow
you to use the mouse in text mode, but I've never needed to do that ...
and I have known GPM on occasion to screw up X sessions.

-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)