[SOLVED] unresponsive keyboard

samhill5215 · 06-07-2011, 09:03 PM

I'm running Ubuntu server 10.10 (no graphics) kernel 2.6.35-28-generic-pae. Two things have happened recently, both simultaneously. After installing or upgrading (not sure which or when) the text on the monitor (messages and login prompt) attached to the system got real small and the keyboard became unresponsive. It all works fine in the BIOS setup. I'm not sure when or how it happened because I access the server through ssh or webmin and can still do so. But now I need to do a release upgrade and ssh is not recommended. I suspect a corrupted keyboard or video driver but I'm not sure what to look for. Any ideas on that regard would be helpful. Then there's this: if I can upgrade via ssh my problem might be fixed but do I dare? How about this: can I safely upgrade via an installation cd?

JZL240I-U · 06-16-2011, 01:40 AM

Do you use GRUB for booting? If so, what vga=nnn value do you use in your kernel line (e.g. vga=normal, vga=345...)?

samhill5215 · 06-17-2011, 02:31 PM

The only thing related to the screen was in /etc/default/grub. The line GRUB_TERMINAL=console was commented out. I removed the comment and ran update-grub but it made no difference.

widget · 06-17-2011, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhill5215

I'm running Ubuntu server 10.10 (no graphics) kernel 2.6.35-28-generic-pae. Two things have happened recently, both simultaneously. After installing or upgrading (not sure which or when) the text on the monitor (messages and login prompt) attached to the system got real small and the keyboard became unresponsive. It all works fine in the BIOS setup. I'm not sure when or how it happened because I access the server through ssh or webmin and can still do so. But now I need to do a release upgrade and ssh is not recommended. I suspect a corrupted keyboard or video driver but I'm not sure what to look for. Any ideas on that regard would be helpful. Then there's this: if I can upgrade via ssh my problem might be fixed but do I dare? How about this: can I safely upgrade via an installation cd?

I would run your updates via chroot environment using the Live CD or the rescue mode on the Alt install CD or the Live DVD.

tommcd · 06-18-2011, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhill5215

After installing or upgrading (not sure which or when) the text on the monitor (messages and login prompt) attached to the system got real small ...

In the /etc/default/grub file, you can uncomment the #GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 line. Then set the resolution to one of your choosing. Then be sure to run <sudo update-grub> for the change to take effect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhill5215

... and the keyboard became unresponsive.

I'm not sure about the unresponsive keyboard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhill5215

How about this: can I safely upgrade via an installation cd?

You can perform a dist-upgrade from the alternate install CD. See this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lu...rnate%20CD/DVD
I always do clean installs of Ubuntu to avoid problems. I never do dist-upgrades.

samhill5215 · 06-19-2011, 05:25 AM

Thanks for the advise. I tried the alt install cd but the procedure behaved exactly as if it were a clean install. I think I'll do that: a clean install of 11.04. Hopefully that'll fix all my issues of which this is only one. I've been wanting to do that anyway and was only putting it off because of the hassle (backup everything, hope didn't forget something, time comsuming, etc, etc). More on that later...

samhill5215 · 11-06-2012, 06:54 PM

The problem disappeared after my system crashed during an upgrade and I had to reinstall from scratch. Oh well!