Problems with USB & PS/2 keyboards at boot.
 

Greets,

I am having trouble with keyboards during the boot process of one of my machines. I want to install Debian on this machine, but I cannot get past the "Press any key to boot" part.

Firstly, PS/2 Keyboards: I have tried multiple keyboards. The status lights (Caps lock, etc) blink once when the machine begins the POST sequence. However, the keyboard does not function afterwards. I've also tried both keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports, in case there was a mix-up (not the first time it's happened to me). PS/2 keyboards also do not work in the current (Gentoo) OS.

USB Keyboards: I've also tried multiple USB keyboards, in both USB ports. They work for a few moments during boot - Enough to enter the BIOS or skip the "Floppy disk fail" error message. After this, they cease to function. However, once Gentoo has booted, the USB keyboard works fine.

While editing the Debian ISO to make it boot after a few seconds is an option, I would rather find a decent solution or workaround for this problem. You never know when you'll need to modify BIOS options.

Any help would be gladly appreciated.

-Reth

As far as the USB keyboards are concerned, I would look in the BIOS to see if there's any options for the keyboard. I've seen some that allowed them to emulate a standard keyboard.

If only it were that easy. The USB keyboard will only enter the BIOS -- once in, it doesn't function anymore. Using the PS/2 keyboard at this point also doesn't work.