USB wireless keyboard/mouse access with Solaris
 

Hi, have just installed Solaris Express Dev. Ed. which
installed smoothly and looks good, but I
find that it does not reconise my keyboard/mouse when plugged into a USB port. I have to reconnect via the PS/2 ports, before rebooting, but its very
awkward to have to reach around the case to re-connect 'just to run Solaris'. ( The other O/S normally use the USB port)

Is there any update/patch/driver that sorts out this problem ?

I'm curious to know what OS doesn't support the PS/2 port and requires you to switch to USB!

I plugged tons of USB keyboards and never had any problem, it sounds pretty strange.

EDITED: This http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/usb/USB-Faq.html FAQ says:

Many is not all, by the way...

I'vd had some problems with OpenBSD 4.2 in this regard, I was using 3.9 with PS/2 plugs (same kyb/mouse) and discovered 4.2 would not work, also under DesktopBSD, but fortuantely a DesktopBSD forum suggested trying USB port only instead for both kyb & mouse -- worked OK.

( It'd been plugged into PS/2 for so long I'd forgotten the PS/2 connectin was actually a conversion plug :-) )

"I plugged tons of USB keyboards and never had any problem, it sounds pretty strange."

I wonder if its the fact that its a MICROSOFT device ???. I followed your excellent leads to various device lists and note that NO Microsoft devices are listed.
Thats pretty 'petty' of Sun if that's the case , like MS or not - they do make rather nice keyboard/mouse devices in my opinion.

I'll have to try a Logitech unit instead. ( Which are also pretty good).

Thank you for your useful information.

Well, I've also never had a USB keyboard/mouse fail to be recognized on Solaris. I'm typing this on a Microsoft keyboard, attached to a Sun system running Solaris right now!

Well, I have a "no name" USB keyboard which fails to work if plugged in when the PC is booted. Un-plugging/Re-plugging it in allows it to work properly. I didn't investigate further. I suspect the BIOS/keyboard dialog put it a state that Solaris doesn't like. Perhaps legacy USB keyboard/mouse support in the BIOS can change this behavior.

Which one are you using ?

I've tried the plug/unplug power on/off techniques
without success with my Microsoft Wireless Multimedia Keyboard/mouse ver 1.0A.

It has been suggested that 'some' os/s & hardware dont take enough time during startup to ensure that USB ports are really awake, so some ports are just missed.

Now that I think about it, there are known issues with some versions of the Ultra 20 BIOS that cause older Sun USB keyboards (type 6) to have to be unplugged/replugged during boot. Causes a boot failure though, not just a keyboard problem. Since the Ultra 20 is based off some standard BIOS (can't remember which one and the machine is not located here right now), the problem could be in other machines too.

As far as the Microsoft keyboard, the one I'm using now is the Natural Keyboard Pro. I've used other versions of the MS ergo keyboards before with no problems, both on x86 and SPARC Solaris installations.