I am having trouble getting SuSE Linux Professional 9.3 to install from CD. Here is what I'm doing and the problem:

1. Boot from installation CD 1. I choose the installation option. No problem.
2. Configure the installation with my disk partitions, software, etc. No problem.
3. Start the installation. It runs through the basic installation with no problem.
4. System reboots.
5. I choose Boot from Hard Disk.
6. System as installed so far (basic installation) boots and YaST runs.

Now the problem. Neither my mouse nor my keyboard respond. It seems that neither are being recognized. I've looked around and seen some posts regarding USB problems and mouse problems, but all the solutions are along the lines of "change this or that configuration". I can't do any of these because I can't get that far.

Any help is appreciated.

My system (as detected by YaST):

Dell Optiplex GX280
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80 GHz
USB Mouse: Logitech Optical USB Mouse
Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard
USB Controller: Dell Optiplex GX280

Sorry I can't help but we have the same issue here at work on a Dell Optiplex GX520. My collegue tried all possible installation options on the CD with no success. And he can't stay on 9.2 because that wont install with is SATA disk...

I hope someone can find a solution for this one...

I have no answer but let me suggest an experiment. Try starting with a PS/2 keyboard to get by any 1st start-up issues. At this point you can use Alt-F2 to get a run window for YaST. Cursor to Hardware and then Tab so you can cursor to device mouse. Hit Return and YaST will scan your mouse and it will probable start working, for that boot at least. Now I would plug in the USB keyboard to see if its recognized and starts. I don't have a USB keyboard but have used the mouse procedure to get a USB mouse to work on my SuSE 9.3 system. I did this a number of times and eventually it started working all the time. SaX2 also has mouse and keyboard configuration and might lead you to a working system.

I do not know about the original poster but my Dell GX280 does not provide any PS2 ports so I am stuck. I can only use a USB keyboard / mouse!

I hadn't thought about the lack of PS/2 ports. I do however have another suggestion. Boot from a live CD for another distro. Puppy Linux is a good one and its only a 60MB .iso.

Thanks for all the suggestions. As with nicflatterie, my box does not have PS/2 either. I did find a workaround, however.

I discovered that if I boot with the installation CD 1, the USB keyboard and mouse work since the CD has the proper drivers. At some point the installation program recognizes that there is a Linux installation on the hard disk, and gives me an option to boot that installation. Because the mouse and keyboard drivers have already been loaded, they apparently don't get reloaded from the disk installation, and the system boots with the mouse and keyboard working properly.

That gets me far enough to work on a permanent solution.

My SUSE 9.3 Professional didn't recognize my USB keyboard and mouse, so I disabled ACPI:
(in the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst)
kernel (hd...) .... noacpi

And now it works!

The computer is an Acer Veriton 7100 (Pentium 3, intel chipset).

I hope this is useful for someone.