Keyboard won't work after starting X

After having started X, my keyboard will cease to work for one or two minutes and then work for no reason. I'm using gnome/metacity right now, but if I use other window managers, it'll take longer for my keyboard to work at some random time. If I have gdm on boot, it won't work at all. I don't know how to diagnose this problem.

Any ideas? Thanks

[cloverm]

Could you post the contents of your /etc/X11/XF86Config file? I think we have to start there. Also, what distro are you using?

[pbharris]

edit: opps - read wrong thread - anywho, what kind of keyboard - usb, ps2...

Thanks for the quick reply. Everything seems to be in order in my XF86Config. The only entry that sorta bugs me is the 2 mice /dev/psaux and one /dev/input/mice, but the /dev/psaux entry (along with its server entry at the bottom), then X won't start. I have a USB mouse and a PS/2 keyboard.

Section "Files"
FontPath"unix/:7101"# local font server
FontPath"unix/:7100"# local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath"/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath"/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# x1,y1,x2,y2,...
#default-resolutions = 100,100,75,75
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load"GLcore"
Load"bitmap"
Load"dbe"
Load"ddc"
Load"dri"
Load"extmod"
Load"freetype"
Load"glx"
Load"int10"
Load"pex5"
Load"record"
Load"speedo"
Load"type1"
Load"vbe"
Load"xie"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier"Generic Keyboard"
Driver"keyboard"
Option"CoreKeyboard"
Option"XkbRules""xfree86"
Option"XkbModel""pc104"
Option"XkbLayout""us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier"Configured Mouse"
Driver"mouse"
Option"CorePointer"
Option"Device""/dev/psaux"
Option"Protocol""ImPS/2"
Option"Emulate3Buttons""true"
Option"ZAxisMapping""4 5"
Option"Buttons""5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier"Generic Mouse"
Driver"mouse"
Option"SendCoreEvents""true"
Option"Device""/dev/input/mice"
Option"Protocol""ImPS/2"
Option"Emulate3Buttons""true"
Option"ZAxisMapping""4 5"
Option"Buttons""5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier"ATI AIW"
Driver"r128"
VideoRam16384
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier"Samsung SyncMaster 172N"
HorizSync30-68
VertRefresh50-85
Option"DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier"Default Screen"
Device"ATI AIW"
Monitor"Samsung SyncMaster 172N"
DefaultDepth24
SubSection "Display"
Depth1
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth4
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth8
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth15
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth16
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth24
Modes"1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier"Default Layout"
Screen"Default Screen"
InputDevice"Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice"Configured Mouse"
InputDevice"Generic Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode0666
EndSection

[pbharris]

hello,
the 1st thing i see that is not quite right is that there are two entries for a mouse - if you have two mice this is okay, else i would get rid of the second one in this snipet - simply edit and delete the offending section, also the entry towards the end that says InputDevice "Generic Mouse". If you do have two mice (common for laptops) then i would see if this indeed X related or if this also happens under the console.

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier   "Configured Mouse"
   Driver      "mouse"
   Option      "CorePointer"
   Option      "Device"      "/dev/psaux"
   Option      "Protocol"      "ImPS/2"
   Option      "Emulate3Buttons"   "true"
   Option      "ZAxisMapping"      "4 5"
   Option      "Buttons"      "5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier   "Generic Mouse"
   Driver      "mouse"
   Option      "SendCoreEvents"   "true"
   Option      "Device"      "/dev/input/mice"
   Option      "Protocol"      "ImPS/2"
   Option      "Emulate3Buttons"   "true"
   Option      "ZAxisMapping"      "4 5"
   Option      "Buttons"      "5"
EndSection

pbharris: sorry for some reason, I forgot to complete part of my previous message. When I comment one of the entries, X won't start.

Here's the error message:

(EE) No core pointer device specified
(EE) Unable to determine the screen layout
(EE) Error from xf86HandleConfigFile()

Fatal server error:
no screens found

When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send
the full server output, not just the last messages.
This can be found in the log file "/var/log/XFree86.0.log".
Please report problems to submit@bugs.debian.org.

XIO:  fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"

      after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining

[pbharris]

hello,
sorry for the delay, is one of the entries still setup as the corepointer? from what i can see the usb one should be abel to eb commented out w/o a probem becuase the psaux one is the core pointer. did you also comment out the generic mouse in the server layout section?

in any event - that should not be affecting the keyboard. my config is here:
http://home.covad.net/~pbharris/XF86Config
it is not really different from yours and i have two mice defined also.

i did a few mods to yours to match input devices - here it is:

Section "Files"
   FontPath   "unix/:7101"         # local font server
   FontPath   "unix/:7100"         # local font server
   # if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
   FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
   FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
   # x1,y1,x2,y2,...
   #default-resolutions = 100,100,75,75
EndSection

Section "Module"
   Load   "GLcore"
   Load   "bitmap"
   Load   "dbe"
   Load   "ddc"
   Load   "dri"
   Load   "extmod"
   Load   "freetype"
   Load   "glx"
   Load   "int10"
   Load   "pex5"
   Load   "record"
   Load   "speedo"
   Load   "type1"
   Load   "vbe"
   Load   "xie"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Keyboard0"
Driver      "keyboard"
Option    "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option    "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option    "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Mouse0"
Driver      "mouse"
Option    "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option    "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "DevInputMice"
Driver      "mouse"
Option    "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option    "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection



Section "Device"
   Identifier   "ATI AIW"
   Driver      "r128"
   VideoRam   16384
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
   Identifier   "Samsung SyncMaster 172N"
   HorizSync   30-68
   VertRefresh   50-85
   Option      "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
   Identifier   "Default Screen"
   Device      "ATI AIW"
   Monitor      "Samsung SyncMaster 172N"
   DefaultDepth   24
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      1
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      4
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      8
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      15
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      16
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth      24
      Modes      "1280x1024"
   EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
   Identifier   "Default Layout"
   Screen      "Default Screen"
   InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
   InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
   Mode   0666
EndSection

[Compunuts]

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier   "Configured Mouse"
   Driver      "mouse"
   Option      "CorePointer"
   Option      "Device"      "/dev/psaux"
   Option      "Protocol"      "ImPS/2"
   Option      "Emulate3Buttons"   "true"
   Option      "ZAxisMapping"      "4 5"
   Option      "Buttons"      "5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier   "Generic Mouse"
   Driver      "mouse"
   Option      "SendCoreEvents"   "true"
   Option      "Device"      "/dev/input/mice"
   Option      "Protocol"      "ImPS/2"
   Option      "Emulate3Buttons"   "true"
   Option      "ZAxisMapping"      "4 5"
   Option      "Buttons"      "5"
EndSection

I don't see any quiet unusual about this. You always need Generic Mouse area just a fall back if anything goes wrong. /dev/input/mice is just another way to use the /dev/psaux or /dev/mouse . The only thing I would suspect is the Protocol area. Mine use PS/2 as protocol. I *think* ImPS/2 is for those infrared mouse devices with scrolling wheel. If you have normal two button mouse, you should use PS/2 as protocol.

HTH ...