[SOLVED] Mageia 6 and KVM switch

[superclerk637]

Hello,

I just installed Mageia 6, and it's really very nice. I chose the "KDE" option, instead of "Gnome" or "Custom". I did not do any custom package selection. Just a "plain vanilla default" install. I unplugged the keyboard and mouse from my KVM switch and plugged them directly into the USB ports on my motherboard before beginning this install.

The Radeon 6770 video card (completely passive cooling, fins like a motorcycle, made by Gigabyte) was detected perfectly (earlier versions of Mageia just flat-out didn't work with this card). I was impressed. Radeon support is the reason I had to give up Linux a few years ago, because I didn't have an APU (CPU and graphics on the motherboard).

But when I shut down Mageia and then plugged the keyboard and mouse back into the KVM switch, I cannot control Mageia.

The computer uses the default grub2 boot loader. The user name is already filled in as "root", because the last time I logged in, I was root - when the KB and mouse were directly plugged into the motherboard, after the initial install, when I rebooted once or twice. But now that the keyboard/mouse is plugged into the KVM, the keystrokes won't register. I don't think any logs will be created since bootup hasn't happened yet. So I cannot attach any logs.

The BIOS (CMOS Setup) responds to keystrokes when the KB is on the KVM switch. I plugged the KVM into the USB plug nearest to the old PS/2 keyboard connector on the motherboard (some old computers would only recognize USB keyboards on that port, and if you didn't use it, the motherboard wouldn't recognize the keyboard, so you couldn't enter the BIOS). If I press <ENTER> (before the timeout period), then I will reach the login screen. But the keyboard stops being recognized, so I can't type in the password. So Mageia *_can_* respond to the keyboard through the KVM switch at first. But at the login prompt, the keyboard stops being recognized. Here are some system details:

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3, AMD 8150 8-core CPU, 16 GB RAM
SAMSUNG EVO 850 SSD (480/500 GB)
Gigabyte 6770 PCI-E passive cooled video card
Toshiba-Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVD burner
Unicomp USB "clicking" keyboard (made on IBM's old "Model M" keyboard line in Lexington KY)
generic USB mouse
OCZ Mod-X-Stream Pro 600W PSU
IOGEAR GCS-1782G 2-port KVM switch (DVI video ports, not VGA)

Any ideas? Should I plug the keyboard and mouse in to the KVM switch and try to reinstall?

EDIT: I tried to reinstall with KB and mouse on the KVM. I can set "boot from DVD first" in the BIOS this way, but then Mageia's install routine won't see the KB and mouse - it is as if there is no KB or mouse. So whether it is the install DVD or the running system with KDE, the software won't see the KB/mouse "through" the KVM switch. BIOS can, Mageia cannot.

Can I give a fancy option to the installer like "force EHCI" or somesuch? Should I set something like "AHCI" or "legacy" somewhere in the BIOS? If I plugged the KB and mouse into the motherboard and installed Mageia 6, then rebooted, would hardware detection under the production kernel detect the KVM?

Any more ideas? I am rapidly running out of them.

[doktor5000]

You would at least need to provide Xorg and maybe udev logs when both are connected via KVM switch. You can start and enable sshd for booting, then shutdown and reboot with KVM switch connected and then login via ssh from another box and provide at least /var/log/Xorg.0.log and also probably xinput list output

[superclerk637]

I forgot that I had a Kingston multi-card reader plugged in to one of the USB ports. I unplugged it and reinstalled Mageia 6 with the KB and mouse plugged into the KVM. Keyboard, mouse, AND SOUND work just fine. (EDIT: I changed a couple of settings in the BIOS before the reinstallation, but I am not sure what they are right now).

So if Mageia has a problem with "weird" usb hardware, this can cause weird consequences with the install routine/kernel, the production kernel, or both. PLEASE install Mageia with just the hardware you plan to use on a regular basis, and if there is some "weird" hardware, Mageia just might not work with it. Trial and error might be needed. (This is exactly like the time I installed Mandrake with a SCSI CD-R/W unit. When I shut down, I unplugged the SCSI card and plugged in an IDE [PATA] CD-R/W, and Mandrake did not recognize the new burner.)

The install routine set up the Juniper video chip (Radeon 6770 passive cooled) just fine. Even without an internet connection, extra software repositories or updates.

(There may be a problem with the bootloader not working after the SSD sits for a few days. If this persists, I may have to put the bootloader on a different SSD.)

Thus far, Mageia 6 seems to be a worthy successor to Mandriva 2010.2. Coming from me, this is high praise indeed !!

[doktor5000]

Please mark the thread accordingly by editing the topic of the first post and prefix it by [SOLVED], thanks

[superclerk637]

Marked as solved. But I must withdraw the good things I said about Mageia 6. My hardware locks up when Firefox is running, when updates are downloading and when the bubbling cauldron animation is playing (before the login screen). EDIT: Normally lockups like this happen when the motherboard is dead or dying, but I have switched back to Windows 7 and the lockups have gone away.

All I want is to surf, read e-mail, and use documents and spreadsheets that can be handled by Office 97 or Office 2003 (or the LibreOffice equivalents). I also want to access files on the SSD inside a USB enclosure that is connected to my Linksys WRT-1200AC. I can't do any of this if the machine locks up hard before I can even log in.