Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 13:04:07 -0700 (PDT) From: John Polstra <jdp@polstra.com> To: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD's aggressive keyboard probe/attach Message-ID: <200108112004.f7BK47Q25932@vashon.polstra.com> In-Reply-To: <200108111954.f7BJscE19607@earth.backplane.com> References: <20010807234645.A573@edgemaster.zombie.org> <200108110828.RAA21659@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp> <3B7589A5.C2B1DE00@mindspring.com> <200108111954.f7BJscE19607@earth.backplane.com>
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In article <200108111954.f7BJscE19607@earth.backplane.com>, Matt Dillon <dillon@earth.backplane.com> wrote: > :Finally, most keyboard/mouse/monitor switches don't work with > :FreeBSD; for example, the Belkin console extender that uses the > :ethernet cable doesn't work at all (it's the best one out there), > :and the local wiring (non-ethernet version) of the Belkin OmniView > :switches work if the FreeBSD mouse/keyboard is selected at boot > :time, so that the aggressive probe/attach can satisfy itself. > : > :Belkin went out of its way to support FreeBSD specifically, > :actually: their firmware version 1.9 fixes the local wiring > :switches, so that they can pass FreeBSD's aggressive probe, even > :if the FreeBSD mouse/keyboard is _not_ selected. > : > : > :For PC hardware, FreeBSD should use the BIOS (it can, now: the > :boot loader does, with the caveat that old style keyboards can > :be used, but are not autodetected properly by some BIOS; see the > :serial console notes for the /boot.config "-P" flag in the FreeBSD > :handbook); for the Alpha and other hardware, it should use the > :local firmware (obviously). > : > :-- Terry > > This has been a pet peeve of mine too. It is an unbelievably annoying > trait of FreeBSD (the keyboard problem), and the mouse problem is also > quite annoying. I have no argument about the keyboard probes. I just want to add that in the case of the Belkin OmniView, it should be noted that Belkin shipped a bunch of them with a couple of EPROM chips swapped accidentally. There's a page on the Belkin web site that tells how to check for it and how to fix it. Once I put the chips into the right sockets, my OmniView started working a _whole_ lot better. :-) The weird thing is, it appeared to kind of sort of work most of the time even before. So all along I assumed it was just a poorly designed device, when actually it was just assembled wrong. (I still think it's a poorly designed device, but it's a lot better than it was before I swapped the chips.) John -- John Polstra jdp@polstra.com John D. Polstra & Co., Inc. Seattle, Washington USA "Disappointment is a good sign of basic intelligence." -- Chögyam Trungpa To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
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