linux-kernel - [PATCH 2.4.35-pre4] fix 'pc_keyb: controller jammed (0xA7)' error on systems with KVM

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Date:	Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:13:13 -0400
From:	Brian Maly <bmaly@...hat.com>
To:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH 2.4.35-pre4] fix 'pc_keyb: controller jammed (0xA7)' error
 on systems with KVM

Ive had a few requests for this patch, so Im posting it against 
linux-2.4.35-pre4 kernel.

Various hardware (IBM BladeCenter, Sun Fire servers, and many other 
bladeserver systems) 
have an integrated KVM or console switch.  The keyboard type on these 
systems is often USB,
and the hardware usually does not have a legacy PS/2 console keyboard. 
The 2.4 kernel always tries to
initialize the keyboard controller by default, and on systems without 
such a keyboard present
at boot you get the following errors spewed to the logs:

Jun  3 10:21:06 sbknpwaq3 kernel: pc_keyb: controller jammed (0xA7).
Jun  3 10:21:08 sbknpwaq3 last message repeated 249 times
Jun  3 10:21:08 sbknpwaq3 kernel: Keyboard timed out[1]
Jun  3 10:21:08 sbknpwaq3 kernel: pc_keyb: controller jammed (0xA7).
Jun  3 10:21:08 sbknpwaq3 last message repeated 249 times
Jun  3 10:21:08 sbknpwaq3 kernel: Keyboard timed out[1]

This patch allows the kernel to skip the keyboard controller init so the 
kernel does not try to initialize, fail
and spew errors when no keyboard is attached. This can also be used for 
various systems without a traditional
console keyboard present at boot (includes USB or IrDA keyboard too and 
systems connected to KVM's).
Ive provided the dmi_scan magic in this parch for the IBM BladeCenter, 
but on other hardware, use the "nokeyb"
kernel-param at boot to skip the initialization.

Tested on IBM BladeCenter, and Sun Fire.

Signed-off-by: Brian Maly <bmaly@...hat>

Regards, Brian

Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt |    4 ++++
 arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.c         |   24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 drivers/char/pc_keyb.c              |   15 +++++++++++----
 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

View attachment "removable-keyboard-2.4.35-pre4.patch" of type "text/x-patch" (3109 bytes)