[syslinux] Dell Optiplex GX620 keyboard problem

[Jeffrey Hutzelman]

--On Monday, January 26, 2009 04:20:59 PM -0500 Jeffrey Hutzelman 
<jhutz at cmu.edu> wrote:

> --On Monday, January 26, 2009 11:21:39 AM -0800 "H. Peter Anvin"
> <hpa at zytor.com> wrote:
>
>> JOURDAIN Joris 031398 NEURONES wrote:
>>>
>>> BTW, Is that nice vesamenu.c32 stuff a so called "com32 program or
>>> something that switches to protected mode such as memdisk" ?
>>> Because if it is, then I know that it's where my problem comes from :
>>> we use it.
>>>
>>
>> Yes, all .c32 programs are.
>>
>> The reason he listed 3.62 is that as of version 3.62, syslinux *always*
>> goes into protected mode -- this was necessary to support unlimited
>> labels.  Hence for newer versions, this affects everyone, not just
>> people who use the menu system.
>>
>>> I had noticed on another boot server I manage, but on which the menu
>>> isn't used, that I couldn't reproduce this keyboard problem (although
>>> syslinux version is also  3.31-4 from debain etch) which leads me to
>>> the conclusion that it's indeed related to the menu.
>>>
>>> I'll try to upgrade syslinux to the "3.71+dfsg-5" from testing, and if
>>> it still doesn't work, I guess I'll have to give up this nice menu ;-(
>>
>> Again, as far as I know, it was fixed in 3.70.  If it *isn't*, I
>> *really* want to know!
>
> Give me a few minutes; I'll pull a GX620 off the shelf, put A11 on it,
> and  try 3.73.

On a GX620 running BIOS A11...

- If I boot PXELINUX 3.53, the keyboard responds until I start menu.c32
- If I boot PXELINUX 3.73, the keyboard continues to respond even after
  starting menu.c32.

So, the original problem does appear to be fixed.

-- Jeff