wired usb keyboard and mouse not inputting data

[nobhobbor]

2GB RAM, RbP 4
sandisk extreme 32GB SD card
seems to boot, the monitor shows colors, then displays text that writes itself and then stops with a flashing underline cursor waiting for a command.

the problem:
i type on the keyboard and move and click the mouse but no inputs show on the monitor. the cursor blinks as if nothing happened.

i am using 5 - 8 year old wired USB2 apple mouse and separate USB2 apple keyboard.
i installed EXFAT file system and installed Ubuntu server OS
can i or should i initialize and instal ZFS or ext4 instead of EXFAT?
i plan on installing Wimpy's world desktopify on Ubuntu Server OS

I took photos of the text and copied copied some into a text document. it starts:

1.359029] spi-bmc2835 fe204000.spi: cold not get clk: -517
in: /tmp/mountroot-fail-hooks.d//scripts/init-premount/lvm2: No such file or ‘ ext4
Thu Jan 1 00:00:05 UTC 1970
date: invalid date ‘ wed Apr 1 17:23:43 2020’

i thought i might try connecting with a BT keyboard and mouse. i might try booting my Raspberry Pi Zero W with BT, i don't have a way to connect to the micro USB on the Zero but doubted BT would work on first boot
any ideas on how to get wired USB2 keyboard to input data?
thanks everyone who participates with Raspberry Pi!

[drgeoff]

I haven't a clue why you installed exFAT.

Start again and put a RaspnerryPi OS (not the lite version as that has no GUI) on the card. Boot it up and try the keyboard and mouse. If they work you know that all the hardware is OK. Then you can think about Ubuntu.

[fruitoftheloom]

2GB RAM, RbP 4
sandisk extreme 32GB SD card
seems to boot, the monitor shows colors, then displays text that writes itself and then stops with a flashing underline cursor waiting for a command.

the problem:
i type on the keyboard and move and click the mouse but no inputs show on the monitor. the cursor blinks as if nothing happened.

i am using 5 - 8 year old wired USB2 apple mouse and separate USB2 apple keyboard.
i installed EXFAT file system and installed Ubuntu server OS
can i or should i initialize and instal ZFS or ext4 instead of EXFAT?
i plan on installing Wimpy's world desktopify on Ubuntu Server OS

I took photos of the text and copied copied some into a text document. it starts:

1.359029] spi-bmc2835 fe204000.spi: cold not get clk: -517
in: /tmp/mountroot-fail-hooks.d//scripts/init-premount/lvm2: No such file or ‘ ext4
Thu Jan 1 00:00:05 UTC 1970
date: invalid date ‘ wed Apr 1 17:23:43 2020’

i thought i might try connecting with a BT keyboard and mouse. i might try booting my Raspberry Pi Zero W with BT, i don't have a way to connect to the micro USB on the Zero but doubted BT would work on first boot
any ideas on how to get wired USB2 keyboard to input data?
thanks everyone who participates with Raspberry Pi!

If you install Ubuntu Server as per Canonical Instructions there should be no requirement to worry about exFAT, ZFS etcetera until you actually have a running system:

https://ubuntu.com/download/raspberry-pi

[nobhobbor]

thanks for answering, i have a prior commitment for today so i hope to get back to the pi tonight. during installation processes, Exfat installation was presented as an option on the RbP imager. i am used to installing the FS before installing the OS or anything. i am glad that this may be the issue. i'll erase the sd card in my apple mac disk utilities if i can without installing a FS and reflash the sd card from raspberry pi imager v1.3 without installing EXFAT and get back here to post the results
thanks!

[drgeoff]

thanks for answering, i have a prior commitment for today so i hope to get back to the pi tonight. during installation processes, Exfat installation was presented as an option on the RbP imager. i am used to installing the FS before installing the OS or anything. i am glad that this may be the issue. i'll erase the sd card in my apple mac disk utilities if i can without installing a FS and reflash the sd card from raspberry pi imager v1.3 without installing EXFAT and get back here to post the results
thanks!

As written hundreds of times on these forums and elsewhere on the net, installing an image on a card completely overwrites any existing partition table. Formatting or erasing a card before installing an image serves no purpose, is a waste of time and infinitesimally shortens the life of the card.

[nobhobbor]

Raspbian or the complete 32 bit OS booted, but only the mouse inputs data. i switched the USB plugs and and still only the mouse works, so i couldn't change the password and i couldn't open the terminal. it wouldn't have helped because the keyboard is not inputting.
raspberry menu doesn't include a 'shutdown' option. hum
thanks everyone!

[nobhobbor]

i clicked on the pi BT and saw 'add a device', i disconnected the BT keyboard from the mac via the mac BT control panel and brought it to my pi to add it as a BT device, but now the when i click on the BT icon in the upper right, it doesn't open the BT panel, instead it opens a menu that says:
BT settings
remove BT from panel
panel settings
create new panel
delete this panel
about

[pidd]

i clicked on the pi BT and saw 'add a device', i disconnected the BT keyboard from the mac via the mac BT control panel and brought it to my pi to add it as a BT device, but now the when i click on the BT icon in the upper right, it doesn't open the BT panel, instead it opens a menu that says:
BT settings
remove BT from panel
panel settings
create new panel
delete this panel
about

Click the other mouse button on the bluetooth icon

[nobhobbor]

that was fast! i don't have buttons on the mouse. i could try finding one.normally i'd hold down ctl or command or option but the keyboard isn't inputting data. i could try the local thrift store tomorrow. but if want to try Ubuntu Server OS and Wimby's world desktopity. i'll try to set raspbian or Pi OS up first

thanks to drgeoff for telling people over and over not to bother erasing or installing FS prior to using the pi imager. thank you for continuing to inform those of us new to the pi.

[nobhobbor]

i got the 2 button wired mouse and that works great! i can click 'add a device' under the BT dropdown menu, but my BT apple keyboard won't add, it times out. so i guess i need another USB wired keyboard? i'll do want ever it take to get this working, but kids and other newbies might get frustrated with this. i should have read the Rbp manual, but are wired and BT Apple peripherals known to not play nice with RbP?? or is this a coincidence?
surprisingly the lowest cost wired USB keyboard is $15 +- on amazon and newegg, so i'll go back to thrift stores.
thanks everyone who reads my posts

[pidd]

You are attempting to use Apple specific hardware on a non-Apple system, it is not entirely the Pi's problem. The apple BT keyboards use a PIN code system, it can be paired but you may have to resort to using command line instructions to do it, I am surprised it doesn't work from the desktop.

If you are tempted to buy a wireless mouse or keyboard, it is easier to have a dongle device than a bluetooth for exactly the reasons you have found, the dongle devices work straight away without any pairing.

I agree with buying from the thrift shop, a pre-used decent keyboard is a million times better than a new cheap keyboard. I had to survive using a cheap keyboard for three weeks and its been more than a test of patience, I'm a hammer-typist but the cheap keyboard didn't register about 10% of my key presses plus the thing was so light it wandered everywhere while I was hammering away on the keys.

Just got myself a used PS/2 dongled wireless keyboard/mouse that's about 16 years old for less than £5, needed to buy a £10 adaptor (after wasting £2 on a cheap adaptor that didn't work properly with all the keys and media buttons) and its great - but I knew that because its identical to the one I use on my PC. MEDION MD40273, I don't use the mouse, its too big. The later MEDION keyboard doesn't look as solid but I've not experienced it.

[nobhobbor]

my local thrift store has only one keyboard, a nice feeling PS/2 one. that's the one with round connector, instead of the USB, correct? it seemed really great, but i didn't buy it. i'll see if they still have it. i do want to try a wireless keyboard and mouse, so thanks for the tips on those. i have got an older one that uses a dongle, but i got it without the dongle, i was going to see if i could convert it to BT, but it sounds like an advanced proposition and i am having enough problems at the moment, so maybe i can find the dongle on ebay, and maybe a high functioning PS/2 adaptor. thanks for posting

[pidd]

The cheap £2 PS/2 adaptors on ebay didn't work properly with my UK keyboard, none of the media keys worked and country specific positions such as the backslash, hash key, bar etc were all wrong. It may work ok for a US keyboard with no media keys.

The adaptor that did work was the StarTech, this one has leads at both ends which I prefer anyway.

Neither devices had a problem with it feeding a PS/2 dongle as opposed to a wired keyboard (thought I'd mention for anyone else)

[drgeoff]

The cheap £2 PS/2 adaptors on ebay didn't work properly with my UK keyboard, none of the media keys worked and country specific positions such as the backslash, hash key, bar etc were all wrong. It may work ok for a US keyboard with no media keys.

The adaptor that did work was the StarTech, this one has leads at both ends which I prefer anyway.

Neither devices had a problem with it feeding a PS/2 dongle as opposed to a wired keyboard (thought I'd mention for anyone else)

The simple PS/2 to USB and vice versa adaptors contain no electronics. They just connect the PS/2 contacts to USB contacts and rely on the keyboard itself being dual mode (ie PS/2 and USB ele3ctrical interface) and able to auto-switch between them. While such keyboards were common at one time, current keyboards seem to be USB only.

[rpdom]

The cheap £2 PS/2 adaptors on ebay didn't work properly with my UK keyboard, none of the media keys worked and country specific positions such as the backslash, hash key, bar etc were all wrong. It may work ok for a US keyboard with no media keys.

The adaptor that did work was the StarTech, this one has leads at both ends which I prefer anyway.

Neither devices had a problem with it feeding a PS/2 dongle as opposed to a wired keyboard (thought I'd mention for anyone else)

The simple PS/2 to USB and vice versa adaptors contain no electronics. They just connect the PS/2 contacts to USB contacts and rely on the keyboard itself being dual mode (ie PS/2 and USB ele3ctrical interface) and able to auto-switch between them. While such keyboards were common at one time, current keyboards seem to be USB only.

I don't think I have any of that sort. I do have a couple of cheap active PS/2 to USB adaptors that support a PS/2 keyboard and mouse. They work just fine with some old UK keyboards and mice I've got and a Pi's USB interface.
Not that I've used them for anything much in the last decade or so.

[pidd]

The cheap £2 PS/2 adaptors on ebay didn't work properly with my UK keyboard, none of the media keys worked and country specific positions such as the backslash, hash key, bar etc were all wrong. It may work ok for a US keyboard with no media keys.

The adaptor that did work was the StarTech, this one has leads at both ends which I prefer anyway.

Neither devices had a problem with it feeding a PS/2 dongle as opposed to a wired keyboard (thought I'd mention for anyone else)

The simple PS/2 to USB and vice versa adaptors contain no electronics. They just connect the PS/2 contacts to USB contacts and rely on the keyboard itself being dual mode (ie PS/2 and USB ele3ctrical interface) and able to auto-switch between them. While such keyboards were common at one time, current keyboards seem to be USB only.

Straight through adaptors will not work at all with proper PS/2 keyboards, they will only work with keyboards that were designed as dual mode and were provided with a straight through adaptor when new.

The cheap £2 adaptors I'm talking about do contain electronics but they appear to be region dependent, these adaptors normally have two PS/2 ports, one for keyboard and one for mouse.

The straight through adaptors normally only have one PS/2 port and are coloured green or purple to signify if it is for a mouse or keyboard.

[nobhobbor]

i was looking at some of the keyboard tests, like holding a series of keys down, starting with one and slowly adding keys to see what the keyboard does.
some keyboards have sleep keys. i was reading reviews of PS/2 to USB adapters. the monoprice one looked like a good value, but there are so many variables, such as dual use or not, that are not addressed. i tend to be a new hardware person over that of a retro person, so i looked at membrane keyboards. i was thinking of a gaming keyboard, but realized it wouldn't necessarily be better than a typing keyboard for me. i was looking at the categories!

The 7 Best Membrane Keyboards of 2020
Best Overall: Logitech G213 Keyboard. ...
Runner-Up, Best Overall: Razer Cynosa Chroma Keyboard. ...
Best Budget: Rii RK100+ Multiple Color Keyboard. ...
Best Ergonomic: Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard for Business. ...
Best Slim: Kensington Slim Wired Keyboard. ...
Best for Accuracy: Typematrix 2030 Reach Keyboard.
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/best-memb ... ds-4586733

my primary use case is to set up the pi (budget). i may run it headless. i may use more than one pi. i may prefer a wireless keyboard, but i am also considering reducing my use of wireless equipment. i was looking for dongles sold separately instead of with a keyboard, on ebay, as i have some wireless keyboards missing their dongles, there's not a lot available, at least that was my conclusion in the short time i looked. i may need to use a pi in mobile applications (slim and maybe wireless category)

it looks like there's a business opportunity straightening all this out, but i am not what it is, maybe the it's just writing the article that was already written. i like to see the categories that i hadn't thought of in the article.