I cant get a keyboard to work with my PI!

[h4z7d]

Hi all,

I've just received my new Pi But so far I've had no success with getting a keyboard to work. I've tried flashing both the Debian and the Arch images to my SD card. In both instances, it boots and gets to the log-in page asking for a username with a flashing cursor. No matter what I type nothing happens.

I've tried connecting 4 different USB keyboards with no success.

I've also tried a USB to PS2 connector with a different keyboard.

I've tried using a powered USB Hub for the keyboard.

I've tried using 3 different USB power supplies 500ma, 700ma and 2a.

In all cases the caps lock key doesnt light up the caps light.

I've plugged in a USB mouse and it lights up.


Any advice would be really appreciated!
Jon

[S0litaire]

Check the underside of the keyboards,
What's the power ratings?
Should read something like : 5v 100mA or 5v 50mA

[thexman]

might sound strange have you plugged your keyboard into both sockets and found it doesn't work or just one socket and it didn't. reason some other people reported a non working usb port, maybe a soldering / folded pin issue on the usb port Ive currently tried 4 keyboards all work with no issues under debian image so it seams strange

may help hope you find a fix soon.

[h4z7d]

Check the underside of the keyboards,
What's the power ratings?
Should read something like : 5v 100mA or 5v 50mA

Thanks for the advice. I've tried both 100mA and 50mA keyboards with no success. I've also tried connecting them through a powered USB hub.

[h4z7d]

might sound strange have you plugged your keyboard into both sockets and found it doesn't work or just one socket and it didn't. reason some other people reported a non working usb port, maybe a soldering / folded pin issue on the usb port Ive currently tried 4 keyboards all work with no issues under debian image so it seams strange

may help hope you find a fix soon.

Thanks, I've tried both USB ports.

One other thing I've noticed is that the Ethernet lights do not light up when I plug in network connection.

Do you think Its a hardware fault? I cant really think what else it could be.

[mahjongg]

One other thing I've noticed is that the Ethernet lights do not light up when I plug in network connection.

Do you think Its a hardware fault? I cant really think what else it could be.

IMHO it really starts to look that way, also because the same chip that handles the Ethernet, also handles the USB (built in HUB), maybe the single 25MHz crystal that clocks both isn't running, or something like that.

[NeverBelieveStudios]

I had the exact same issue. No keyboard I had was working. I tried a razer (obviously not going to work), apple keyboard (even though the wiki say it works it does not for me), and multiple other keyboards. I tried multiple power cables and multiple powered hubs. I feel as if I have some power issue with my board and that I can only use one usb port if I want to use ethernet. I then bought a Wireless Microsoft 800 keyboard and of course that has compatibility issues. For about a week I had to trick the raspberry pi. I would keep plugging in my apple keyboard (which had power issues but had a good driver) and switching it out with my microsoft keyboard until the microsoft keyboard thought it was the apple keyboard (this legitimately worked until reboot). After a while I got frustrated, as this process ranged from a minute to 30 minutes randomly. I checked the verified keyboards and I went to staples and bought the Logitech MK320 (which wasn't confirmed but a number near it was). My raspberry pi now works like a charm and I am really excited to start working with it finally. Even though I am convinced I have issues with my board, it is a relief to get it all working. If you do not want to buy a new keyboard, I suggest somehow turning on ssh and using another computer to run the system. It works extremely well and I did this a lot of the time.

[tawalker]

This may be related, but I'm having serious trouble with USB keyboards on my RasPi (currently running Arch Linux ARM).

I've mainly been using a USB wireless keyboard/trackball (an A.N. Other-brand one from Maplin - the dongle is plugged into a Belkin powered USB hub), and most of the time I get the dreaded repeating keypresses problem, which the FAQ states is caused by inadequate power from the USB supply. (I'm using one of those Master Plug USB chargers that Sainsbury's were selling off a couple of months back.)

Worse: when I plug in a wired USB keyboard (admittedly, a dirt-cheap one from a discount store), the RasPi freaks out and sprays hex codes all over the screen, before finishing with a "kernel panic" error message.

Basically, until I can solve the "repeating keypresses" problem (or bypass it - would remote access via SSH be affected?), my RasPi is unusable. Can anyone recommend a USB supply which is known to deliver the required power, consistently and over time?

Many thanks

[theunit]

I have read that there are some firmware issues with the USB on the Pi resulting in packet loss. This can manifest as the repeated key situation, even when the power supply to the keyboard is fine. I often have some problems with USB devices, I am hoping this is down to a firmware problem which will be fixed soon.

[tawalker]

I hope it is just a firmware problem, though I think I'll be buying and trying a Nokia micro-USB charger anyway (as I've read they deliver quite a high power level).

BTW: how is the RasPi firmware upgraded? When I did an Arch Linux system upgrade when my Pi first arrived, ISTR seeing a "firmware" package being installed... or would the Pi's firmware be something more "fundamental" than that?

[theunit]

The problem I read about was something to do with libusb or the kernel, the firmware upgrade would be as simple as writing a new image to the SD card, or maybe even just upgrading directly from the current SD card.

[aleksandr]

Hello all,

I have a similar problem. RaspberryPi does not recognize my keyboard (PS/2 keyboard with PS/2 to USB adapter). Keyboard is rated 5V 50mA. Power adapter is rated at 5V 1A. And it holds voltage very well.

But the strangiest thing is that it worked yesterday. Last night I wrote debian image into SD card, plugged thing into TV HDMI, attached keyborad and it all worked well. I even started X. But because I had no mouse I turned it off, disassembled and went to sleep. And tonight I assembled everything as previously and keyboard does not work anymore. Keyboard is in working condition - I plugged it into my laptop running Slackware 13 and it was immediately recognized and worked very well. But not on RaspberryPi.

Also yesterday I tried to plug USB WiFI adapter into RaspberryPi. It was recognized but was not working. And now it does not work too. So it looks like USB ports are gone completely.
I tried both USB ports - they are handled by different chips, right? And that did not help.

Updating firmware, kernel and modules to those from git did not help too. Switch to archlinux also made no changes.

I have experience handling electrostatic sensitive devices. So RaspberryPi was practically touched by ground metal parts only. And it was stored in electrostatic bag - one it came in - while not used.

I really do not want to think RaspberryPi is such low quality that it breaks after few minutes of use. Please somebody tell me this problem is solvable.

[ukscone]

I tried both USB ports - they are handled by different chips, right? And that did not help.

No. The two usb ports and the ethernet port are all handled by a single chip

[jbeale]

Both USB ports and the Ethernet port connect to the LAN9512, which in turn connects to the main SoC through a separate USB bus which is not directly connected to any outside port. (On the not-yet-existing Model A, there would be no LAN9512 chip and the one provided USB port would come directly from the BCM2835 SoC.)

There are several reports of "flaky" USB/Ethernet behavior, either intermittent like yours, or consistently dropping out after some minutes of use. One known cause is low power supply voltage (from marginal 5V adaptor, high-resistance cable, or drop across onboard main 1A1 F3 fuse). However if your TP1-TP2 voltage is above 4.8 V at the moment when the trouble occurs, then the problem is probably something else- yet unknown.

[kwhitesf]

When the keyboard does not work, do you have any other USB devices connected? Are there any messages in /var/log/messages that indicate kernel errors?

I have also tried a number of keyboards with limited success. My best one so far is the Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000, which works fine unless I connect my wifi adapter.

I think it is important that we keep track of what combinations of USB devices are compatible with each other. I have several other keyboards that work when directly connected to the Pi but not when a powered USB hub is also connected (whether the keyboard is connected to the USB hub or directly to the Pi).

This is with the current github kernel as of May 5th.

[aleksandr]

Thanks all for suggestions.

> However if your TP1-TP2 voltage is above 4.8 V at the moment when the trouble occurs, then the problem is probably something else- yet unknown.

Voltage reaching USB sockets is 4.92V. Voltage generated by power supply is 5.07V. Should be enough IMHO. I checked schematics and it seems like LAN9512 is powered by 1.8-3.3V. So 5V line should not affect it's behavior as long as it is enough to generate 3.3.
What is highest acceptable voltage which can be supplied to RaspberryPi safely?

> When the keyboard does not work, do you have any other USB devices connected?

No other devices.

> Are there any messages in /var/log/messages that indicate kernel errors?

I could not check it because keyboard does not work. I have not tried ethernet and ssh yet. I read sshd is not enabled in debian image. Probably will have to enable somehow it by modifying card content from my laptop.

[S0litaire]

To people that have a working keyboard and mouse have you updated the wiki?

Try and list where you got it (if it was a major high street or on-line so others can track it down)

So far I've went through 2 keyboards which are not compatible. (Thought that Microsoft "Wireless desktop 800" keyboard/mouse set for £5 was to good to be true!)

Ah well it's now being used for my main desktop! ^_^

[aleksandr]

Just an update to my personal problem of non-working keyboard. I was trying to watch carefully the messages printed by debian image during boot procedure and it looks like nothing in LAN 9512 chip is not detected. Neither USB hub, nor Ethernet device. At least boot procedure does not announce their presence.

So *my* problem seems to be unrelated to keyboard but probably caused by misbehaving lan chip. This is also partly confirmed by ethernet cable not detected at all. I tried to connect my laptop and RaspberryPi by ethernet cable but neither laptop detected nothing no PaspberryPi lit any LED.

I looked at LAN9512 device description and it seems like it is higly configurable thing. I hope it has lost its configuration and is not just plain dead. Have anybody heard about such problem?

Probably my next step will be to take RaspberryPi to my work and apply oscilloscope on it.

[mahjongg]

the LAN9512 isn't "configurable" in the sense that it can lose its configuration, the option to have an external EEPROM isn't used in the R-PI, so its the ARM chip that programs the LAN9512 chip.

IMHO the chip is defective, or its crystal has been damaged and doesn't run, or its power supply is failing. something like that.

[carl_retrotext]

I read that you have tried four different keyboards, what length is the cable of each of them, If they are over 1 M then you may need a shorter cable.

[aleksandr]

> IMHO the chip is defective, or its crystal has been damaged and doesn't run,
> or its power supply is failing. something like that.

I checked power and it looks alright. But crystal X1 was not oscillating. So it is either LAN chip or crystal itself. Because 25MHz in SMD package is not common thing and I had no spare generator capable to produce 25 MHz I removed crystal and shorted R36 and R37. Now I have model A. I'm the first one

Hopefully I will find another crystal and try to recover Ethernet and second USB port.

I read on another thread that this problem happened to at least one more person. So it may be something with quality of crystal. At least I hope so.

[johnbeetem]

It could also be that the LAN9512 has a bad solder joint. Take a look at the pins used by the crystal through a strong magnifier. Or maybe they forgot to solder the ground pad, which is under the chip so there's no way to see if it's soldered properly

[mahjongg]

A quartz crystal is a mechanically sensitive thing, one good bang and the actual quarts crystal inside the metal holder can come unstuck! So perhaps the PI board has fallen of a table, and made a hard landing, or something like that.

It can be difficult to remove a SMT crystal, you will need a hot air soldering station, or two solder irons, one for each end of the crystal.
Often I managed to remove one with only one soldering iron, solder wick and a small scalpel to press under the pin while the solder is still liquid, but it can be tricky.

[Novocain]

I have got the same problem with my RPI, keyboard doesnt want to work...

I tried my Apple Imac G3 Keyboard which is not working takes 200mA @ 5V
and my Logitech K230 Keyboard which takes just a few for the USB dongle.

Both on Debian for RPI and XBMC which is Debian as well, if i start a LiveCD of Debian on my normal PC then both are working without a problem, but on the PI nothing happens.

Tried a Samsung smartphone charger (700mA) and a Artwizz USB PSU (1000mA).

At the moment of testing there was nothing else than Power, USB Keyboard/Dongle and HDMI connected. Got mine yesterday from RS, was so happy when i got it and now this...

[SN]

I spent the princely sum of £6 at Morrisons this lunch time for a Trust ClassicLine Keyboard and it is working absolutely swimmingly
Label on back says trust.com/17185 which resolves to
http://trust.com/products/product.aspx?artnr=17184

Runs alongside a Logitech Optical Wheelmouse (with a big fat Dell Logo on it) fine

Can't say the same for my Belkin WLAN Adaptor though ISTR it was behaving just as badly under Windows when i last used it so I think it will be binned fairly soon