Bug#412682: Info received (Bug#412682: Netinst CD-image locks keyboard at boot on Macbook (Intel))

["Sami Laine" <sjlain@gmail.com>]

I'd like to sum up the problem, just to make sure I'm clear enough
what is the actual problem.

When using Debian netinst ISO image, either for i386 or amd64
architechture, bootup process fails due to complete keyboard freeze
immediately after the bootloader has displayed the "Press F1 for help,
or ENTER to boot:"-prompt. At this stage system is completely unusable
and there seems to be no way to either get kernel loaded nor enter any
extra parameters for kernel.

This rules out the obvious solution of supplying extra parameters for
kernel (as is indicated for keyboard freeze problems in
Debian-Installer FAQ section 19., see also
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/FAQ#head-20d3f71b5fc8c040ad802f05ac24e728490bf05e).

At the moment I've ruled out several possibilities:

1. The system is not malfunctioning itself, at least as far as I can
tell, since this particular machine is capable of running Ubuntu (6.10
and 6.06LTS) as well as Mac OS/X (10.4.8).

2. The problem is not due to broken CD-ROM disks as all disks are
functioning without any problems in various other machines. Problems
using these disks are encountered only when used with Macbook.

3. The problem is not due to rEFIT which is indicated as a possible
trouble-maker in several HOWTO's and Debian-Installer FAQ. Problems
seems to be totally unaffected of rEFIT usage since it occurs when
booting without rEFIT as well as when booting with rEFIT.

4. The problem is not due to ISOLINUX since ISOLINUX is capable of
loading the real bootloader if I've understood Debian installer bootup
process correctly (I assume it first loads ISOLINUX which then loads
the real bootloader).

> From all this I gather that the problem is in the bootloader itself or
in the way it uses the hardware in Macbook. But, on the other hand, I
have not enough technical expertise to tinker with bootloader code
myself, so I'm not able to pinpoint the exact location of the problem.

--
Sami Laine @ GMail