I was able to get around this same problem. Here's what I did: root% dpkg-reconfigure console-common Choose 'Select keymap from arch list' Choose 'qwerty' Choose 'US american' Choose 'standard' Choose 'Standard' You're done. root% apt-get update root% apt-get dist-upgrade You should be back in business. It seems as though there is some script bug with respect to the "Don't touch keymap" option. Good Luck, Andy