Re: Everything seems to cause a reboot
On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:59:46 -0600
Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> wrote:
> On 12/20/2011 4:22 AM, Paul Saunders wrote:
> > On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:55:50 +1100
> > goossens@rsc.anu.edu.au wrote:
> >
> >> On 12/19/2011 6:01 PM, goossens@rsc.anu.edu.au wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I have a i7 quad core 2600K, running current squeeze 6.0.3 with
> >>>> default Gnome installation.
> >> ...
> >>>> I have an IBM Model M 101 keyboard.
> >>>
> >>> The quick fix is to simply swap your high quality clack-itty
> >>> dinosaur KB with its inbuilt 8042 chip for any new off the shelf
> >>> modern KB of your choice from $5 to $50. However, your current
> >>> selection of the Model M for modern use demonstrates a
> >>> psychological profile that prevents you from taking the easy
> >>> route. (Or, did you tell a half truth? Is this KB actually a
> >>> newer Unicomp knockoff? If so the problem is probably not the KB)
> >>>
> >>> So, you can monkey with the BIOS A20 setting, try a PS/2-USB
> >>> converter, hack up a20.c, etc, to see if any of these things work
> >>> for you. If not, take option #1 and simply move on with life.
> >>> Hang the Model M on a wall or something as a trophy.
> >
> > Rebooting when switching out of graphics mode sounds like a graphics
> > driver problem to me, but just to eliminate the problem of your
> > keyboard, try appending "reboot=bios" to your kernel parameters. The
> > default is to use the keyboard controller to reboot, Stan is
> > suggesting that this may be a challenge for your keyboard.
>
> Yeah, he's got an old old IBM PS/2 clack-itty keyboard, guessing
> mid/late 1980s model, with the inbuilt 8042. Seems likely it's the
> cause of his problems as I've heard similar many times over the years.
> If this is the case, is this kernel parm a permanent fix Paul,
> allowing him to keep the old IBM KB without jumping through other
> hoops? I've never had to monkey with it.
Assuming you add it to your /etc/default/grub (or as appropriate
depending on bootloader). The debian kernel is great for, say, 99% of
hardware out of the box. But sometimes you find you need to tweak it to
your own situation. For some of my computers that means turning off the
local APIC, for some it means turning it on. For Darren, it means
adjusting how the kernel reboots.
>
> You may want to walk Darren through editing his grub configuration, as
> it seems that kinda thing is beyond his current level of expertise.
> I've stuck with LILO through the years, and have never used Grub, so
> I'm useless here.
OK. The basics involve the following:
1. Reboot
2. At the grub menu, press 'e' to edit your default menu entry.
3. Select the line that starts "linux", scroll to the end of the line
and add " reboot=bios".
4. Press Ctrl+X to boot with the modified command line.
5. Perform testing. Note that, if you reboot or shutdown, you will need
to perform steps 2-4 again.
6. If the fix is satisfactory,
6a. Edit /etc/default/grub
6b. Look for the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="..."
6c. Add "reboot=bios" to this line so that it now reads
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="... reboot=bios"
6d. Save and close the file.
6e. As root, run the command "update-grub". Your changes are now saved.
--
Paul Saunders
Reply to: