x : keyboard not working

[Mayuresh Kathe <mayuresh@kathe.in>]

i have now reached a point at which i have given up on resetting
the display resolution to a desirable mode. all attempts based
on suggestions on the list as well on other sources on the web
have failed to produce results.

in desperation, i reached out to the "x windowing system" to
give me a readable font size by way of xterm windows.
i chose the venerable and light "mwm" and configured the
system as below;

---- .xinitrc ----
#!/bin/sh

xterm -geometry 80x24+100+100 &
xsetroot -solid black &
mwm
-------------------

---- .mwmrc ----
Menu DefaultRootMenu
{
	"Root Menu"		f.title
	"New Window"		f.exec "xterm &"
	"Shuffle Up"		f.circle_up
	"Shuffle Down"		f.circle_down
	"Refresh"		f.refresh
	"Pack Icons"		f.pack_icons
!	"Toggle Behavior..."	f.set_behavior
	 no-label		f.separator
	"Restart..."		f.restart
	"Quit..."		f.quit_mwm
}

!!
!! Default Window Menu Description
!!

Menu DefaultWindowMenu
{
	Restore		_R	Alt<Key>F5	f.restore
	Move		_M	Alt<Key>F7	f.move
	Size		_S	Alt<Key>F8	f.resize
	Minimize	_n	Alt<Key>F9	f.minimize
	Maximize	_x	Alt<Key>F10	f.maximize
	Lower		_L	Alt<Key>F3	f.lower
	no-label				f.separator
	Close		_C	Alt<Key>F4	f.kill
}


!!
!! Key Binding Description
!!

Keys DefaultKeyBindings
{
	Shift<Key>Escape	window|icon		f.post_wmenu
	Alt<Key>space		window|icon		f.post_wmenu
	Alt<Key>Tab		root|icon|window	f.next_key
	Alt Shift<Key>Tab	root|icon|window	f.prev_key
	Alt<Key>Escape		root|icon|window	f.circle_down
	Alt Shift<Key>Escape	root|icon|window	f.circle_up
	Alt Shift Ctrl<Key>exclam root|icon|window	f.set_behavior
	Alt<Key>F6		window			f.next_key transient
	Alt Shift<Key>F6	window			f.prev_key transient
	Shift<Key>F10		icon			f.post_wmenu
!	Alt Shift<Key>Delete	root|icon|window	f.restart
}

!!
!! Button Binding Description(s)
!!

Buttons DefaultButtonBindings
{
	<Btn1Down>	icon|frame	f.raise
	<Btn3Down>	icon|frame	f.post_wmenu
	<Btn3Down>	root		f.menu	DefaultRootMenu
}
 
Buttons ExplicitButtonBindings
{
	<Btn1Down>	frame|icon	f.raise
	<Btn3Down>	frame|icon	f.post_wmenu
	<Btn3Down>	root		f.menu	DefaultRootMenu
!	<Btn1Up>	icon		f.restore
	Alt<Btn1Down>	window|icon	f.lower
!	Alt<Btn2Down>	window|icon	f.resize
!	Alt<Btn3Down>	window|icon	f.move

}
 
Buttons PointerButtonBindings
{
	<Btn1Down>	frame|icon	f.raise
	<Btn3Down>	frame|icon	f.post_wmenu
	<Btn3Down>	root		f.menu	DefaultRootMenu
	<Btn1Down>	window		f.raise
!	<Btn1Up>	icon		f.restore
	Alt<Btn1Down>	window|icon	f.lower
!	Alt<Btn2Down>	window|icon	f.resize
!	Alt<Btn3Down>	window|icon	f.move
}
----------------

the above configurations were created by working on copies of
system configuration files delivered along with the installs.

the 'gui' works on executing 'startx' at the command prompt.
and the system "looks" beautiful (in a minimalistic way).
but, the keyboard isn't working under x, no input accepted.
mouse pointer works just fine.

any help and/or pointers in the right direction would be most
welcome.

thanks,

~mayuresh