Re: Famed OS/2 Stability (Was: keyboard lockup)

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From: Paul Khoury (pkhoury_at_loop.com)
Date: Tue Jan 05 1999 - 13:13:13 EST


On Mon, 04 Jan 1999 23:05:01 -0600, jeffj_at_ro.com wrote:

>Stephen Amadei <amadei_at_dandy.net> said the following on the auspicious date of 99-01-04:
>
>>On Sun, 3 Jan 1999, Randal Whittle wrote:
>
>>> At 09:36 AM 1/3/99 +0200, you wrote:
>>> >I'm experiencing frequent lockups of my keyboard.
>>>
>>> >I'm typing along (using Warp 4, fixpack 7 in a pm or vio os/2 program, or in
>>> >a dos box)
>>> >and hit the trackpoint stick (aka eraser head) and a key or two at the same
>>> >time, and I'm
>>> >locked up with beeping keys, in all programs, and on the desktop. The
>>> >pointer still
>>> >works so I can close everything down, but even a CAD won't work because all
>>> >the keys
>>> >will do is beep. So I have to physically turn the computer off to clear the
>>> >problem.
>>> >
>>> >I can replicate the problem by typing fast and bumping the trackpoint stick.
>>> >
>>> >Any ideas about what to do about this, besides slowing down or getting new
>>> >fingers?
>>>
>>> <Grin!> Pardon my gloating, but this is the famed, ultra-stable, OS/2
>>> Operating System that can't handle a simple keyboard trap?
>
>No, its just Randal Whittle doing a pointless attack on the wrong target.
>
>>Actually, I've seen this happen all the time with normal desktop
>>computers... especially as the keyboards get over a year old... or if the
>>system has been on a _long_ time without keyboard input. The solution
>>for me is usually unplugging and plugging in the keyboard, then
>>everything is fine... without a reboot. Of course, you can't do this
>>with a laptop.
>
>>The only suggestion I can think of is to plug a nearby keyboard into the
>>back of the system, and unplug it. Maybe it will then recognise the
>>regular keyboard.
>
>>This problem seems, IMHO to be exclusively hardware... It affects Win,
>>OS/2, Linux, Be, etc... I've just never seen it on a laptop before.
>
>I have the same problem with my ThinkPad. It seems to be caused by a sticky shift key. All I have to do is
depress the shift key(s), and maybe the control and alternate keys, seperatly and the problem is gone. It
never happens with external keyboards for me, but those keyboards lack the problem when used with
other systems, too.

I've seen the same on my machine, though rarely now, on both NT 4 and OS/2 4.

-- 
Paul Khoury |  <pkhoury_at_loop.com> | Sent from my K5-200
http://warped.cswnet.com/~pkhoury/index.html
Running OS/2 3/4, Win NT 4.0, Sun Solaris 2.3/2.4 and Newton OS 2.0
ICQ#22543041   AIM - pkhoury12


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