system failure

[Liam Proven]

On 8 April 2013 21:56, Ric Moore <wayward4now at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 04/08/2013 04:47 PM, Liam Proven wrote:
>>
>> On 8 April 2013 21:43, Ric Moore <wayward4now at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Could you go into text mode? ctrl/alt/F1 ? Login and do the job from
>>> there
>>> cleanly?? Methinks that mode ought to work even if X is all botched up.
>>> You
>>> might have to use the optional "pen and paper interface" to record the
>>> instructions for you to type on a command line. It could be worse. Ric
>>
>>
>> A good thought, but I have seen this problem of keyboard and mouse
>> disappearing myself and they really do /completely/ stop working -
>> including at the console.
>
>
> Call me a knuckle-dragger, but all my kit is wired. When something goes
> south, I just replace it for cheap. I've gone to GoodWill Industries and
> found used good working keyboards for $3 a piece. So, I keep a short stack
> of them in the closet as cigar ash tends to kill them off routinely. :) Ric

Sounds like a good plan to me.

We don't have "Goodwill" stores here - I think those are unique to the
USA - and IT kit is something that British charity shops avoid.
However, I recently picked up 2 late-1980s/early-1990s *AT* keyboards
- as in, DIN plugs, and proper individual key-switches with springs -
from someone on my local Freegle group. :¬)

But I have seen this issue with wired keyboards as well. Some machines
don't like USB; some don't like PS/2. You can't win & you can't always
tell in advance.

--
Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
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