[SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

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nathansizemore

[SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by nathansizemore »

Hello all,
I recently installed Mint 14. Everything has been working fine. Until about 5min ago. I rebooted my system, and got to the login screen, and then my keyboard and mouse were not recognized by the system anymore? It is a wireless keyboard and mouse and the receiver is USB2
Here is the run down
Where it works:
In the BIOS
In Grub menu to select
In Grub command line
In Windows

This is where it does not work:
After the grub menu, whether in normal mode or recovery mode
In recovery mode, I cannot select an option for it to continue

This is what I have tried:
Rebooting several times
Removing and re-connecting the USB when at the login screen
Dis-connecting the USB, rebooting and waiting for the login screen, then re-connecting it. In order to see if it would recognize new hardware.

All have failed. I have searched a few threads here and on Google, but have found no answers. Is there some type of command I can type in the grub command line mode to rebuild system packages or something? I'd rather not re-install and get all my settings back up.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Nathan
Last edited by nathansizemore on Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
newconvert

Re: USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by newconvert »

Here is a long shot, but give it a try.

Power off the system, then uplug the power cord for a minute. Don't just flip a power strip button, pull the cord out of the back of the PC. (If it's a laptop, pull the battery too.) Then plug it back in and power on.

This has worked for me before when USB devices aren't seen.
nathansizemore

Re: USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by nathansizemore »

Holy shit, that actually worked. Any idea why that would do the trick?
newconvert

Re: [SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by newconvert »

About two years ago, I couldn't get my usb devices to work on one of my computers. After googling it, and trying half a dozen things that didn't fix it, like editing the registry and uninstalling devices in Device Manager, I stumbled upon that suggestion, which worked. It was so simple, and only one guy figured it out. His post had about 300 responses, over a few years, from other people who were as happy as you to find a solution.

The explanation the guy gave was that removing the power from the system, and letting all residual power drain out for a minute, resets the BIOS configuration of the plug-n-play USB. So after you plug it back in and power on, the BIOS has to re-enumerate all USB devices. This clears whatever was causing the USB to hang.

What is weird for your case is that USB worked in some areas and in Windows, but not in the Linux side.

Glad it worked for you.
wittyman37

Re: [SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by wittyman37 »

Holy jump up and sit down, batman! This worked! Genius!
ChinaJ

Re: [SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by ChinaJ »

Not meaning to hi-jack this thread (I've already put a bug report in over on LaunchPad), but this also happens under Maya and with my laptop (i.e. not a USB keyboard or mouse). So while I can appreciate the "fix" of unplugging etc., seems to me like if Windows doesn't have the problem on a simple reboot of the system and going into it instead of Mint (after it just "froze"), why does Mint/Ubuntu?
sxot

Re: [SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by sxot »

You guys can count me in as having had the same issue on my new Slim Line USB cherry keyboard not working when I got it home and hooked it up. I was very happy that I was able to find this post. I can testify to the fact that the fix mentioned on this thread works. If you're having this problem give it a try. I unhooked my power and went out for a bit to get out of the house. Came back and found out that it works perfect. Thankyou for the input. All of you who contributed.
Martin_B

Re: [SOLVED] USB Keyboard and Mouse Stopped Working

Post by Martin_B »

Hi, I had to use a different solution. Mouse and keyboard were non-functional. Mouse had a light, no power to the keyboard. Unplugging the pwuer from the computer for 30 minutes did not work. How I got it to work was by running the command: sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 and changing the display-manager from 'lightdm' to gdm3 (you will need to install gdm3 if it is not already installed).
Few notes: It was set up as a headless PC so I was able to remote into it via remote desktop. I was making my ubuntu 18:04 more mint-like and was using the MATE desktop. I find Mate faster than Cinnamon. It was a fanless pc with a laptop-like motherboard. Unfortunately the mouse and keyboard then only worked on the Ubuntu desktop :( But I was able to remote in OK and use MATE.
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