1. Boot from the USB flash drive (version 15.1).
2. Reach the Beastie menu with the system boot options.
3. Press the Space bar to pause the menu and prevent the automatic boot sequence from starting.
4. Press the NumLock key on the keyboard (a 2007–2010 model HP KB-0316 PS/2) to enable the numeric keypad.
Press it again to disable it. If you do this 20–30 times, everything works fine.
1. Boot from the "booting USB flash drive" (version 15.1).
2. Reach the Beastie menu with the system boot options.
3. Enter the installer—the first screen is the "Welcome to FreeBSD!" greeting.
4. Press the NumLock key on the same keyboard to enable the numeric keypad.
Press it again to disable it. If you do this 10–15 times, everything "freezes." The keyboard becomes unresponsive, and the PC can only be turned off using the hardware power button.
If you perform the same actions on an already installed system, the only difference is that you log in as root and enter the password. If you are lucky and the keyboard doesn't hang immediately, you can trigger the "freeze" by repeatedly toggling NumLock.
Sometimes the keyboard freezes right at the login prompt! That’s how it happens!
This doesn't happen consistently; you might work in X for half an hour with no issues.
This doesn't happen on Windows or Linux. Verified through testing.
I thought my A4 wireless mouse might be the culprit. It wasn't. I disconnected the wireless receiver, but the problem persisted.
I connected a standard USB mouse, but nothing changed.
Conclusion: toggling via NumLock works correctly only in the "beastie" menu.
I can't even imagine which module is interacting incorrectly with the keyboard module during startup.
How can I detect a conflict between the keyboard driver and another driver or loaded module?
2. Reach the Beastie menu with the system boot options.
3. Press the Space bar to pause the menu and prevent the automatic boot sequence from starting.
4. Press the NumLock key on the keyboard (a 2007–2010 model HP KB-0316 PS/2) to enable the numeric keypad.
Press it again to disable it. If you do this 20–30 times, everything works fine.
1. Boot from the "booting USB flash drive" (version 15.1).
2. Reach the Beastie menu with the system boot options.
3. Enter the installer—the first screen is the "Welcome to FreeBSD!" greeting.
4. Press the NumLock key on the same keyboard to enable the numeric keypad.
Press it again to disable it. If you do this 10–15 times, everything "freezes." The keyboard becomes unresponsive, and the PC can only be turned off using the hardware power button.
If you perform the same actions on an already installed system, the only difference is that you log in as root and enter the password. If you are lucky and the keyboard doesn't hang immediately, you can trigger the "freeze" by repeatedly toggling NumLock.
Sometimes the keyboard freezes right at the login prompt! That’s how it happens!
This doesn't happen consistently; you might work in X for half an hour with no issues.
This doesn't happen on Windows or Linux. Verified through testing.
I thought my A4 wireless mouse might be the culprit. It wasn't. I disconnected the wireless receiver, but the problem persisted.
I connected a standard USB mouse, but nothing changed.
Conclusion: toggling via NumLock works correctly only in the "beastie" menu.
I can't even imagine which module is interacting incorrectly with the keyboard module during startup.
How can I detect a conflict between the keyboard driver and another driver or loaded module?