perplexing keyboard problem

I recently purchased a new Cherry USB G84-4100 keyboard. It is a small keyboard without a separate numeric pad. I plugged it into the computer (leaving the existing one in place) and could not get it to work. I assumed it might be faulty but before sending it back I tried it with an old laptop I have that has Linux on it and it worked fine. I tried it a few more times with my PC and eventually it worked. I assumed maybe the USB plug was faulty but it seemed to work ok, survived a number of reboots, and I left it at that. Once it started working, I used it as the sole keyboard.

A few days ago I accidentally unplugged it and now I cannot get it to work again. I have tried it many times, on many different ports, but without success.

I would assume the keyboard was indeed faulty but I have now tried it on several other computers all with no difficulty whatsoever - it works every time. This includes my main laptop which has exactly the same version of the OS as my PC (FreeBSD 9.0 RC1 amd64).

I also do not think it is a problem with booting a USB keyboard, as I have seen various posts relating to this issue. I have only ever used a USB keyboard, and have had no problems. I have tried several different models and they all work normally.

When I plug the Cherry keyboard into the PC the lights on it (Caps Lock, etc) all light up momentarily which seems to indicate that the electrical connection works.

The only clue I have is the output of dmesg:

Code:
usb_alloc_device: set address 3 failed (USB_ERR_IOERROR, ignored)
usbd_setup_device_desc: getting device descriptor at addr 3 failed, USB_ERR_IOERROR
usbd_req_re_enumerate: addr=3, set address failed! (USB_ERR_IOERROR, ignored)
usbd_setup_device_desc: getting device descriptor at addr 3 failed, USB_ERR_IOERROR
usbd_req_re_enumerate: addr=3, set address failed! (USB_ERR_IOERROR, ignored)
usbd_setup_device_desc: getting device descriptor at addr 3 failed, USB_ERR_IOERROR
ugen2.3: <Unknown> at usbus2 (disconnected)
uhub_reattach_port: could not allocate new device
usb_alloc_device: set address 3 failed (USB_ERR_IOERROR, ignored)
usbd_setup_device_desc: getting device descriptor at addr 3 failed, USB_ERR_IOERROR

Here is the output from my laptop:
Code:
ugen3.2: <vendor 0x046a> at usbus3
ukbd0: <vendor 0x046a product 0x0001, class 0/0, rev 1.10/9.09, addr 2> on usbus3
kbd2 at ukbd0

To summarise:

  • The keyboard works on several other computers I have tried it with, including one running the same version of FreeBSD as the computer it will not work with.
  • The computer will boot other USB keyboards without difficulty.
  • I can hotplug other USB keyboards and they also work.
  • The keyboard did work for a while and I have made absolutely no system changes since.
  • The same problem occurs whether the keyboard is plugged in before booting or hot plugged.

Any suggestions?
 
Is there an USB hub between the keyboard and computer? You may want to try connecting it directly.
 
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