Post by Bert CoulesPost by Chris GreenYou have actually tried it on a different system have you?
Sorry, but I don't know what you mean by a different system. A
different PC? I don't have one.
Boot a Linux DVD and test the keyboard there, in a textedit window.
That way, your outlay is limited to writing to a DVD for test materials.
Typically, a single layer 4.7GB DVD is sufficient for stuff like this,
and if the DVD is re-writeable, you can use it over and over again.
Something from here should suffice. You need broadband (not a
dialup modem) for tasks like this. The reason I picked 18.3, is
slightly better integration with Windows (SAMBA works decent).
Support for this will be done soon, and newer versions have
more rough edges.
https://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=31
Cinnamon (32-bit)
Cinnamon (64-bit)
KDE (32-bit)
KDE (64-bit)
MATE (32-bit)
MATE (64-bit)
Xfce (32-bit)
Xfce (64-bit)
If you're on Windows, look at the "System" control panel, to see
if you're using a 32 bit or 64 bit OS. Choosing 32 bit from the above
should always be safe. Using 64 bit helps from the above, if you
had gobs of RAM (>3GB) and needed to be able to use all of it - for this
task, we don't care about that particularly.
On the mirror link I would use for this (I've already done one of these),
the sizes are listed. These images are all in the vicinity of 2 gigabytes,
so will take a number of minutes to download. Then, use Imgburn or similar,
to convert the ISO file into a bootable DVD. Then boot from it, and
test the keyboard.
http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/linuxmint/stable/18.3/
linuxmint-18.3-cinnamon-32bit.iso 24-Nov-2017 17:00 2G
linuxmint-18.3-cinnamon-64bit.iso 24-Nov-2017 13:26 2G
linuxmint-18.3-kde-32bit.iso 13-Dec-2017 15:24 2G
linuxmint-18.3-kde-64bit.iso 13-Dec-2017 15:59 2G
linuxmint-18.3-mate-32bit.iso 24-Nov-2017 18:08 2G
linuxmint-18.3-mate-64bit.iso 24-Nov-2017 14:47 2G
linuxmint-18.3-xfce-32bit.iso 13-Dec-2017 14:56 2G
linuxmint-18.3-xfce-64bit.iso 13-Dec-2017 11:48 2G
sha256sum.txt 13-Dec-2017 16:15 774
sha256sum.txt.gpg 13-Dec-2017 16:16 819
The XFCE version, might not need quite as much RAM as the others,
as the display elements are simpler. Generally today, a computer
needs at least 1.5GB RAM to stand a chance of running random distros like that.
I don't think your keyboard is broken. Time will tell.
Note: Nothing will be installed on your computer. *Do NOT* click the
INSTALL icon typically found on the upper left of the screen
when the Linux DVD boots.
Note2: Linux distros come in LiveDVD, InstallOnlyDVD, NetworkInstall,
and this one is a LiveDVD. A LiveDVD can install, but only if
you honk on that icon. The InstallOnly flavor and the NetworkInstall
flavor, start to install right away. I am pointing you at a
collection of LiveDVD.
They make books for this. If someone asks you whether they make
books, they do. I don't really know what the current version of
this is, as these are quite old. Of these two, the first is year 2006,
the second is year 2009.
http://index-of.co.uk/Linux/Linux%20For%20Dummies%207th%20Ed.pdf
https://www.iiitd.edu.in/~amarjeet/Files/SM2012/Linux%20Dummies%209th.pdf
Paul