Thanks for answering on this nice weekend. The keyboard was getting a little cruddy; I took the faceplate off I cleaned it, sprayed it with air from various angles until no more debris flew out.

Messages in /var/log/messages so far shows it being unplugged twice (the keyboard itself + its USB hub). Shows it being plugged in, identified (twice), configuration chosen, etc. Two-hundreths of a second later, it disconnected and repeated the same sequence again. Then it seemed to settle down.

This is an Aurora keyboard made by Enermax, the model without the number pad, no longer being manufactured. http://www.enermax.com.tw/files/ProductFile_eng/PF_File/65.pdf
Size and shape and feel of a laptop keyboard. It's not plastic, it's very quiet, and it fits in my lap.

It's definitely the wire.  I can reproduce the problem, or cure it, by moving the wire. I run my keyboard in my lap; have run all keyboards this way for years.  It's starting to look like every time I set the keyboard aside & get up, the wire wiggles just enough to seem to unplug, then plug in again.  The weird thing is, the wire, although it moves when I move, seems fairly secure. It has a nice rubber boot thing that seems to hold it place as it runs through the hole in the case. Inside, the little circuit board that the wire runs into looks okay, connections look okay, capacitors look happy, etc. But the circuit board itself seems to be able to move a little bit. Maybe something is grounding out every once in a while.

The back of the keyboard feels a little warm just where that circuit board is.

Guess I'll take it apart again later & see if stabilizing or insulating the circuit board is possible, and if so, if it helps.

Liz




On 27 May 2012 08:39, <kstratton@fastmail.us> wrote:
Glad you resolved your issue.  If all the devices are USB compliant, there should be no issue but I was under the incorrect impression that the computer had some years on it and was working correctly earlier.  Linux generally does not magically deconfigure itself which left hardware issues.   
 
 
At risk of sounding way too obvious:
 
If moderate wiggling the harness near the keyboard causes problems and the keyboard is something special, I would consider re-doing the connection between the keyboard and the USB wire (will need soldering and disassembly of the keyboard).  There is very likely a wire to the keyboard broken at a mechanical stress point near the keyboard .  This will shorten the wire to the keyboard several inches.  Although there is information about a maximum legnth, I do not recall anything in the USB specification that specifically states that the harness has to be a specific legnth (no shorter and no longer than).  This is a somewhat risky procedure, so I would proceed only where confident.  It is also possible the problem is as simple a connector pulling out of a circuit board, but I doubt that that is the case.
 
 
 
On Sat, May 26, 2012, at 01:59 PM, E Johnson wrote:
Oh, interesting. Never thought of that. I had plugged in:

One USB headset
one USB keyboard
one USB mouse, connected via USB extension cable
one USB connector for the scanner (which was not connected to the scanner, just laying there)

I think that's about it. The keyboard has 2 USB ports which I never use. (had problem even before this keyboard existed)

I think the keyboard shows up twice in lsusb because it has 2 USB ports.

Have been running on the new computer 4 hours now, moving stuff to the new hard drive, & the problem migrated here --it's 99% probably the keyboard. If I wiggle the wire where it enters the keyboard, the keyboard stops or starts working. The error messages, which appeared on several different sets of hardware & peripherals, 3 diifferent operating systems, also are appearing in this new computer. I guess the rror messages are a separate issue --a red herring.

Too bad; I really, really like this keyboard, but they don't make this model any more.

I guess it's Solved, or sorted out, anyway. 1) Need keyboard; 2) deal with error messages another time.

Thanks very much!

Liz J

On 26 May 2012 11:29, <kstratton@fastmail.us> wrote:
 
I am not an expert on USB or linux for that matter, although I am currently trying to grop the USB spec so that I can develop a USB devce to attach to the bus. 
 
From what I am looking at, it looks liks you are loosing and reconnecting much more than just you keyboard.  Do you have many USB powered devices plugged in the motherboard?  Is it possible to move them on to a powered USB hub?  Doing this would reduce the load on the 5V supplied by the USB connectors.  This is really a shot in the dark and is somthing I would try only if I had a USB hub laying around.   
 
 
 
On Sat, May 26, 2012, at 10:32 AM, E Johnson wrote:
We have a problem here with keyboard being disconnected many times/day.

If I unplug the USB connector, then plug it in again, this works some of the time, but not always.

If re-plugging it in does not work, then if I plug in the keyboard at a different port, it sometimes starts working again, but not always.

The front USB ports seem a little stretched out; sometimes wiggling the connector temporarily fixes the problem, but not always. The back USB connectors seem nice & snug, but the problem does also happen when plugged in back there.

This is output of lsusb:

Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 046d:c062 Logitech, Inc.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 047f:c002 Plantronics, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 085: ID 0566:3013 Monterey International Corp.
Bus 006 Device 084: ID 0566:3020 Monterey International Corp.
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

The keyboard is the Monterey thing, why it's in there two times I have no clue.

Sometimes the keyboard works normally for many days, then this disconnecting problem crops again, seemingly random. I can't identify a specific reason why this starts happening, or stops happening. But it's becoming more frequent now.

I am not finding a solution in the forums (or maybe I am not searching with the right terms).

I am getting zillions of repetitive error messages, a small sample of which is pasted here below.

I had these same kind of messages since several years ago, on a different computer (different processor, mobo, case, mouse, keyboard & all) running an earlier version of my OS (Debian). I get similar messages here in a different computer, different keyboard & mouse, running Debian Squeeze.

This computer is running Debian Lenny.  It is soon to be retired since I just built a brand-new one, but can't retire it until I migrate a whole lot of files to the new one & do some tweaking & installing various apps.

Hope someone here has run across this issue & has found a way to solve it. I can't crawl under the table umpteen times/day to plug in a USB cable. Very frustratiing problem.

Sample of error messages is below here. Ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,
Liz J

May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.417306] usb 6-2: USB disconnect, address 27
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.417306] usb 6-2.3: USB disconnect, address 28
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.749302] usb 6-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 29
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.901315] usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.901315] hub 6-2:1.0: USB hub found
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110102.901315] hub 6-2:1.0: 3 ports detected
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110103.009359] usb 6-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0566, idProduct=3020
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110103.009359] usb 6-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=10, Product=11, SerialNumber=0
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110103.009359] usb 6-2: Product: USB 2.0 HUB
May 26 09:18:42 leonardo kernel: [3110103.009359] usb 6-2: Manufacturer: GENESYS
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.225358] usb 6-2.3: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 30
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.337358] usb 6-2.3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.345360] input: HID 0566:3013 as /class/input/input2619
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.385357] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [HID 0566:3013] on usb-0000:00:13.2-2.3
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.393363] input: HID 0566:3013 as /class/input/input2620
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.437358] input,hiddev97,hidraw3: USB HID v1.10 Device [HID 0566:3013] on usb-0000:00:13.2-2.3
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.437358] usb 6-2.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0566, idProduct=3013
May 26 09:18:43 leonardo kernel: [3110103.437358] usb 6-2.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
May 26 09:18:47 leonardo kernel: [3110107.977546] usb 6-2: USB disconnect, address 29
May 26 09:18:47 leonardo kernel: [3110107.977546] usb 6-2.3: USB disconnect, address 30
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.269231] usb 6-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 31
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.417539] usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.421222] hub 6-2:1.0: USB hub found
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.421222] hub 6-2:1.0: 3 ports detected
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.529223] usb 6-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0566, idProduct=3020
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.529223] usb 6-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=10, Product=11, SerialNumber=0
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.529223] usb 6-2: Product: USB 2.0 HUB
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.529223] usb 6-2: Manufacturer: GENESYS
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.749082] usb 6-2.3: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 32
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.845832] usb 6-2.3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.852599] input: HID 0566:3013 as /class/input/input2621
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.904715] input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [HID 0566:3013] on usb-0000:00:13.2-2.3
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.913547] input: HID 0566:3013 as /class/input/input2622
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.929554] input,hiddev97,hidraw3: USB HID v1.10 Device [HID 0566:3013] on usb-0000:00:13.2-2.3
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.929554] usb 6-2.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0566, idProduct=3013
May 26 09:18:48 leonardo kernel: [3110108.929554] usb 6-2.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0





 
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