[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] PS/2 :^H- on boot

boegehol@informatik.uni-stuttgart.de (Harald Boegeholz) (02/07/91)

In article <8976@star.cs.vu.nl> of comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware,
mabdoor@cs.vu.nl (Doorn van MAB) writes:
> I have a strange question about my IBM PS/2 Model 50Z.
> 
> When I boot with MS-DOS, I get my normal prompt, but there also appears an
> extra character.
...
> I have to press Backspace to erase the character. Then I have no problem, my
> system works fine.
...
> NOTE2: It's not MS-DOS-s fault. The character also appears when I boot
> MINIX (a unix version), or the OS/2 DOS-box.
I got the same problem. Since it is not a PS/2, I'm crossposting...

Most of the time, after I boot my system, there seems to be a
character in the keyboard buffer. It's displayed as ^@ at the
first prompt (probably a 0 character) and can be easily erased.

It happens under DOS and OS/2 DOS-box. Of course no character appears
in protected mode sessions.

I suspect the keyboard controller gets messed up somewhere in the boot
process, but I have no idea what could be done about it. It's a little
annoying although not particularly harmful. Btw, it happens only about
9 out of 10 times...

My system: ALR PowerVEISA 486/25 w/ Phoenix BIOS version 1.00.04

Any insight into the problem would be appreciated.

ANYBODY AT PHOENIX LISTENING OUT THERE? (think it might be their problem:-))

Harald

PS: Doorn, did you try a different keyboard yet? I haven't had
a chance yet, but I will...

--
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Harald Boegeholz |Home:       hwb@texnix.stgt.sub.org (read daily)
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                 |            ^ please use the latter for large (>100k) mail

jporter@twaddle.dell.com (Jeff Porter) (02/08/91)

In article <BOEGEHOL.91Feb7161812@asdemo.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de>, boegehol@informatik.uni-stuttgart.de (Harald Boegeholz) writes:
|> In article <8976@star.cs.vu.nl> of comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware,
|> mabdoor@cs.vu.nl (Doorn van MAB) writes:
|> > I have a strange question about my IBM PS/2 Model 50Z.
|> > 
|> > When I boot with MS-DOS, I get my normal prompt, but there also appears an
|> > extra character.
|> ...
|> > I have to press Backspace to erase the character. Then I have no problem, my
|> > system works fine.
|> ...
|> > NOTE2: It's not MS-DOS-s fault. The character also appears when I boot
|> > MINIX (a unix version), or the OS/2 DOS-box.
|> I got the same problem. Since it is not a PS/2, I'm crossposting...
|> 
|> Most of the time, after I boot my system, there seems to be a
|> character in the keyboard buffer. It's displayed as ^@ at the
|> first prompt (probably a 0 character) and can be easily erased.
|> 
|> It happens under DOS and OS/2 DOS-box. Of course no character appears
|> in protected mode sessions.
|> 
|> I suspect the keyboard controller gets messed up somewhere in the boot
|> process, but I have no idea what could be done about it. It's a little
|> annoying although not particularly harmful. Btw, it happens only about
|> 9 out of 10 times...
|> 

There is a problem with the KEYB.COM (or KEYB.SYS) file shipped with some
versions of MS-DOS.  It has been known to cause strange characters to appear
on boot (such as ^@ and ^H).

Jeff Porter