To answer your question concisely:
On 9/21/07, [email protected] [email protected] wrote:
Do most Linux distributions boot up and immediately recognize a USB keboard/mouse? (That is, they work automatically without the need for any special boot parameters/options.)
Yes, most GNU/Linux distributions boot up and immediately recognize a USB keyboard and mouse.
Or does this vary from distribution to distribution, something that you have
to figure out case by case?
Thanks, Will
If you have PS/2 ports, you should use those with your keyboard and mouse. Especially if the kb/m already have adapters for them. There is less to go wrong with the PS/2 ports than there is with USB. Some BIOSes will not recognize USB keyboards. If you have USB-to-PS/2 emulation available, and enabled in the BIOS, the USB keyboard will be translated to i8042 (PS/2) in hardware, and will appear to the BIOS, and whatever OS you load, as a standard keyboard. It is best though to physically use the PS/2 port for your PS/2-capable devices.