xref: /OK3568_Linux_fs/kernel/Documentation/x86/usb-legacy-support.rst (revision 4882a59341e53eb6f0b4789bf948001014eff981)
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2*4882a593Smuzhiyun.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
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4*4882a593Smuzhiyun==================
5*4882a593SmuzhiyunUSB Legacy support
6*4882a593Smuzhiyun==================
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8*4882a593Smuzhiyun:Author: Vojtech Pavlik <vojtech@suse.cz>, January 2004
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11*4882a593SmuzhiyunAlso known as "USB Keyboard" or "USB Mouse support" in the BIOS Setup is a
12*4882a593Smuzhiyunfeature that allows one to use the USB mouse and keyboard as if they were
13*4882a593Smuzhiyuntheir classic PS/2 counterparts.  This means one can use an USB keyboard to
14*4882a593Smuzhiyuntype in LILO for example.
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16*4882a593SmuzhiyunIt has several drawbacks, though:
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18*4882a593Smuzhiyun1) On some machines, the emulated PS/2 mouse takes over even when no USB
19*4882a593Smuzhiyun   mouse is present and a real PS/2 mouse is present.  In that case the extra
20*4882a593Smuzhiyun   features (wheel, extra buttons, touchpad mode) of the real PS/2 mouse may
21*4882a593Smuzhiyun   not be available.
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23*4882a593Smuzhiyun2) If CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G is enabled, the PS/2 mouse emulation can cause
24*4882a593Smuzhiyun   system crashes, because the SMM BIOS is not expecting to be in PAE mode.
25*4882a593Smuzhiyun   The Intel E7505 is a typical machine where this happens.
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27*4882a593Smuzhiyun3) If AMD64 64-bit mode is enabled, again system crashes often happen,
28*4882a593Smuzhiyun   because the SMM BIOS isn't expecting the CPU to be in 64-bit mode.  The
29*4882a593Smuzhiyun   BIOS manufacturers only test with Windows, and Windows doesn't do 64-bit
30*4882a593Smuzhiyun   yet.
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32*4882a593SmuzhiyunSolutions:
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34*4882a593SmuzhiyunProblem 1)
35*4882a593Smuzhiyun  can be solved by loading the USB drivers prior to loading the
36*4882a593Smuzhiyun  PS/2 mouse driver. Since the PS/2 mouse driver is in 2.6 compiled into
37*4882a593Smuzhiyun  the kernel unconditionally, this means the USB drivers need to be
38*4882a593Smuzhiyun  compiled-in, too.
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40*4882a593SmuzhiyunProblem 2)
41*4882a593Smuzhiyun  can currently only be solved by either disabling HIGHMEM64G
42*4882a593Smuzhiyun  in the kernel config or USB Legacy support in the BIOS. A BIOS update
43*4882a593Smuzhiyun  could help, but so far no such update exists.
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45*4882a593SmuzhiyunProblem 3)
46*4882a593Smuzhiyun  is usually fixed by a BIOS update. Check the board
47*4882a593Smuzhiyun  manufacturers web site. If an update is not available, disable USB
48*4882a593Smuzhiyun  Legacy support in the BIOS. If this alone doesn't help, try also adding
49*4882a593Smuzhiyun  idle=poll on the kernel command line. The BIOS may be entering the SMM
50*4882a593Smuzhiyun  on the HLT instruction as well.
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