Need help setting up keyboard detection in dual boot environment

Support & Help Requests
#1

I have just installed a dual boot environment with Windows 7 and Ubuntu Mate. The reason being my son comes down from university periodically and needs Windows 7 to run some propriety software as part of his course. Providing a Windows 7 partition on my machine saves him having to haul his PC back home whenever he visits in the holidays.

The installs went okay, but I still had to use grub boot repair before grub could see both OS’s even though I installed windows first. Anyway, that said, grub can now see both of them. the problem arises when I try to boot into Windows 7. It all goes fine except for the fact that the usb mouse and keyboard are not detected by Windows at the login screen. I have gone into the BIOS and made sure that usb detection is set to auto etc. The weird thing is, one time in, say, half a dozen, they are detected. But, for the vast majority of the time, they are not.

This is not a problem with Windows 7 per se because Windows 7 was picking the keyboard and mouse up with no problem when I first installed it. It was only after installing Ubuntu Mate alongside that the problem started.

Any suggestions folks?

#2

I know I’ve had problems with Windows registering a Dell USB keyboard until it downloaded the drivers. Maybe it’s something to do with this? Pretty much every keyboard lately is USB so it’s odd that it didn’t pick it up from the get-go.

#3

HI Rob. I am pretty certain it is not a windows problem per se. The reason being that when I first installed Windows, prior to installing Ubuntu Mate alongside, there was no problem with Windows picking up the keyboard and mouse at login. It was only immediately after installing Ubuntu Mate that the problem with Windows failing to pick up the usb devices began. So, there is some kind of conflict going on between these two software systems I would have thought.

Thinking along the above lines, the first thing that loads is grub, which gives the OS options to boot. I’m wondering, therefore, if there is something in the way grub takes control of the keyboard and mouse that is then stopping windows from picking them up at login?

#4

That’s odd. I’m not an expert but I really don’t think Linux being installed would have any effect on the USB devices like that. Technically, once grub loads the Windows system it hands off all hardware control to Windows. Have you tried simply moving the keyboard and mouse around in the USB ports?

#5

Yes, I’ve moved them and also used a usb to ps2 adapter. Same problem. That is to say, the keyboard works at the grub menu, but fails to get picked up by windows at the windows login screen. To reiterate, this problem was not present when it was just windows installed. It occured immediately after installing ubuntu mate. Thus, it is logically impossible to do other than conclude that the installation of Ubuntu Mate is somehow implicated in the problem. My problem is that I don’t know how.

I should also say, the research I have subsequently done on the interent clearly shows this problem has been experienced by a significant number of other people. However, I have yet to find a fix.

#6

I don’t know much about Windows, but from what you describe perhaps GRUB is where you need to focus you attention since it the “new thing” introduced in the Windows boot process.

#7

Does unplugging and replugging the devices when they are not detected solve the problem? Also, try to enable USB related options in the BIOS.

#8

Yep, I’ve been thinking along the same line Martin. No worries, it’s an important, but not urgent issue.

#9

Done all that previously, makes no difference.

#10

Does he need bare metal performance? Can you get away with moving windows to a VM?

#11

He uses 3D Studio Max, Maya and also a 2d/3d game/app development environment called Unity. None of which can not be made to work properly in either a VM or Wine. And believe me, I’ve tried.

#12

Update:

Problem resolved. Not via the fixing of Windows 7 not picking up my USB devices on a dual boot setup. But, rather, due to the installation of VMware player and a Windows 7 VM running inside it.

It’s an outstanding piece of software and, frankly, wipes the floor with Virtualbox when it comes to 3D acceleration. All programs that were previously unusable in Virtualbox are now flying on VMware player. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Windows 7 is running at least as fast in VMware player than as a proper installation!

I heartily reccomend it as an alternative to Virtualbox.

2 Likes
#13

Yep, that would do it!

#14

Agreed, as much as I like and respect VirtualBox, I have to agree that VMWare player is much faster. My work computer runs Win 7 but I do my work in Ubuntu MATE in a VM and get all kinds of problems with VirtualBox with performance and it has a rather nasty time getting on with Sophos AV.