I recently purchased a Pentium machine (60 MHz) with an Intel motherboard.
I installed netbsd 1.0 (pl3, I believe -- whatever was current about
12 Nov 94).

After playing around getting the BT946 running and the software loaded,
I built a kernel with PPP installed (among other things including support
for the SB16).

I am running xdm.  After logging in, I try connecting via PPP with a
site.  There are some problems with the route table which have yet to
be fixed but a PPP link is established between the sites.

About 1-2 minutes after the PPP is established, it is torn down (I
believe due to inactivity on the link).  About 8-9 minutes after the
link is torn down (about 10 minutes since it was established), the
keyboard completely locks up.  I can still get the LED for caps lock
and num lock to work but no other keys (including CTRL, ALT, SHIFT)
seem to be accepted by the X server (these keys with my mouse buttons
don't seem to cause any window manager interaction to occur where it
normally would).

My mouse can still cut and paste together commands.  This is how I
regain control -- I piece together a halt\n command.  After the machine
reboots, the keyboard is back.  My mouse can also "grab" the title bars
of the windows and move them around, iconfiy them, etc.  My mouse, and
its buttons, seems to be working okay (altho not in conjunction with
the above-named keys: CTRL, ALT, SHIFT).

I tried a non-PPP connection with a site (using the PPP-capable
kernel).  Almost exactly 10 minutes after the connection to the modem
is made, the kernel hangs its support of the keyboard.

I tried rebooting on the kbt kernel provided in the original distribution.
I still get a hang during the "cu" connection (almost exactly 10 minutes
after the \n to start the cu command.

When I boot a kernel (either one) and log in but don't do any COM work,
my keyboard does not hang -- this is true hours and even days after
the reboot, login, and setup (of my windows) have occurred.

I have tried unplugging and reinserting the keyboard cable during the
hang; this was done in vain.

I have not tried while NOT under X.  I will try that next time I get
a chance.

So far, all logins have been done as root.

I have not added or deleted any system-default cron entries.  I have
not installed any "at" jobs.  I have taken most of the uucp and PPP
configuration information from a friend who has been running "cu" and
"PPP" for quite some time on netbsd kernels.

It should be noted the keyboard's quality is rather poor.  I recognize
I should try a better keyboard.

The COM ports probed as 16550 capable.  I have not yet confirmed that
they are actual 16550s (the salesperson claimed they were real 16550
chips).  I am planning on purchasing a 4-port, true 16550 board.  If
this is the (likely) problem, I will accelerate the purchase schedule.

Any advice?  Any leads I can follow?

Your assistance is appreciated.

Michael Miller
michael@osg.saic.com