Drew Dunn wrote:

> This may be out in left field, but it's worth a shot...
>
> I have a dual Pentium 233MMX system that runs Red Hat Linux 5.0.  I use
> TriTeal's Common Desktop Environment.  For the most part, I use the
> machine for my email, web browsing, and doing processor intensive
> graphics work.  The computer has 190MB of RAM in it.
>
> Yesterday, one of the 32 meg SIMMs died, so I took both modules of the
> pair out.  Now I cannot do anything that requires the use of the CTRL
> key.  One of the biggest uses of that key on this system is shutting it
> down.  The keystroke <CTRL><ALT><F1> gets me to a text screen allowing
> me to log in as root and shut down the computer.  I can't do that
> anymore.
>
> It's not a hardware problem...I can actually turn the computer off, then
> on again and reboot while it's booting up.  Unfortunately, very bad
> things can happen to Linux if you turn it off without halting the system
> first.
>
> I know that this is a software problem...does anybody have any ideas of
> what I can do to solve it?  I would like to be able to turn this
> computer off once in a while...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drew Dunn
> [log in to unmask]

 This doesn't really solve the problem with the CTRL key, but (and I assume
you are in X Windows) have you tried opening a terminal window, type in 'su'
for superuser, then logoff using 'shutdown -h now' ? I would think this
would at least allow you to turn off the system until you find out what's up
with the CTRL key issue.

Sounds to me like it is a hardware problem.  Have you tried changing
keyboards?  I can't think of any direct corelation between the SIMMs and the
CTRL key issue.  Maybe the Linux keyboard mapping file got
changed/corrupted--might check that also.

--
Don Gray
NetCaliber Computer Services
(541)923-3255 [voice/fax]
http://www.netcaliber.com