[Linux-disciples] Keyboard and mouse cut out

[Stephen R Laniel]

Every now and again, my mouse will inexplicably stop working under Gnome.
I can still use the keyboard, so I cut over to one of my virtual
terminals and restart the gdm service. Sometimes that works, sometimes
not. Sometimes, like today, when gdm restarts the *keyboard* doesn't work
either. I have to reboot. The keyboard clearly works upon rebooting,
because I can scroll through the grub boot menu. The keyboard *doesn't*
work, however, once I get to the gdm login prompt. The mouse still
doesn't work, either. I reboot again. Same deal. I reboot again, and
finally everything - mouse and keyboard - works. The problem disappears
for another few weeks.

That's where I am right now. Can anyone explain to me

a) why three reboots would do the trick, but not one
b) why the keyboard and/or mouse fail spontaneously in the middle of gdm,
and
c) whether there was a better way for me to fix the problem than
rebooting?

Thanks for any help,
Steve

-- 
``And my ex-boyfriend can't tell me i've sold out.
  Because he's in a cult.
  And he's not allowed to talk to me."
 -Dar Williams, "The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis
  of a Co-ed"