Keyboard and mouse not working in Ubuntu install, fine in BIOS...

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I'm putting Linux on a load of old laptops, and while I'm at it I've pulled out my old EeePC 901 thinking it would make a nice SSH terminal.

It was originally Windows XP, then EasyPeasy (Ubuntu Eee) and Eebuntu (which then became AuroraOS), and I vaguely remember the keyboard+mouse stopped working at some point a couple of years ago. I wasn't using it as a main machine so it went in the cupboard until I had time to trouble shoot it.

Fast forward to now and it seems EasyPeasy and AuroraOS are both gone - or at the very least I can't find current working websites for either, they may just be down today... so I'm installing Elementary OS, another Ubuntu derivative.

I had to go into the BIOS to change the boot device, and the keyboard worked fine in there, and allowed me to press I for Install ElementaryOS in the unetbootin BIOS-y menu..... but as soon as I'm in the actual installer, I lose my keyboard.

Is this a lack of the correct driver in regular Ubuntu derivatives? I thought keyboards would always work at a basic level. Is there something else I'm missing? I figured originally that I'd just messed something up in the EesyPeasy installation, but this is now happening when booting from the USB stick directly
 
I have this happen occasionally regardless of what distro of Linux I'm using (Ubuntu and derivatives, Fedora, SuSE and Arch have all done it) and I've never been able to pin it down, to either udev, evdev or whatever other package is in control of dealing with hot plugged devices. That said, I've never had it happen with Debian, either in netinstall image or full fat DVD image.

Also, I don't have the same problem when plugged in to USB3 ports, only USB2 ports. And I use USB2 ports for kbd and mouse since I save USB3 ports for other devices and things.
 
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