Keyboard input not being detected when trying to access UEFI settings

[nickbawtnz]

So I'm following the Fling for Raspiberry Pi instructions downloaded from the ESXi Arm Edition | VMware Flings  site.

I've updated the Pi's EEPROM through the PI OS update process and have copied over the RPi firmware boot folder (minus the kernel files), and UEFI folder contents to a mSD card (FAT32).

When the RPi boots to the splash screen but I can't hit escape to access the UEFI settings. The keyboard inputs are not detected. In fact, the keyboard itself isn't getting any power. Reimaging the mSD card with Pi OS brings everything back so it's not a hardware issue.

I've tried several mSD cards, different keyboards and am even running the keyboard through a powered USB hub.

Has anyone come across this and can suggest any fixes?

I'll attempt to hook in through serial in a couple of days when I can get my GPIO to serial USB adapter back but until then am stuck with HDMI and USB keyboard.

[cyprienlaplace]

For the USB keyboard issue and UEFI, it's likely to be UEFI related. You can file a ticket on https://github.com/pftf/RPi4/issues and provide some information about your keyboard (brand/model and product/vendor id you can get using lsusb).

Thanks.

[robstercork]

I have the exact same issue but no solution. I'm using the 8GB Pi4. I've tried multiple keyboards with no success. Booting the Pi without the SDcard inserted will show my backlit keyboard is getting power, inserting the card at this point boots to the black and white raspberry splash screen but the keyboard input is still ignored. No issue opened yet with the firmware community. Any luck with the serial hookup?

[nickbawtnz]

I haven't had the time to revisit this project yet, so haven't registered a bug report that cyprienlaplace recommended. Haven't had time to look at the serial method yet but would think it may work. 

I too have an 8GB RPi4, and yes my symptoms are the same as yours. 

I'll hopefully have time later this week to revisit this so will report back if I find a workaround, please do the same if you find a solution - it'd be great to get it working. 

[robstercork]

I got it to work with the following workaround after seeing a post in the firmware issues log that mentioned usb-OTG. I connected a usb-c hub with power passthrough to the pi4 power input and used the pi4 power supply to power the hub & pi4. The USB ports on the hub work fine so the keyboard & USB stick with the ESXi ISO were detected and accessible for the rest of the install.

Hopefully, a future firmware update will fix the issue and the hub won't be necessary.

[nickbawtnz]

Ive had a chance to try this but didn't have any other luck. Perhaps others will have more luck using this method. 

Used a USB-C 4-port USB hub with power passthrough. Connected to power input on Pi, connected the keyboard and USB and powered on. Same issues as before. 

[zik]

This my issue with the keyboard and ESXi USB key.  It does recognize the on-board ethernet, but it won't see my 1TB drive either locally or on the hub.  I went with an NFS export from my laptop.  👍