[CentOS] Problem with Logitech wireless keyboard EX110

Fri May 29 06:34:14 UTC 2009
MHR <mhullrich at gmail.com>

I got a Logitech EX110 wireless keyboard and mouse set about a year or
so ago, maybe more.  The number pad on the keyboard stopped working
after a while, so I complained to Logitech, and they sent me a new
keyboard (actually, the whole set).

I've had the problem on and off again a couple of times since then,
but it usually only lasts a few days before all is well again.

However, my son also has the same set (well, same model, different
pieces of hardware) on his Windows XP machine, and he has _never_ had
this problem.  Tonight, he suggested that it might be a Linux problem,
so I took our spare keyboard of this same type and switched them on my
machine.

Surprise: the new keyboard has exactly the same problem - no response
from the number pad.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate.  The num lock and the Enter
key both work, but the 5 key produces some control combination I don't
recognize (seems to behave something like ^V of a previously ^X'd
clipboard copy, unrelated to the current input), and the + key which
seems to produce something like ^V^V, or "highlight the current
terminal line" or something, but none of the other keys work at all.

In any case, it looks like this is a problem with the keyboard driver,
not the keyboard hardware.

If I replace the wireless set with a wired keyboard and mouse, without
rebooting, the mouse works, but the keyboard does not.  (Apparently,
after I tried the following, it turned out to be a bad keyboard....)

If I replace the keyboard and reboot, oh, foo, bad keyboard.  But!  If
I reboot with a good keyboard, it works, and then I can switch back to
the wireless set and everything works, _including_ the number pad:
0.123456789/*-+

Is there a way to refresh the keyboard driver without rebooting?

Anyway, thoughts, suggestions, etc. welcome.

mhr