1) Why such an old version? I recall a Linux distro likely of similar age having extreme difficulty on an AMD X2 of some sort but 0 issues on newer ones.
2) PS/2-style (mini-DIN-6; as opposed to USB or AT's DIN-5)? Pre-USBs are not redetectable in my experience; unplug it and it's off until reboot.
i8042: PNP: PS/2 Controller [PNP0303:PS2K,PNP0f03:PS2M] at 0x60,0x64 irq 1,12
serio: i8042 KBD port at 0x60,0x64 irq 1
input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard as /devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input2
atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x0 on isa0060/serio0).
atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes 00 <keycode>' to make it known.
atkbd serio0: Spurious ACK on isa0060/serio0. Some program might be trying access hardware directly.
3) if PS/2, cs there some conflicting hardware here? Perhaps a conflicting IRQ? Tried USB? Tried forcing it to single core mode (if /proc/cpuinfo shows more than one; often a BIOS option for this)?