Keyboard error with USB wifi optical mouse

[dhave]

On my T61p, I get a keyboard error (#0211, with message "Press F1 to enter setup") when my USB mouse is connected. This only happens after pressing F12 to bring up the Boot Device List. The error message appears prior to the display of the Boot Device List.

When the transmitter is unplugged, there is no error.

The mouse is a Microsoft wireless optical which has a transmitter a little smaller than a stick of chewing gum. The transmitter plugs into a USB port.

To use the USB mouse, I have to wait until after the machine is booted to plug it in.

I'm certain that the error isn't produced by my depressing the F12 key for too long or at the wrong time. I do this all the time, as I alternate between Linux and WinXP, which are on separate hard drives. The keyboard error is definitely related to the presence of the USB transmitter for the wifi mouse.

Any ideas for a fix? Thanks very much.

[dhave]

Well, here's one solution: press the blue ThinkVantage button right after powering on, then choose to press F12 after that. This seems to avoid the keyboard error.

Still, the lazy man in me (and he's normally the one in charge) would prefer only to push the F12 key and not to have to add this two-second routine to my boot procedure. I'm already at my limit just having to hit the F12 key in order to boot to my secondary hard drive.

So, if somebody knows of another way so that I can press only the F12 key for alternate boot devices rather than the ThinkVantage + F12 combo, please let me know. We're talking about hundreds of seconds lost over the course of a lifetime...