keyboard shift stopped working - old kernel, vmware

[David Timms <dtimms iinet net au>]

I have had an experience where the shift key stops working. It also 
affects the shift lock, and makes it impossible to enter a shifted password.

Machine: hp compaq nx6320 notebook.
F8>F9beta>rawhide
booting kernel-2.6.24 from F8 so that vmware-server works.
keyboard shift stops working in both vmware guest {xp} and in the host.

Is this machine just special ? Speak up if you have seen this before :)

DaveT.