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.