[GLLUG] Gentoo + S key on laptop?

[impact]

This is just an odd problem I've been having, wondering if anyone has 
any ideas.

I love gentoo, and just put it on my laptop.  Well, I've put it on there 
3 times, because for some reason when it boots up, it doesn't let me use 
my S key.  I thought it might be the kernel or whatever, but it happens 
on both kernels (2.6.8 and 2.6.9) and on the "genkernel" of each as 
well.  I found that the problem goes away if I hit ctrl-alt-f2 to get 
another shell, and then ctrl-alt-f1 back to the original one (S-key 
works fine after that).  But its annoying to have to swap shells every 
time i boot..
Anyone have any ideas?

Laptop: HP ze4400. AMD Athlon mobile 2600

-Dan Sherman