Adding this to your code android:focusableInTouchMode="true" will make sure that your keypad doesn't appear on startup for your edittext box. You want to add this line to your linear layout that contains the EditTextBox. You should be able to play with this to solve both your problems. I have tested this. Simple solution.
ie: In your app_list_view.xml file
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:focusableInTouchMode="true">
<EditText
android:id="@+id/filter_edittext"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Search"
android:inputType="text"
android:maxLines="1"/>
<ListView
android:id="@id/android:list"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_weight="1.0"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:focusable="true"
android:descendantFocusability="beforeDescendants"/>
</LinearLayout>
------------------ EDIT: To Make keyboard appear on startup -----------------------
This is to make they Keyboard appear on the username edittextbox on startup. All I've done is added an empty Scrollview to the bottom of the .xml file, this puts the first edittext into focus and pops up the keyboard. I admit this is a hack, but I am assuming you just want this to work. I've tested it, and it works fine.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:paddingLeft="20dip"
android:paddingRight="20dip">
<EditText
android:id="@+id/userName"
android:singleLine="true"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Username"
android:imeOptions="actionDone"
android:inputType="text"
android:maxLines="1"
/>
<EditText
android:id="@+id/password"
android:password="true"
android:singleLine="true"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Password" />
<ScrollView
android:id="@+id/ScrollView01"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_width="fill_parent">
</ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>
If you are looking for a more eloquent solution, I've found this question which might help you out, it is not as simple as the solution above but probably a better solution. I haven't tested it but it apparently works. I think it is similar to the solution you've tried which didn't work for you though.
Hope this is what you are looking for.
Cheers!