[Intrepid] Losing keyboard and mouse control when changing screen brightness with fn + arrow (Dell)

I'd like to add that my laptop often takes around 2 minutes to shutdown because it waits a very long time for acpid. Might be related to the same problem.

Probably I am experiencing a similar bug on my Dell M1330: my keyboard becomes non-responsive in X after using any of the keyboard shortcuts (volume, brightness, etc.)

However, unlike Saïvann Carignan, I don't have any problems with shutdowns.

Strangely, just switching to the text terminal (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and back (Alt-F1) seems to get the keyboard working again!

hrushikesh : Thanks for your feedback. Can you boot your computer, reproduce the bug and provide the files created by these 3 commands in a terminal?

dmesg > dmesg.log
sudo lspci -nnvv > lspci-nnvv.log
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log > Xorg.0.log

Here you go:

Thank you for your fast answer. Changing status to Triaged and Importance to Medium.

By and large X is no longer involved in hotkey handling, however the new -evdev sometimes triggers weird conditions, so moving the xorg component to -evdev on that basis.

In the description you list log output that occurs when changing brightness. Does that output occur before or only after you do the vt switch workaround?

Bryce Harrington : The log outputs in the description appears *after* switching back to VT7 . I attach a modified Xorg.0.log that describes each of my actions followed by Xorg log outputs. This Xorg.0.log is on the same laptop opensource driver (not fglrx).

Bryce Harrington : Is there any task that should stay open for acpid, or this bug is entirely caused by evdev?

It should stay open for acpid. As I mentioned, by and large X is uninvolved with hotkey stuff now, so it's probably more likely to be in acpid or some other component than in X. But it needs deeper analysis to determine what component is at fault.

Especially since looking at your log, there isn't evidence that X is doing anything unusual at all when the hotkey is hit. The log's contents is entirely typical for performing a vt switch. In other words, so far there is no evidence that this is an X bug.

At the same time, there isn't evidence that it's *not* an X bug, so we can't yet close out the task. But if it is X, -evdev should be the starting point to examine, since that's the thing that has changed the most with respect to keyboard stuff. (It could also be xorg-server).

I'll post another comment with some debugging advice.

Some hotkeys are handled by gnome-power-manager. Others are handled elsewhere (e.g. in hardware).

Experiment with using the brightness keys at the vt console, with and without X running. Experiment with them in X but with gnome-power-manager shut off. Use xev to see what key codes (if any) X sees. Here's a xev command string that makes the xev easier to read:

xev | sed -n 's/^.*state \([0-9].*\), keycode *\([0-9]\+\) *\(.*\), .*$/keycode \2 = \3, state = \1/p'

More info on debugging hotkey issues is available at this link:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting#Problem involves missing support for some keyboard keys

If the problem is in a binary application like gnome-power-manager or pm-utils, you may find strace output of it to shed some light.

If it's a hal problem, then comparing lshal output before and after the brightness hotkey is hit might be worth looking at; in theory the lshal output should be identical, so if there is any difference it might hint that the problem lays deeper down.

On some systems there are scripts from acpi-support that play a role in handling the brightness keys. These are in /etc/acpi/. I have a Dell laptop too, and these scripts don't have an effect for me, so I'm guessing this is unlikely to be the case either for you, but I don't know the specifics of your hardware so it's certainly a possibility.

Hope this helps

Killing gnome-power-manager appears to fix the issue. Will debug further. Should this be nominated for release?

This is output from gnome-power-manager --verbose --no-daemon. All I did was run it, press the Fn-Arrow Key once. Then try to type. Then switch to VT, then switch back and kill it.

lshal output does not change (used diff)

The brightness still changes with gnome-power-manager isn't running.
I can still change the brightness when the rest of the keyboard and menus stop working.

xev only reports a keypress after switching to VT1 and then back to VT7.
It is:
keycode 233 = (keysym 0x1008ff02, XF86MonBrightnessUp), state = 0x0

Given the above, and that it starts behaving once gnome-power-manager is turned off, it's starting to sound like a bug in gnome-power-manager. I'm adding a task for that package.

Given that your hotkeys work but the rest of the keyboard doesn't, and that lshal output hasn't changed, it sort of sounds like something is stealing your keyboard device. Presumably X is able to reclaim it from doing a vtswitch. Not sure what would cause that.

Please attach your lshal output.

Can confirm-Similar prob on a Dell 6000 Laptop that had a clean Intrepid install, when i press fn + up/down, it does adjust screen brightness and brings up the brightness level indicator, but the indicator bar doesn't move up/down (unlike volume indicator). Also, after that, the keyboard will not register anything under x, except for more fn + keystrokes. Also, the trackpad works, but right click doesn't work properly.ll, except when i press fn + up/down, it does adjust screen brightness and brings up the brightness level indicator, but the indicator bar doesn't move up/down (unlike volume indicator). Also, after that, the keyboard will not register anything under x, except for more fn + keystrokes. Also, the mouse trackpad works, but right click doesn't work properly.

Bryce Harrington : I confirm the same as Bryan Quigley, killing gnome-power-manager is a workaround, the bug does not appears when gnome-power-manager isn't running. Is there additional informations we can provide?

I went through and tested:

2.23.1-0ubuntu1 is the last one that worked (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/2.23.1-0ubuntu1)

And 2.23.6-0ubuntu1 introduced this bug. (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-power-manager/2.23.6-0ubuntu1)

I have a simalar problem with 8.10 on a dell latitude d600 everything is fine untill the brightness changes (wether i doit using fn+up/down or ubuntu aotu changes because i don't have the ac power adapter plugged in). Then no keyboard key work except ctrl+alt+backspace and the mouse buttons don't work, only mouse movements do. also when I change brightness with keyboard it changes but the brightness indicator panel doen't show and cpu usage goes straight to 100% and stays there, I am thinking it is haveing a problem opening the indicator panel. also can't change volume with keyboard before or after the main problem insues.

I have been experiencing this as well with Intrepid on a D600 as well. In fact I didn't realize the problem was related to the use of Fn + hotkeys to change the brightness, until googling the issue. When the issue occurs, the menus in the panel will not open. Clicking the mouse will highlight the Application Places menu, etc, but it won't open until I switch a console and then back to X with ctrl-alt-f1, and ctrl-alt-f7. Clicking on some of the other icons in the panel will work, but results vary.

This regression appeared with revision 2857 of gnome power manager which fixed another similar regression introduced by revision 2845. Revision 2845 caused "g", "k" and ";" keys to stop working.

Revision 2857 :
--- trunk/src/gpm-button.c 2008/07/29 01:31:15 2856
+++ trunk/src/gpm-button.c 2008/08/01 08:39:15 2857
@@ -166,11 +166,19 @@
  * Return value: TRUE if we parsed and grabbed okay
  **/
 static gboolean
-gpm_button_xevent_key (GpmButton *button, guint keycode, const gchar *hal_key)
+gpm_button_xevent_key (GpmButton *button, guint keysym, const gchar *hal_key)
 {
  gchar *key = NULL;
  gboolean ret;
  gchar *keycode_str;
+ guint keycode;
+
+ /* convert from keysym to keycode */
+ keycode = XKeysymToKeycode (GDK_DISPLAY (), keysym);
+ if (keycode == 0) {
+ gpm_warning ("could not map keysym %x to keycode", keysym);
+ return FALSE;
+ }

  /* is the key string already in our DB? */
  keycode_str = g_strdup_printf ("0x%x", keycode);

Unfortunately I'm just the X guy, I'm not really intimately knowledgeable about what's going on inside gnome-power-manager so can't give much advice here on out.

It sort of feels like something is stealing the keyboard/mouse devices away from X, and then the vt-switch remaps things back together possibly. I'm not at all certain what could do this. On a lot of hardware there are separate devices for the keyboard, mouse, and hotkeys; on others these are mixed together in weird ways. I could vaguely guess that some weird combination could lead to things getting stolen from X in unexpected ways, but that's just a vague guess. It would show up by running `xinput list` and analyzing how the hardware's inputs are mapped.

@Saïvann Carignan

Could you please grab a gpm.log with and without that patch?

It would seem to me that without that patch that GPM would ignore all keypresses that come as keysymbols. I'm curious if backing that is just stopping GPM from responding to brighness, not actually solving the problem.

Thank you.

Mario suggested that this bug may be related to #261721, and that testing against an earlier 2.6.24 kernel with the same version of gnome-power-manager may be of use to identify if g-p-m is not bugged.

I found one of my systems reproduces the issue consistently. Of interest, booted to root with no X, showkey does not show any output when hitting the brightness keys, however the brightness does change correctly.

On further analysis, it's only the key release event that doesn't produce output. Key down generates a keycode press.

And I see what's going on in X - it's not that the device itself is stolen, just the focus. The mouse still works (you can click on the firefox icon and launch it, interactic with its buttons, etc.) but you just can't get the keyboard focus returned to it.

I'm not seeing the OCD displayed when gnome-power-manager running, but the issue clearly occurs only when g-p-m is running, so it's looking fairly solidly that g-p-m is taking the keyboard focus on the keydown brightness key events, and hanging on to it expecting a keyup event which never comes.

So I think the key up/down handling logic in g-p-m needs additional thought in light of situations like this, where the kernel isn't passing up the key-release events.

I'm unclear of the role the patch for 280646 is playing here. I *think* it is not causing the bug, but rather exposing the situation where the bug occurs. My guess is that the patch enables g-p-m to handle the key when previously it ignored it and let the hardware handle it.

In any case, I think we need g-p-m folks to analyze this more thoroughly. Ted?

Since it's narrowed to be a kernel and g-p-m issue, we can eliminate -evdev at this point.

I tested this bug with 2.6.24 kernel and it remains the same, there is not change with different kernel.

Ted : Here are the logs. In gpm-intrepid.log, each time I typed "CTRL + C" to stop gdm, it didn't stop and I just got this in terminal, until I used the tty switch trick to recover full keyboard keys.

TI:22:47:04 TH:0x91f3640 FI:gpm-button.c FN:gpm_button_filter_x_events,117
 - Key 54 not found in hash

Same symptons, different cause, and gpm not the problem:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/278781

Perhaps the root cause is the same between both?

This is confirmed on a Dell Precision M20 Mobile Workstation... nice to know what causes it...

On Mon, 2008-10-27 at 22:00 +0000, Bryce Harrington wrote:
> In any case, I think we need g-p-m folks to analyze this more
> thoroughly. Ted?

The only thing that I can figure is that in this case GPM is swallowing
the keypress, while in others it's letting GDK take care of it
completely. I'm unsure why that would make a difference, I've sorted
through the GDK-X11 source code and it all looks straight forward. I
don't see any focus locks or anything of the such.

The only thing that I could see is changing it so that GPM never
swallows the keypress. In theory this shouldn't change anything as
nobody else should be looking for it.

Could someone who can recreate this try changing this code in
src/gpm-button.c:

    egg_debug ("Key %i mapped to HAL key %s", keycode, key);
    g_signal_emit (button, signals [BUTTON_PRESSED], 0, key);

    return GDK_FILTER_REMOVE;
}

So that it it returns GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE instead of
GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE.

Thanks!

typo?
instead of GDK_FILTER_REMOVE?

On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 22:53 +0000, Bryan Quigley wrote:
> typo?
> instead of GDK_FILTER_REMOVE?

Yes. Sorry.

Ted Gould : I tried what you suggested, I changed GDK_FILTER_REMOVE to GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE in src/gdm-button.c so the source looked like this :

    egg_debug ("Key %i mapped to HAL key %s", keycode, key);
    g_signal_emit (button, signals [BUTTON_PRESSED], 0, key);

    return GDK_FILTER_CONTINUE;
}

I built, installed and restarted gnome-power-manager and tried to reproduce the bug. Result : nothing changed, I'm still able to reproduce the bug when pressing FN + arrow.

For release notes:

== Using Brightness Function Key Combination Breaks Keyboard and Menus ==
On some laptops using the function key combination to change the brightness can result in a loss of most keyboard control and an inability to fully open menus.

If you lose keyboard control do the following:
Ctrl-Alt-F1 - Brings you to a text console
Ctrl-Alt-F7 - Brings you back to your desktop

It may also be worth noting that opening gnome-power-manager and manually changing brightness with the corresponding slider makes everything (keyboard, menus, etc...) returns to normal.

Jérémie Laval : Can you give us steps to reproduce for your workaround?

It does seem to be similar to the following bugs:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/271706
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/273009
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/278781
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/291472

This is all related to volume control but the effect is the same as described.

Ricardo Wurmus : Thanks for your duplicate search, however according to the last comments in bug 271706, these are different bugs.

Saïvann Carignan : right-click on gnome-power-manager icon in taskbar, select Preferences. Go on the "On Sector" tab, normally there is a slider widget to control the screen brightness. Then, freeze the keyboard with the fn keys and it should come back to live after playing with the aforementioned slider.

Thanks! Great help!

On Fri, Oct 31, 2008 at 2:48 PM, Jérémie Laval <email address hidden> wrote:
> Saïvann Carignan : right-click on gnome-power-manager icon in taskbar,
> select Preferences. Go on the "On Sector" tab, normally there is a
> slider widget to control the screen brightness. Then, freeze the
> keyboard with the fn keys and it should come back to live after playing
> with the aforementioned slider.
>
> --
> Losing keyboard and mouse control when changing screen brightness with fn + arrow under intrepid
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/285323
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Gnome Powermanager: Unknown
> Status in Ubuntu Release Notes: New
> Status in "acpid" source package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
> Status in "gnome-power-manager" source package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
> Status in "xserver-xorg-input-evdev" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in acpid in Ubuntu Intrepid: Incomplete
> Status in gnome-power-manager in Ubuntu Intrepid: Confirmed
> Status in xserver-xorg-input-evdev in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> On my Dell inspiron 9300 laptop under intrepid (hardy did not have this problem), when I type FN + Arrow keys to change the screen brightness, Most of mouse and keyboard keys stop working.
>
> For an example : I can't type any text anywhere, ALT + F4 does not close any window, mouse clicks "partially" opens the gnome-panel menus, isn't able to close windows with the right-top x, but mouse click is still able to move a window..
>
> screencast : http://upload.leservicetechnique.com/bugs/mouse_keyboard_acpid.ogv
>
> This bug is reproducible under both metacity and compiz, and not caused by a BIOS password.
>
> A quick workaround to bring back things to normal is to switch to a VT and go back to Xorg with CTRL + ALT + F6 and CTRL + ALT + F7
>
> When changing screen brightness, I get this in Xorg.0.log :
>
> (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
> (II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
> (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
> (--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
> (II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) PS/2 Mouse: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (II) Video Bus: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
>

Jérémie Laval workaround (playing with gnome-power-manager slider) does not work in my case (thanks Jérémie for your clear description).

Confirmed same bug/issue on my Dell Inspiron 1501 with Intrepid.

Same problem on Dell Inspiron 8600. After Intrepid upgrade, brightness defaults to maximum, turning it down with Fn+ Arrow Down key results in keyboard and right-click not working.

After using Fn:

1. Left-clicking on menus causes them to be highlighted, but they do not open up. (Normally they open on click, even without releasing the button.)

2. Mouse pointer behaves erratically. It responds, but jumps around at random.

3. Process hald-addon-dell-backlight starts hogging the CPU.

Confirmed that (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and (Ctrl-Alt-F9) makes it work again and undoes all of these problems.

After clicking menu and then using this fix, menu is still highlighted, and hovering over it opens it up the rest of the way, without clicking anything.

Same problem on Dell Inspiron 5100 and Ubuntu 8.10.
Turning screen brightness up or down with Fn+Up, Fn+Down results in keyboard not working.
While keyboard is not working:
 1) Mouse is still functional, no problem with pointer moving erratically;
 2) however most menus are not responsive (confirming Endolith's point 1.);
 3) process hald-addon-dell-backlight hogs CPU (confirming Endolith's point 3.);
 4) Fn+Up/Down still works to change screen bightness
Following action bring keyboard back to normal:
 1) Switching to VM (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and back (Ctrl+Alt+F7);
 2) Killing process pgnome-power-manager;
 3) Waiting about 10-15 min;

Other combinations of special keys, such as Fn+PageUp (sound volume up), Fn+PageDown (sound volume down), Fn+End (sound mute/unmute), Fn+Ins (Print Screen) are fully functional and do not cause any problem. However, these do not work while keyboard is blocked after using Fn+Up/Down keys.

I have a very similar problem with 8.10 on my Dell Inspiront 640m (equivalent to the E1504)

I have the same problems as Karl M except I do not have anything using large amounts of CPU when the keyboard is non responsive.

One other strange behavior I noticed is that when the gnome-power-manager is on there does not appear to be a one to one correlation between pressing fn-up/down and brightness level changes. However the brightness changes just fine(aka one step per press) with the gnome-power-manager off).

I'm showing the same issue on my Dell Inspiron 8600.

Here's a question for those that posted, what graphics card and graphics driver do you have? Could these be related to the now unsupported ATI 9xxx series cards in fglrx, thus forcing us to use the default MESA drivers?

"Mouse is still functional, no problem with pointer moving erratically"

The mouse is functional and usable, but occasionally jerks around. Maybe it's happening for you too, but not as noticeable?

"Here's a question for those that posted, what graphics card and graphics driver do you have?"

Mine is Nvidia, though that also failed during the upgrade, and I haven't gotten it working yet, so I think it's using vesa drivers as a fallback.

"Here's a question for those that posted, what graphics card and graphics driver do you have?"

Mine is fglrx, ATI Mobility Radeon X1100. I did a new/clean install of ubuntu 8.10

Greetings

My card is a "GeForce Go 7300" running the nvidia driver.

Thanks

Eric

My card on the Dell Inspiron 6000 is the Intel 910.

At least I can use (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and (Ctrl-Alt-F9) to make it work again and undo all of these problems.
Ray

p.s. Thanks Saïvann for marking my report as a duplicate of this as I did not find this and this has the work around

well, I'm not sure how to see what driver i'm using, but i'm not using any
proprietary drivers. I'm using the Intel integrated Mobile Chipset 945GM.
 I don't think it's unsupported ATI cards... at least on my machine.

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 9:54 AM, Christoph Shipley <email address hidden> wrote:

> I'm showing the same issue on my Dell Inspiron 8600.
>
> Here's a question for those that posted, what graphics card and graphics
> driver do you have? Could these be related to the now unsupported ATI
> 9xxx series cards in fglrx, thus forcing us to use the default MESA
> drivers?
>
> --
> Losing keyboard and mouse control when changing screen brightness with fn +
> arrow under intrepid
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/285323
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of a duplicate bug.
>
> Status in Gnome Powermanager: Unknown
> Status in Ubuntu Release Notes: New
> Status in "acpid" source package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
> Status in "gnome-power-manager" source package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
> Status in "xserver-xorg-input-evdev" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in acpid in Ubuntu Intrepid: Incomplete
> Status in gnome-power-manager in Ubuntu Intrepid: Confirmed
> Status in xserver-xorg-input-evdev in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> On my Dell inspiron 9300 laptop under intrepid (hardy did not have this
> problem), when I type FN + Arrow keys to change the screen brightness, Most
> of mouse and keyboard keys stop working.
>
> For an example : I can't type any text anywhere, ALT + F4 does not close
> any window, mouse clicks "partially" opens the gnome-panel menus, isn't able
> to close windows with the right-top x, but mouse click is still able to move
> a window..
>
> screencast :
> http://upload.leservicetechnique.com/bugs/mouse_keyboard_acpid.ogv
>
> This bug is reproducible under both metacity and compiz, and not caused by
> a BIOS password.
>
> A quick workaround to bring back things to normal is to switch to a VT and
> go back to Xorg with CTRL + ALT + F6 and CTRL + ALT + F7
>
> When changing screen brightness, I get this in Xorg.0.log :
>
> (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
> (II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
> (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
> (--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
> (II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: EmulateWheelButton: 4,
> EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) PS/2 Mouse: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10,
> EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (II) Video Bus: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
>

The Dell Inspiron 5100 I have has ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7500C card, and I am using the open source driver that got installed by default.

To Endolith:
"The mouse is functional and usable, but occasionally jerks around. Maybe it's happening for you too, but not as noticeable?"

 - I really don't see anything like that. But I don't think these details are so important. I think we are all seeing the same bug that leads to broken keyboard plus some variations in behavior for different machines.

I am experiencing this problem on my Dell Inspiron 8600 with a GeForceFX Go 5200 card using the nVidia driver installed by Ubuntu's Restricted Driver manager. As with the others, this problem only occurs in 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex).

A similiar thing is happening to me on my Dell e6400 running 8.10. It only seems to happen when I'm running a dual head display. When I'm at home, with only the laptop display (i.e. now) I can't make it happen.

I find occasionally (mostly when running a virtualbox vm and clicking the hot key to leave the vm and when running vnc to a remote machine and then returning to my host with the mouse.

When it happens, I can move the mouse, but clicking it does nothing. I can alt-tab to go between windows, and can use the keyboard. I haven't tried the control-alt-f1 - will do so tomorrow. When it happens, I do a control-alt-backspace and log in again (most annoying!).

I am running with a Nvidia Quadro NVS 160M.

This is a kernel problem that affects Dell laptops. It has been fixed upstream by Matthew Garrett. The issue is that some keys on a Dell laptop do not produce a key down, key up sequence when the button is pressed, and instead just produce key down and NOT key up. This confuses X greatly, as more and more keys are being pressed "together". This is fixed in 61579ba83934d397a4fa2bb7372de9ae112587d5 on 15th August in Linus' tree.

Author: Matthew Garrett <email address hidden>
Date: Fri Aug 15 13:54:51 2008 -0400

    Input: atkbd - expand Latitude's force release quirk to other Dells

    Dell laptops fail to send key up events for several of their special
    keys. There's an existing quirk in the kernel to handle this, but it's
    limited to the Latitude range. This patch extends it to cover all
    portable Dells.

    Signed-off-by: Matthew Garrett <email address hidden>
    Signed-off-by: Dmitry Torokhov <email address hidden>

diff --git a/drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c b/drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c
index 4474572..22016ca 100644
--- a/drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c
+++ b/drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c
@@ -834,10 +834,10 @@ static void atkbd_disconnect(struct serio *serio)
 }

 /*
- * Most special keys (Fn+F?) on Dell Latitudes do not generate release
+ * Most special keys (Fn+F?) on Dell laptops do not generate release
  * events so we have to do it ourselves.
  */
-static void atkbd_latitude_keymap_fixup(struct atkbd *atkbd)
+static void atkbd_dell_laptop_keymap_fixup(struct atkbd *atkbd)
 {
        const unsigned int forced_release_keys[] = {
                0x85, 0x86, 0x87, 0x88, 0x89, 0x8a, 0x8b, 0x8f, 0x93,
@@ -1451,13 +1451,13 @@ static int __init atkbd_setup_fixup(const struct dmi_system_id *id)

 static struct dmi_system_id atkbd_dmi_quirk_table[] __initdata = {
        {
- .ident = "Dell Latitude series",
+ .ident = "Dell Laptop",
                .matches = {
                        DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell Inc."),
- DMI_MATCH(DMI_PRODUCT_NAME, "Latitude"),
+ DMI_MATCH(DMI_CHASSIS_TYPE, "8"), /* Portable */
                },
                .callback = atkbd_setup_fixup,
- .driver_data = atkbd_latitude_keymap_fixup,
+ .driver_data = atkbd_dell_laptop_keymap_fixup,
        },
        {
                .ident = "HP 2133",

Per Richard's last comment, I'm opening a linux kernel task for this bug. If anyone else would be able to test and confirm this patch resolves this issue for them as well that would be great. Thanks.

Looks like the patch has recently been applied to the Intrepid kernel. A kernel which contains this patch will eventually be uploaded to intrepid-proposed for people to test. We'll try to update you when it's available. Thanks.

commit 8948ecffc8c56009c4580e684d6e385b2bad96df
Author: Matthew Garrett <email address hidden>
Date: Fri Aug 15 13:54:51 2008 -0400

    Input: atkbd - expand Latitude's force release quirk to other Dells

    Bug: #284066

    Dell laptops fail to send key up events for several of their special
    keys. There's an existing quirk in the kernel to handle this, but it's
    limited to the Latitude range. This patch extends it to cover all
    portable Dells.

I'm using a Fujitsu Siemens Pa1510 Laptop and have the same problem!

Greetings

Indeed, I confirm that upstream patch pointed by Richard Huges fixes this bug! I just built intrepid kernel with that patch applied and the issue isn't reproducible anymore since I installed the patched kernel.

OK, I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 (UK MM01) model, and I am seeing the same issues only with these keys:

fn+F1, fn+F2, fn+F8.

...no release is registered.

So this Dell bug seems to affect different models in different ways.

I look forward to this kernel upgrade so I can get standby and wireless keys to work again without having to fudge it up in Fluxbox menu.

Nick

Saïvann, thanks so much for testing and confirming the patch works for you (especially since you are the original bug reporter). The kernel is still trying to work it's way into intrepid-proposed for everyone to test. For now I'm closing the gnome-power-manager task as this has been confirmed to be a kernel bug. Thanks.

Good to hear this is being looked at, I thought I was the only one.

Something not mentioned that I experienced is that when pressing the Fn+up my brightness would go up AND my volume would go down at the same time.

Hope to see this official soon! Thanks for the hard work everyone!

Leann Ogasawara :

For now I'm closing the gnome-power-manager task as this has been confirmed to be a kernel bug.

It isn't, and hasn't been. This is a bug with Dell portables. The kernel patch is a hack to fix up the buggy crap.

Nick

Is there a package in intrepid-proposed we can test already?

The cause of this problem is explained as DELLs not sending the Key Up events. In my case I see a tight loop of KeyPress/KeyRelease events (in xev), as I have explained in bug#288579 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/288579), which was closed as a duplicate of this. Is it really the same bug / root-cause?

OK, I built my own kernel with the above kernel patch applied.

This works good. My wireless key now functions again, and the CDEject key (XF86Eject) when mapped to Fluxbox keys file works too without locking up the desktop input.

xev reports all fn keys to work properly (apart from F3, and F8 that don't report anything, I don't know why).

I would say as this affects so many people that purchased shipped Ubuntu Dell portable systems, it should be upgraded to a more important category.

Nick

If there was existing code in the kernel to fix the bug on Dell Latitudes, why did it stop working in Intrepid? I didn't have this problem in Gutsy or Hardy. (Dell D600) This seems like a regression of some sort, or am I missing something?

I had the same problem.. but I resolved it removing following lines:

   # These was proposed as workaround for bug #203861
   blacklist video

from

   /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Bye G. Vicino

Thanks Guido Vicino!

I had the same problem with the Fn + arrow keys to change brightness on my M1330. I used "blacklist video" in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist as a workaround for <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell/+bug/226981">bug #226981</a>.
Removing "blacklist video" fixed the problems with the keys locking up, but <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/dell/+bug/226981">bug #226981</a> returned.

At least I can change the brightness without locking up the computer, even though I know change it with 4 increments a time.

Sorry for the errors in my last comment.

As an update, when I adjust the screen brightness I am now experiencing sudden X restarts after removing "blacklist video".

I'm using Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex with all updates on a Dell M1330.

I have the same bug with 8.10 (64 bits) on a Dell Inspiron 1501. When I press Fn+Up to change the brightness, the keyboard stops to work and I can't click on the gnome menu bar. I use Ctrl+Alt+F# as a workaround. There was no such bug with Hardy.

I don't know if it could be useful but the bug isn't triggered when using Fn+Down..

This bug affects me -- Dell Vostro 1000. As with DanL, pressing Fn+Up also makes volume go down.

As a Inspiron 1501 user who encountered this bug, I can confirm that the kernel update to 2.6.27-8 in ubuntu-proposed fixes this issue. Thanks!

I had this problem on Dell Inspiron 5100, Ubuntu 8.10 and now that I updated the kernel to 2.6.27-8 the problem persists exactly the same way as I described it before. Is this update supposed to fix it?

I am not sure if the following is relevant, but here is what I think may be the reason for this.
I looked at the changes to /drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c, as reported by Richard Hughes earlier, and realized that the condition for this patch to work is that some hardware identification strings need to match with whatever string is written in that file (/drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c). So, assume this file contains a comparison like this:

    DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell Inc."),

However, on my system, when I execute
$ sudo dmidecode | grep Vendor
the output is:
 Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation

which, although referring to the same manufacturer, is still entirely different string. Maybe the problem is that different laptops identify themselves with slightly differently and the patch is not general enough to account for all of them?

Attached is output after sudo dmidecode.

Karl M., interesting.

I have reported this to the kernel guys, as obviously the patch fails to cover all the vendor names Dell use, and as in your case, the fix is not applicable (but still needed).

I guess the kernel guys will need to be told as new and different vendor monikers appear.

http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=122638966722351&w=2

What is the model name, BTW?

Nick

output from dmidecode gives me a Vendor string of "Dell Computer Corporation" as well, Dell Latitude D600 -> latest kernel still has issue for me, obviously.

dmidecode gives me "Dell Inc." but the latest kernel update hasn't fixed this issue.
i'm on a dell precision m4300 here

another issue that might be related is, that everytime i try to switch to a VT it jumps back to X after one second – switching then again to VT works.

sorry to write again :-/

i was to fast writing my last comment... it must have been some different quirk.
fn+down/up work now, and xev only reports one keydown a time.

sorry again, and thanks!

So it is me with Dell Inspiron 5100 again. To answer Lethe's question, the model is identified as:

 sudo dmidecode | grep 5100
 Product Name: Inspiron 5100

I attached the output of dmidecode on my laptop previously, I understand that most info should be there. Please let me know if you need more information beyond that.

I recompiled the kernel with the only change being that in /drivers/input/keyboard/atkbd.c, the line

DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell Inc."),

replaced with

DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell Computer Corporation"),

and now the recompiled kernel indeed does not have any problem with Fn+Up, Fn+Down keys on my machine. Of course, this kernel would not work for those Dell laptops which are from "Dell Inc.". So it is really about differences in how these laptops identify themselves.

Do I really suffer same bug, if my laptop is not Dell, but Mitac? (8050QDA)
Enabled intrepid proposed today and applied updates - no change.

confirming that 2.6.27.8 kernel fixes the problem on DELL Inspiron 9400; (Identified as "Del Inc."). xev no longer shows the KeyPress/KeyRelease loop, and OSD for brightness is working.

However a minor issue I noticed was that brightness up/down steps were not consistent. After going to 100% brightness and reducing using Fn+down, I hit minimum brightness when OSD shows only 50%; OSD goes down to 0% if I keep pressing Fn+down; Now when I increase via Fn+up, it starts to increase properly and and brightness hits max when OSD shows 100% (which is correct).

There is a another patch been issued to cover the other 'Dell Computer Corporation' case:

http://marc.info/?t=121868482900003&r=1&w=2

klerfayt: If you see the very same symptoms, maybe you need to mail the LKML with more details - this could be another of these machines that does not report key press release.

wolfie2x: I use to see this in Gnome - this is a Gnome visual bug, not the controls.

Nixk

confirming that 2.6.27.8 kernel fixes the problem on DELL Inspiron 6000 but the OSD does NOT work and the brightness applet also does NOT work. My machine does identify as Dell Inc. too.
Ray

Still broken on an Inspiron 8600 with 2.6.27-8-generic proposed update.

I am also facing the same problem on my DELL PRECISION M4300 (ubuntu 8.10 32bit). I came to know the culprit is "Fn+arrow" due to this bug(thanks to google ..)

alteast I am happy that there is workaround (ctrl+alt+f1 and ctrl+alt+f7).. Until now I had no other option than logout and login.. :(

Also since I know the root cause , I might try to avoid it :(

But please release the patch ASAP. If there is one and if it doesn't cause other new problems, please point me to it.

I verified this bug doesn't happen on my friend's Dell Latitude E6400.
Hmm, So not all dell laptops are affected..

Satya, on the M4300 what is output from:

sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"

if it says 'Dell Computer Corporation' that is why the fix doesn't work - another kernel patch has be suggested, which hasn't yet made it in the tree.

http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=122650907006352&w=2

On Thu, 2008-11-13 at 09:11 +0000, Lethe wrote:
> Satya, on the M4300 what is output from:
>
> sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1
> -b1 "Product Name"

This is what I get on my M4300:

will@acropora:~$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode
| grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
2899-BIOS Information
2916: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2935- Version: A09
3860- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3885: Product Name: Precision M4300
3933- Version: Not Specified
--
4150- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4175: Product Name: 0UY141
4197- Version:

Nico

satya@satya-laptop:~$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
2899-BIOS Information
2916: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2935- Version: A12
3860- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3885: Product Name: Precision M4300
3933- Version: Not Specified
--
4150- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4175: Product Name: 0UY141
4197- Version:

Lethe,

I haven't tested the patch that is released in proposed updates. I have seen comments that the proposed update on this caused some new problems.

If there is stable patch for this in proposed updated, do let me know

Thanks,
Satya

For Dell Inspiron 1501 users, it appears as if a BIOS Update to 2.6.3 fixes this problem, as I have been unable to recreate the error under this BIOS version. I upgraded from BIOS 1.7.0.

On Thu, 2008-11-13 at 09:40 +0000, Nico wrote:
> On Thu, 2008-11-13 at 09:11 +0000, Lethe wrote:
> > Satya, on the M4300 what is output from:
> >
> > sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i
> -a1
> > -b1 "Product Name"

On my M65 I have :

nico@youkaida:~/Desktop$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo
dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
2879-BIOS Information
2896: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2915- Version: A09
3839- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3864: Product Name: Precision M65
3912- Version: Not Specified
--
4129- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4154: Product Name: 0JF242
4176- Version:

The backlight is mostly back to normal, at least not as broken as it
used to be, which is nice, but the OSD is still not there.

Nico

same here on my m65:

2879-BIOS Information
2896: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2915- Version: A08
3839- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3864: Product Name: Precision M65
3912- Version: Not Specified
--
4129- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4154: Product Name: 0JF242
4176- Version:

Workaround is to deselect "reduce backlight brightness" on battery power in powermanagement.... and don't touch the brightness control...

I get this on a Dell Inspiron 8600, if it's relevant:

523-BIOS Information
540: Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
575- Version: A10
1429- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1470: Product Name: Inspiron 8600
1518- Version: Not Specified
--
1697- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1738: Product Name: 0Y4572
1760- Version:

same issue on a Dell Studio 1535
ATI Radeon HD 3400
fglrx driver
ubuntu intrepid

I have inspiron 9200, with ATI video card. The OS is Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10
Other information obtained using lshw coomand:
description: Portable Computer
    product: Inspiron 9200
    vendor: Dell Inc.
    serial: B6KRH1J
    width: 32 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: 0G7183
       vendor: Dell Inc.
       physical id: 0
       slot: en|US|iso8859-1
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Dell Inc.
          physical id: 0
          version: A01 (02/01/2005)
          size: 64KiB
          capacity: 448KiB

When adjust the backlight with FN + ARROW the CPU increases up to 100%.
The solution to restore the CPU to normal use is by pressing the key combination CTRL + ALT + F1.

I'm running Xubuntu 8.10. Same problem. Attaching Xorg log, lspci-nnvv and dmesg.

If you kill "gnome-power-manager" and change brightness, then alt+F2 and reload it the everything will still work. It must be a problem with gnome-power-manager.

Confirm that killing gpm on dell latitude d600, change brightness, then alt+f2 and reload gpm and everything still works.

I'm going to vote for gpm being an issue too. I've given up on this getting fixed properly soon, and went back to 8.04. I don't have any issues with input and the OSD for the screen brightness works fine. Just to be clear, DOWNGRADING the distribution works, but not downgrading the kernel, which I tried earlier. To be sure, the cause is some quirky hardware, but it seems more logical for gpm to be able to handle the unexpected behavior more gracefully, rather than patching the kernel for random bits of hardware, that may or may not need a work around.

Killing gnome power manager does not fix any Fn+VolumeUp/VolumeDown/ToggleMute problems on Mitac 8050QDA - does this mean I do not have the same bug, just the symptoms and should I open a new separate bug report?

Trying to fix something else (sound problems), I ended up partially (almost completely) fixing this bug. The two problems I had disappeared: when I press Fn+up the keyboard does not lock, and volume is not changed. (What still feels buggy is that, when changing brightness levels, I get a very short flash of the screen in a different brightness setting, and then it goes to the appropriate level. OSD works fine, though.)

What seemed to fix this was following a HOWTO for reconfiguring PulseAudio: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=789578. Could there be any relation? I'm not good enough in Ubuntu to diagnose that by myself, but I'm definitely willing to help if anyone wants to tell me what to do / look for.

There was an update today that I think was called "xkb-data", as far as I can tell it has fixed my brightness problems. I no longer lose power to my keyboard, the volume does not go down when my brightness goes up and the mouse right click works too.

Has the fix hit the repositories yet? I still am getting this problem on an Inspiron 8600 with all the latest patches including proposed and backports. When I alter the brightness, the keyboard stops working and the process 'hald-addon-dell' sits at the top of the list output by the 'top' command, until I use ctrl-alt-f1 followed by ctrl-alt-f9 to fix it. So might it be a problem with hald-addon-dell?

The patch mentioned above in comment https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpid/+bug/285323/comments/70 is available for testing in the 2.6.27-8.17 kernel that's available in intrepid-proposed. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Please let us know your results if you are able to test. Thanks in advance!

Leann Ogasawara : I confirm that this bug is *not* fixed with 2.6.27-8.17 kernel from intrepid-proposed. I previously built linux kernel with Richard Huges upstream patch and it definitively fixed the bug. Installing Linux kernel from intrepid proposed bring back the bug to life, so that probably means that the patch isn't applied to linux kernel in -proposed.

I am running the 2.6.27-8-generic kernel build a few minutes ago using the launchpad linux_2.6.27.orig.tar.gz and linux_2.6.27-8.17.diff.gz sources and the bug is gone.

Leann Ogasawara : I'm sorry, my last comment was wrong. My /boot/grub/menu.lst file didn't update correctly and I was still on the old kernel. The bug is fixed in 2.6.27.10.13 kernel in intrepid-proposed.

With 2.6.27-10 from -proposed the keyboard control for backlight works with 7 levels of dimming up and down.

However, the brightness OSD is still not showing when using the keyboard shortcut. It is only showing briefly when I plug-unplug the power cord and g-p-m updates the brightness level automatically.

In fact -10 did not bring visible improvements, or regression, for me compared to -8.

$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
[sudo] password for nico:
2879-BIOS Information
2896: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2915- Version: A09
3839- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3864: Product Name: Precision M65
3912- Version: Not Specified
--
4129- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4154: Product Name: 0JF242
4176- Version:

Still broken with Dell Inspiron 8600
Linux 2.6.27-10
xkb-data 1.3-2ubuntu4.2

Just to confirm: The newest proposed kernel (2.6.27-10-generic) still does not solve locked keys in Dell Inspiron 600m/D600. I am still using xkb-data version 1.3.2ubuntu4.2 .

Wirawan

Forgot version string on posting #126. Ubuntu kernel version string is 2.6.27-10.20 .

Wirawan

FYI the same problem described occurs on a DELL Inspiron 6000 laptop. Proposed kernel fixes does not solve the problem. Alswo tried changing the BIOS and BIOS options without altering the problem.

Hi Jimig,
Have you upgraded to 2.6.27-10? I have an Inspiron 6000 and on -8 and -10 the problem of the locked keys is sorted. I still hace a hassle with the gnome-power-manager OSD and brightness applet not showing the current level.
Ray

The same on Dell Latitude X300 (lightness fn+up/down, and eject fn+F10)

linux-image-2.6.27-10-generic
version 2.6.27-10.20

linux-image-generic
version 2.6.27.10.13

Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation

System: Intrepid Ibex. See comment #126 for more hardware/software detail.

* Commenting suggestion from Jérémie Laval: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/intrepid/+source/linux/+bug/285323/comments/51 -- I also found that this trick did not work for me (as Saïvann Carignan mentioned in comment #53)

* Confirming Endolith's 3rd observation in comment #56 above: hald-addon-dell-backlight is taking much CPU (~48%; or if I have firefox as the main window: X ~ 32%, hald-addon-dell-backlight ~ 14-18%, firefox ~10%).

* Confirming comment #91 by Daniel Knitt-Frank: When I got locked due to Fn+up/dn, then when I used Ctrl+Alt+F{n} (n = 1..6) for the first time (as the suggested for workaround), the X screen somehow pops back in before I even pressed Ctrl+Alt+F7. I had to press Ctrl+Alt+F{n} then Ctrl+Alt+F7 again to fully restore the functionality of keyboard (just to be safe). Weird.

Also related, probably: after the suspend and resume, sometimes the LCD brightness slider would not work anymore. But later on (don't remember whether I suspended again or not in between) it worked again. I may need to open a separate thread for this bug. But for now I just want to make a comment on that.

My DMI vendor string is also "Dell Computer Corporation", so I'm out of luck with the fix already in the kernel. When will somebody act upon this?

Wirawan

Also affecting me, Dell XPS M170 laptop.

brightness OSD is working since recent updates – at least when on battery, couldn't test with AC plugged in yet.
x-brightness applet still has some problems getting correct brightness level, but that is low priority i'd say

Dell Precision M4300

Can confirm the birghtness applet and OSD is working on my Dell Inspiron 6000 since I updated yesterday.
Ray

the new gnome-power-manager in -updates fixes the last OSD issue on my Dell Precision M65. So all loks good to me.

I expect my Dell Precision M4300 to react the same way. If not, I'll report back once tested.

Many thanks for the efforts devs!

I installed the newest gnome-power-manager (2.24.0-0ubuntu8.1) on my Dell Lattitude D600. The result was mixed (I am using xubuntu 8.10, BTW):

* Now I can see the OSD when adjusting the brightness up and down. However, the keyboard was still locked as a result of pressing Fn+Up or Fn+Dn.

* On one occasion I did not see the OSD, but somehow pressing Fn+Up or Fn+Dn did NOT lock my keyboard. I will find out how I could get to this situation.

Tried with the latest 2.6.27-11-generic and all other updates and bug still exists for me.
Dell Latitude D600 (Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation)

I have the same issue on a Dell precision M4300. It also happens when not using hotkeys, almost randomly, a few times a hour. Under both 32 and 64 bits.
As a side note, when the problem happens, i press ctrl-alt-F1 and the screen flickers to text mode, but very often comes back "by itself" to graphic mode.

$ uname -a
Linux dell64 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 22:15:32 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
2899-BIOS Information
2916: Vendor: Dell Inc.
2935- Version: A10
3860- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
3885: Product Name: Precision M4300
3933- Version: Not Specified
--
4150- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
4175: Product Name: 0UY141
4197- Version:

Same issues on a Inspiron 1100, adjust brightness using the hotkeys, OSD level comes up and can adjust brightness but then the rest of the keyboard is unresponsive.

$ uname -a
Linux deformedrabbit 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

$ dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 vendor; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
1278- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1319: Product Name: Inspiron 1100
1367- Version: Not Specified
--
1546- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1587: Product Name: 09U784
1609- Version:

Additionally, my BIOS version is A32 (the latest available) and this bug did not exist on the standard hardy distribution; the changing brightness (and volume) hotkeys worked perfectly. I upgraded to intrepid today because of the beautiful perl it contains... what's happening with this bug? Can I upload anything helpful?

something similar has occured in my lenovo y500 laptop.
mouse clicks close/minimise windows but do not open panel menus or any other icon. even pressing enter doesn't open selected icons. i logout and log back(CTRL + ALT + BSPC) in to make it all right. this has happened while changing the volume in vlc or using the super key for the water effect of compiz-fusion or while the laptop was idle for a while.
here's what my xorg.conf looks like

sameer@Sameer-laptop:~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

Before ...

mitch@i8600:~$ uname -a
Linux i8600 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

mitch@i8600:~$ sudo lsb_release -a|grep Description
Description: Ubuntu 8.10

mitch@i8600:~$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Vendor"; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
523-BIOS Information
540: Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
575- Version: A14
1429- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1470: Product Name: Inspiron 8600
1518- Version: Not Specified
--
1697- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1738: Product Name: 0P3490
1760- Version:

* Confirming comment #56 by Endolith, 1st and 3rd observation: hald-addon-dell-backlight is taking much CPU, and strange behaviour of menus.

* Confirming comment #91 by Daniel Knitt-Frank: When I got locked due to Fn+up/dn, I had to press Ctrl+Alt+F{n} then Ctrl+Alt+F7 again to fully restore the functionality of keyboard.

* Confirming as well comments #126 and #131 by Wirawan Purwanto.

* Try last kernel from intrepid-proposed (2.6.27-11-generic, 22 dec.), no change.

* Apply patch from Richard Hughes in comment #68 with modification from Kārlis M. in comment #93 (sources from git, on 24 dec.)
static struct dmi_system_id atkbd_dmi_quirk_table[] __initdata = {
        {
                .ident = "Dell Laptop",
                .matches = {
                        DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell Computer Corporation"),
                        DMI_MATCH(DMI_CHASSIS_TYPE, "8"),
                },
                .callback = atkbd_setup_fixup,
                .driver_data = atkbd_dell_laptop_keymap_fixup,
        },
Not so easy to compile ;-) (I haven't done it from years...)
Reboot, and ... it works !

mitch@i8600:~$ uname -a
Linux i8600 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Wed Dec 24 14:40:03 CET 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

I forget to change the flavor...

This point is still not taken in account in new kernel release ?

I am in an identical situation to the above comment (Guillaume LAURENT, Inspiron 8600, DMI Vendor "Dell Computer Corporation", Intrepid), applied modified Richard Hughes patch, recompiled, and the problem is fixed. The most recent kernel in ubuntu-proposed (-11 I believe) does not fix the problem.

Hi everybody,

There has been no further discussion from anyone for a little while; new posts seem to repeat the existing bug description. I am surprised that such a long bug report hasn't be acted upon promptly, although the fix is easy to make (albeit being a dirty workaround):

This dire situation we are having with Dell laptops can be easily fixed if the patch proposed in comment #142 is incorporated into the current file atkbd.c in the Linux kernel, by adding an additional record in the atkbd_dmi_quirk_table[] array using the second commonly-found DMI string match: "Dell Computer Corporation", in addition to the "Dell Inc." string. This is dirty indeed, as we have two records of similar things. But this would get rid of the problem for virtually all Dell users. Could one of the Ubuntu developers do this for us, please? The recent gnome power manager is not fixing the problem either.

I agree totally with Wirawan. This bug, though small, is very serious. I found the workaround Ctrl+Alt+Fx by myself because I wanted to check the problem from the command line, but there are more and more users out there who have no idea that their Linux has six text terminals. The only thing they know is: if I use completely normal keys on my keyboard, Linux crashes. Their conclusion will be that Ubuntu, or Linux in general, sucks.

My setup, in case anybody is interested: Inspiron 1150, Linux inspiron1150 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux.

onno@inspiron1150:~$ sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Vendor"; sudo dmidecode | grep -i -a1 -b1 "Product Name"
372-BIOS Information
389: Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
424- Version: A05
1278- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1319: Product Name: Inspiron 1150
1367- Version: Not Specified
--
1546- Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
1587: Product Name: 0F3553
1609- Version:

I am very grateful for all the people here who have spent time debugging this! Thank you all. I hope the patch is incorporated in the kernel soon.

Guys, I have just asked the kernel people to apply the 'Dell Computer Corporation' patch as it was proposed, but didn't seem to make it into the lastest kernel release.

http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=123055061901679&w=2

Hopefully if it is applied, Ubuntu kernel team will pick it up and backport.

Nick

I'm not really fluent in kernel's code, but if we use :

DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "Dell")

it might works for both :
Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
and
Vendor: Dell Inc.

No ?

No. I think DMI_MATCH(DMI_SYS_VENDOR, "...") requires a full match, not a substring.

Refer now:

http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=123056100215208&w=2

Nick

quick & dirty workaround while the kernel is getting fixed:
xmodmap -e 'keycode 232 = XF86_Switch_VT_7'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 233 = XF86_Switch_VT_7'

I see this is targeting intrepid-updates, but that is not slated until 2010-04-30. Is there any other way to push this to Intrepid users faster?

The original upstream fix is present in the 2.6.27-11.22 kernel in intrepid-proposed, but this fix only covers the "Dell Inc." case; rolling back the bug state, since it appears another fix is still needed here.

Andrew, the date of "intrepid-updates" is actually the deadline after which updates for intrepid *stop* being published; this fix can be made available to users of Ubuntu 8.10 any time before that, developer time allowing.

I prodded the kernel guys to get the "Dell Computer Corporation" one in, and it is now queued:

http://marc.info/?t=123056113700003&r=1&w=2

... but also on my thread in the forums, it appears there is now another bloody option, but the user doesn't state if he has same issues with keyboard quirks:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6488632#post6488632

261-BIOS Information
278: Vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
312- Version: A04
809- Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
834: Product Name: Inspiron 700m
869- Version: -1
--
1050- Manufacturer: DELL SYSTEM
1077: Product Name: 0D9593
1099- Version:

I also have "Phoenix Technologies, LTD" on my dmidecode output..
This is on my Dell Studio 1535, I bought it from dell.com/ubuntu w/ Hardy on it originally and the brightness function key combo worked fine on Hardy, but after upgrading to Intrepid, weird things happened with the brightnes function keys and applet.

If I try to change the brightness, the bar on the brightness applet that comes up is not synchronized with the actual brightness of the screen. If i go to lower the brightness, the screen will get dimmer in increments as it's supposed to, but the bar on the applet with drop to the far left like I turned the brightness all the way down. The keyboard also doesn't respond properly after adjusting brightness, and the applet doesn't go away. If I switch to another tty and back again, all is normal, the brightness applet is gone and the keyboard works fine.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
 Version: 6.00 PG
 Release Date: 08/03/2005
 Address: 0xE0000
 Runtime Size: 128 kB
 ROM Size: 512 kB

Scratch that dmidecode information, I ran dmidecode on the wrong machine and I'm new to Launchpad
Sorry about that... everything before the dmidecode information is still true.

Here's the actual dmidecode information for my laptop:

BIOS Information
Vendor: Dell Inc.
Version: A05
Release Date: 07/30/2008
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB
ROM Size: 2048 kB

Lethe, I spoke to the user who reported the Phoenix BIOS and it looks like there is no problem with that version. The current kernel patches should fix the problem for all the known cases. This is what the user said:

"As of this date, and with the latest updates (as of yesterday)... Brightness and volume controls work perfectly. Volume controls interface perfectly with Ubuntu (that is, the volume indicator matches the volume settings). The Ubuntu brightness indicator does not work, but the keys do. I've never experienced any problems with function key locking behaviour"

Also happening here on a Dell Latitude D800. Confirmed that my Vendor is "Dell Computer Corporation" also.

On my system, at least, a variant of Rich's workaround is serving me just fine. I added the following to my ~/.xmodmaprc :

keycode 232 = Shift_L
keycode 233 = Shift_R

This prevents those keycodes from triggering the Gnome Brightness Applet entirely, which seems to bypass the problem. The screen brightness still changes. I think I personally may keep this enabled even after this bug gets resolved. I see no value in having a little slightly-out-of-sync bar graph pop up to tell me how bright my screen is anyway; my eyes will serve that purpose just fine. :)

Hi
same problem here, with same symptoms.

using dell inspiron 5150, with ati mobility radeon 9000 graphics card, and using the foss ati driver

trying to change brightness causes the keyboard to stop working, mouse still works fine, panel menus fail to come up, though. CPU is being eaten, and changing brightness still works.

switching to a VTY and back fixes things good as new, though.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 7:04 AM, Chris Hillery <email address hidden> wrote:
> Also happening here on a Dell Latitude D800. Confirmed that my Vendor is
> "Dell Computer Corporation" also.

Chris, can you post the output from these commands?

dmidecode -t bios | head -8
dmidecode -t system | head -8

Here's mine for another example:

BIOS Information
 Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
 Version: A14
 Release Date: 06/30/2005
System Information
 Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
 Product Name: Inspiron 8600
 Version: Not Specified

Here's my dmidecode info, in case it's needed. Again, this is a dell inspiron 5150.

dmidecode -t bios :
------
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
 Version: A37
 Release Date: 09/29/2004

dmidecode -t system
-------
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
 Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
 Product Name: Inspiron 5150
 Version: Not Specified

I'm having the same problems. Here's my output to those last two commands:

~# dmidecode -t bios | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
    Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
    Version: A17
    Release Date: 06/29/2005

~# dmidecode -t system | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
    Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
    Product Name: Inspiron 600m
    Version: Not Specified

On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 9:00 PM, nanotube <email address hidden> wrote:

> Here's my dmidecode info, in case it's needed. Again, this is a dell
> inspiron 5150.
>
> dmidecode -t bios :
> ------
> # dmidecode 2.9
> SMBIOS 2.3 present.
>
> Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
> BIOS Information
> Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
> Version: A37
> Release Date: 09/29/2004
>
> dmidecode -t system
> -------
> # dmidecode 2.9
> SMBIOS 2.3 present.
>
> Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
> System Information
> Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
> Product Name: Inspiron 5150
> Version: Not Specified
>
> --
> Losing keyboard and mouse control when changing screen brightness with fn +
> arrow under intrepid
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/285323
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Gnome Powermanager: Invalid
> Status in Ubuntu Release Notes: New
> Status in "acpid" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "gnome-power-manager" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in "linux" source package in Ubuntu: New
> Status in "xserver-xorg-input-evdev" source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in acpid in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
> Status in gnome-power-manager in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
> Status in linux in Ubuntu Intrepid: Triaged
> Status in xserver-xorg-input-evdev in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> On my Dell inspiron 9300 laptop under intrepid (hardy did not have this
> problem), when I type FN + Arrow keys to change the screen brightness, Most
> of mouse and keyboard keys stop working.
>
> For an example : I can't type any text anywhere, ALT + F4 does not close
> any window, mouse clicks "partially" opens the gnome-panel menus, isn't able
> to close windows with the right-top x, but mouse click is still able to move
> a window..
>
> screencast :
> http://upload.leservicetechnique.com/bugs/mouse_keyboard_acpid.ogv
>
> This bug is reproducible under both metacity and compiz, and not caused by
> a BIOS password.
>
> A quick workaround to bring back things to normal is to switch to a VT and
> go back to Xorg with CTRL + ALT + F6 and CTRL + ALT + F7
>
> When changing screen brightness, I get this in Xorg.0.log :
>
> (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
> (II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
> (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
> (--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
> (II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) Macintosh mous...

As requested:

-----
janus# dmidecode -t bios | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Dell Computer Corporation
 Version: A11
 Release Date: 09/03/2004
janus# dmidecode -t system | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
 Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
 Product Name: Latitude D800
 Version: Not Specified
-----

This is a Dell Latitude D800 laptop.

Hi all

It would be good to know why everything worked perfectly with 7.04, 7.10 and 8.04. If it were a question of BIOS issue/kernel workaround, why should if ever have worked before?

Thanks in advance for solving this problem!

dmidecode -t bios | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Dell Inc.
 Version: A09
 Release Date: 09/28/2005

# dmidecode -t system | head -8
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
 Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
 Product Name: Inspiron 6000
 Version: Not Specified

I haven't gotten any clear answer if I should create separate bug report for my non-Dell laptop, so I am assuming it's fine to paste respective parts of Mitac 8050QDA dmidecode:
------------------------------------------------------
# dmidecode -t bios | head -8
------------------------------------------------------
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
 Vendor: Insyde Software Corporation
 Version: R1.02
 Release Date: 09/15/2005
------------------------------------------------------
# dmidecode -t system | head -8
------------------------------------------------------
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
 Manufacturer: MTC
 Product Name:
 Version: A0
------------------------------------------------------
Fn+VolumeUp/VolumeDown/ToggleMute are the only ones not working correctly, other Fn keys are just fine.

Since the vast majority of these are reporting a very specific set of Dell-only symptoms, and the solutions decided on are two work-arounds for Dells only, can I suggest that any non-Dell bugs marked as duplicates are de-tagged and that anyone here with a non-dell submit a separate bug report? Is that sensible?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs follow this guide!

I have a Dell as well with this issue and it is Ubuntu Specific. Fedora works and so does openSuse. It seems to be related to gnome-power-manager because if I close this process I can change my brightness.

This bug is a duplicate of bug 261721 and solely affects Dell laptops. If you are having this on another vendor's machine, it is a different bug. It has been fixed in the -proposed kernel.

Bug not present on my newer dell insprion using the 13 2.6.27-9 kernal and gnome 2.24.1

latest kernel update fixed mine
dell inspiron 1150
2.6.27-13-generic

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 6:04 PM, Sean-O <email address hidden> wrote:

> *** This bug is a duplicate of bug 261721 ***
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/261721
>
> Bug not present on my newer dell insprion using the 13 2.6.27-9 kernal
> and gnome 2.24.1
>
> --
> [Intrepid] Losing keyboard and mouse control when changing screen
> brightness with fn + arrow (Dell)
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/285323
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug (via bug 261721).
>
> Status in The Dell Project: New
> Status in Gnome Powermanager: Invalid
> Status in Ubuntu Release Notes: New
> Status in “acpid” source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in “gnome-power-manager” source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in “linux” source package in Ubuntu: New
> Status in “xserver-xorg-input-evdev” source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
> Status in acpid in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
> Status in gnome-power-manager in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
> Status in linux in Ubuntu Intrepid: Triaged
> Status in xserver-xorg-input-evdev in Ubuntu Intrepid: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> On my Dell inspiron 9300 laptop under intrepid (hardy did not have this
> problem), when I type FN + Arrow keys to change the screen brightness, Most
> of mouse and keyboard keys stop working.
>
> For an example : I can't type any text anywhere, ALT + F4 does not close
> any window, mouse clicks "partially" opens the gnome-panel menus, isn't able
> to close windows with the right-top x, but mouse click is still able to move
> a window..
>
> screencast :
> http://upload.leservicetechnique.com/bugs/mouse_keyboard_acpid.ogv
>
> This bug is reproducible under both metacity and compiz, and not caused by
> a BIOS password.
>
> A quick workaround to bring back things to normal is to switch to a VT and
> go back to Xorg with CTRL + ALT + F6 and CTRL + ALT + F7
>
> When changing screen brightness, I get this in Xorg.0.log :
>
> (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch
> (II) Open ACPI successful (/var/run/acpid.socket)
> (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
> (II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
> (--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
> (II) Macintosh mouse button emulation: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) Macintosh mouse button emulation: EmulateWheelButton: 4,
> EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) PS/2 Mouse: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
> (**) PS/2 Mouse: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10,
> EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
> (II) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
> (II) Video Bus: Device reopened after 10 attempts.
>

The bug task for the somerville project has been removed by an automated script. This bug has been cloned on that project and is available here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1305910