changing backlight color on saitek eclipse 2 keyboard causes mouse failure

[Martin G Miller]

This has apparently been ongoing for a long time. I have a Saitek Eclipse ii keyboard and I and others report that when you click the keyboard button to change the back light color, it triggers mouse events. These end up disabling the mouse, in my case Microsoft Intellimouse. Unplugging and replugging the USB cable for the keyboard resets function to normal with the default blue back light color. If you try to change the color, the problem returns. I am now running 64 bit 14.04 and the problem has been with me since at least 12.04. If I change the backlight color while the system is booting up but before the log in screen appears, I can select the color I want the keyboard to be, but if I wait till after the log in screen appears, then the mouse is non-functional when the desktop loads until I log off and back on.

Here is some relevant data from a report on Ubuntu forums (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2174670) about this exact problem...

/dev/input/event5
bustype : BUS_USB
vendor : 0x6a3
product : 0x8021
version : 273
name : "Chicony Saitek Eclipse II Keyboa"
phys : "usb-0000:00:1d.0-1/input0"
uniq : ""
bits ev : EV_SYN EV_KEY EV_MSC EV_LED EV_REP

/dev/input/event6
bustype : BUS_USB
vendor : 0x6a3
product : 0x8021
version : 273
name : "Chicony Saitek Eclipse II Keyboa"
phys : "usb-0000:00:1d.0-1/input1"
uniq : ""
bits ev : EV_SYN EV_KEY EV_MSC

The feature that causes the problem here is the button to turn on/off/change the kb backlight color. input-events for /dev/input/event6:

First press (backlight off->blue): emulates left click
19:43:40.885931: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646143
19:43:40.885936: EV_KEY BTN_0 (0x100) pressed
19:43:40.885941: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646140
19:43:40.885942: EV_KEY BTN_3 (0x103) released
19:43:40.885943: EV_SYN code=0 value=0

Second press (blue->red): emulates middle click
19:43:43.101984: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646143
19:43:43.101989: EV_KEY BTN_0 (0x100) released
19:43:43.101992: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646142
19:43:43.101992: EV_KEY BTN_1 (0x101) pressed
19:43:43.101996: EV_SYN code=0 value=0

Third press (red->purple): emulates right click
19:43:38.005865: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646142
19:43:38.005869: EV_KEY BTN_1 (0x101) released
19:43:38.005871: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646141
19:43:38.005872: EV_KEY BTN_2 (0x102) pressed
19:43:38.005874: EV_SYN code=0 value=0

Fourth press (purple->off) emulates ???
19:43:39.765915: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -16646141
19:43:39.765921: EV_KEY BTN_2 (0x102) released
19:43:39.765925: EV_MSC MSC_SCAN -1664614019
19:43:39.765926: EV_KEY BTN_3 (0x103) pressed
19:43:39.765928: EV_SYN code=0 value=0

So, the backlight changing on a keyboard act as different types of mouse clicks based on what color you switch to. Apparently this problem is also present in PCLinuxOS. Is this possibly a Udev issue?

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-32.57-generic 3.13.11.4
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-32-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 331.38 Wed Jan 8 19:32:30 PST 2014
 GCC version: gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1)
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,mousepoll,snap,move,vpswitch,regex,place,animation,session,imgpng,grid,gnomecompat,wall,resize,expo,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,fade,ezoom,scale,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Mon Aug 4 09:47:36 2014
DistUpgraded: 2014-08-02 23:43:24,960 DEBUG enabling apt cron job
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, if not too technical
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation GF116 [GeForce GTX 550 Ti] [10de:1244] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Device [3842:1556]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2009-11-04 (1733 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
MachineType: To be filled by O.E.M. To be filled by O.E.M.
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-32-generic root=UUID=59092ad5-f628-4cfa-859e-9236256eac88 ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: xorg
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-08-03 (1 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 01/16/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1503
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: M5A97 R2.0
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1503:bd01/16/2013:svnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:pnTobefilledbyO.E.M.:pvrTobefilledbyO.E.M.:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnM5A97R2.0:rvrRev1.xx:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To be filled by O.E.M.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.2+14.04.20140714-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu36
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.3-0ubuntu0.1
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Mon Aug 4 09:25:50 2014
xserver.configfile: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Martin G Miller (mgmiller)]

Status New
I have updated the BIOS from version 1503 (1-16-13) to version 2501.

Here is the output of your command:

marty@tux:~$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date
[sudo] password for marty:
2501
04/07/2014
marty@tux:~$

The behavior is unchanged from before the BIOS update. If I wait until the system finishes booting and I am on my desktop and attempt to change the start up color of the keyboard illumination from blue to red, I lose most mouse left and right click ability on the desktop area. I can still click the gear icon and have the system log off and log back on as long as I don't wait too long. The longer I wait to attempt the log off, the less mouse function I have until all it does is move the cursor around, but nothing is clickable. The keyboard will still function for a much longer period of time until everything becomes unresponsive.

My current work around is to change the keyboard color as soon as the boot process starts to load the Linux kernel.

If I wait until I am on the desktop to change the color, then I must immediately log off and back on and everything is fine as long as I don't attempt to change the color again. Any further changes of keyboard color require an immediate log off and on to keep the system stable.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Martin G Miller, could you please test for this via http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ and advise to the results?

[Martin G Miller (mgmiller)]

I have tested it as you requested with the 64 bit 15.04 daily image. There is no change in behavior. The problem persists.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Silence9123 (carphil)]

I have the exact same issue.
I have a Saitek Eclipse ii keyboard.
It disables my Dell mouse.
I'm on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation release 6.5 (Santiago).
Kernel: Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64

I know this is an Ubuntu forum but I wanted to give context...

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to review all reported bugs in a timely manner. You reported this bug some time ago and there have been many changes in Ubuntu since that time.

Ubuntu 14.04 (trusty) reached end-of-standard-support on April 25, 2019.

Do you still see a problem related to the one that you reported when using a currently supported version of Ubuntu? Please let us know if you do otherwise this report can be left to expire in approximately 60 days time.

Thank you for helping make Ubuntu better.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]