Partial keyboard and touchpad failure in X after changing screen brightness

[Connor Imes]

Binary package hint: gnome-power-manager

I originally recognized this problem when switching to and from the battery, which is when I had to change brightness. As it turns out, that switch is not necessary - the problem occurs anytime I change the screen brightness with Fn+Up or Fn+Down.

There is some breakage in X with the keyboard and touchpad after adjusting screen brightness. I can't type, can't move windows, can't change firefox tabs, etc. Some functions still respond, like I can CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to restart X, and I can login, but the problem persists. The problem is fixed if I change to another tty, then change back to X.

This bug appears in Intrepid Ibex and Jaunty Jackalope (currently Alpha 1). It did not occur in Hardy Heron or older.

connor@lappy686-mk2:~$ uname -a
Linux lappy686-mk2 2.6.27-7-generic #1 SMP Tue Nov 4 19:33:20 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

[Connor Imes (ckimes)]

From https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingGNOMEPowerManager :

connor@lappy686-mk2:~$ hal-find-by-capability --capability "battery"
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0

connor@lappy686-mk2:~$ hal-find-by-capability --capability "battery" | xargs -n 1 hal-device
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0'
  linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2) (int)
  info.subsystem = 'power_supply' (string)
  linux.subsystem = 'power_supply' (string)
  info.product = 'DELL Y13385' (string)
  info.capabilities = { 'battery' } (string list)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0' (string)
  battery.type = 'primary' (string)
  battery.reporting.technology = 'Li-ion' (string)
  battery.technology = 'lithium-ion' (string)
  battery.model = 'DELL Y13385' (string)
  battery.vendor = 'Sanyo' (string)
  battery.voltage.design = 11100 (0x2b5c) (int)
  battery.voltage.unit = 'mV' (string)
  battery.reporting.design = 53000 (0xcf08) (int)
  battery.reporting.unit = 'mWh' (string)
  battery.serial = '2508' (string)
  battery.present = true (bool)
  battery.voltage.current = 12663 (0x3177) (int)
  battery.reporting.rate = -1 (0xffffffff) (int)
  battery.is_rechargeable = true (bool)
  battery.rechargeable.is_charging = true (bool)
  battery.rechargeable.is_discharging = false (bool)
  battery.reporting.current = 48280 (0xbc98) (int)
  linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0A:00/power_supply/BAT0' (string)
  battery.reporting.last_full = 48770 (0xbe82) (int)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer' (string)
  battery.charge_level.current = 48280 (0xbc98) (int)
  battery.charge_level.last_full = 48770 (0xbe82) (int)
  battery.charge_level.design = 53000 (0xcf08) (int)
  battery.charge_level.rate = 0 (0x0) (int)
  battery.charge_level.percentage = 98 (0x62) (int)
  battery.remaining_time = 1562 (0x61a) (int)
  info.category = 'battery' (string)

connor@lappy686-mk2:~$ hal-find-by-capability --capability "battery" | xargs -t -n 1 hal-get-property --key battery.rechargeable.is_charging --udi
hal-get-property --key battery.rechargeable.is_charging --udi /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0
true

connor@lappy686-mk2:~$ lshal -m

Start monitoring devicelist:
-------------------------------------------------
11:45:43.629: computer_power_supply_ac_adapter_AC property ac_adapter.present = false
11:45:43.686: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery.remaining_time = 1562 (0x61a)
11:45:43.712: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery.charge_level.rate = 0 (0x0)
11:45:43.715: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery.reporting.rate = -1 (0xffffffff)
11:45:43.718: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery.voltage.current = 12597 (0x3135)
11:45:44.045: computer property power_management.is_powersave_set = true
11:46:01.536: computer_power_supply_ac_adapter_AC property ac_adapter.present = true
11:46:01.549: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery.remaining_time = 101299 (0x18bb3)
11:46:01.550: computer_power_supply_battery_BAT0 property battery....

[Connor Imes (ckimes)]

Resetting with
gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/gnome-power-manager
did not fix the problem. Attached is the default settings anyway. In fact, it seems to have killed the power applet in the tray when I unplugged the power.

Last but not least, I am using Intrepid:

connor@lappy686-mk2:~/lp$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 8.10
Release: 8.10
Codename: intrepid

[Connor Imes (ckimes)]

Well, it killed the power applet because the default is to only show it on battery. Duh.

Please let me know if more information is needed, otherwise I believe there is enough information here to perform a bug triage and let a developer begin work. Thanks.

[Nathan Handler (nhandler)]

I can confirm this bug on a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop running Jaunty. After adjusting the screen brightness using Fn+Up or Fn+Down, I am no longer able to use the keyboard until switching to a TTY and then back to X.