Multiple keys have same keycode on HP ProBook 450 G6

[Ondřej Skýba]

Distro release: 19.04

On my laptop HP ProBook 450 G6 multiple keys are mapped to the same keycode, specifically - Fn+F3, Fn+F4 and Fn+F8 (verified by showkey command).

It's not a hardware issue since on Windows those keys are working as expected.

The correct functions of keys are:
Fn+F3 - brightness down
Fn+F4 - brightness up
Fn+F8 - mute mic

but all keys act as "mute mic"

[lotuspsychje (lotuspsychje)]

Thank you for reporting this Bug and make Ubuntu better!

To report bugs please use: ubuntu-bug packagename (linux for example) in the future
so relevant systeminfo & logs are pulled into the bug and developers can debug a better way.

You can still apport-collect 1841039 in this stage to pull your info afterwards.

Is your bios up to date to latest?
maybe also attach your dmesg logs to the bug please

[Ondřej Skýba (skyba)]

the apport-collect didn't work for me, so I saved apport to file and uploaded

bios is up do date

[lotuspsychje (lotuspsychje)]

you could try to purge apport and install it back afterwards, maybe that could solve
your issue with apport-collect.

Your bug sounds like its ACPI related, hence why the developers would need more info
and your dmesg logs.

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

For apport commands to work you need to assign a package. Assigning a package ensures that the bug report reaches the right developers. Reporting against the Ubuntu project is not advised unless absolutely necessary.

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

See also: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Hotkeys/Troubleshooting

[Thomas (beamme)]

Distro release: Kubuntu 18.04.03 LTS

The same with my HP Probook 450 G5. Latest Bios R71 01.08.03

The keys work normal with Win 10 Pro, but after switching to Kubuntu, all three keys send the same keycode 198 instead of

232 BrightnessDown
233 BrightnessUp

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Thomas (beamme)]

Sorry, not HP Probook 450 G5 but G6!

[Oleksandr Holubenko (dokuur)]

Distro release: Ubuntu 18.04.03 LTS
Device: HP ProBook 440 G6

The same problem with F3/F4 brightness button.

#sudo acpi_listen
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F3 pressed in real (wrong)
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F4 pressed in real (wrong)
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F8 pressed in real (correct)

[Amir (kerlon)]

 I solved this problem.

This problem is due to old firmware.

I creat USB with frimware update on WIndows 10 and I followed the directions.

Last frimware: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp101001-101500/sp101220.exe
Instruction create USB and update notebook without Windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=117&v=t3S3KgcT-Ao&feature=emb_title and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72uwa0OZPPw

[Ondřej Skýba (skyba)]

I confirm, that updating BIOS to version 01.10.00 released in January 2020 fixes the issue.

[ks2k2d (ks2k2d)]

I have HP 450 G6 as well.
Installing the latest firmware as described unfortunately did NOT fix the issue.

Just to clarify something with the others that have experienced and reported the issue ...

Please confirm that you are pressing Fn+F3/F4/F8 while the little led on the Fn key is lit.
If that is not the case, then you are actually pressing only F3/F4/F8 which worked just fine anyways.

So, to reproduce:
1) press Fn+Left Shift (Fn Lock) so that the led on Fn is lit.
2) press the combinations in question Fn+F3/F4/F8 and verify the keycodes are different with showkey.

Reason for this:
I thought it was fixed for a moment after installing the new firmware.
But, then I realized that the Fn lock is turned off.

[Alexandr Drobyshevskiy (iron-viprt)]

I have HP 450 G6 as well.
Installing the latest firmware as described unfortunately did NOT fix the issue.

[Jakub Gocławski (jgoclawski)]

The same for me, HP 450 G6, newest firmware installed through Windows.
After Googling around I wonder whether the problem might be in the "hp_wmi" module? It might be responsible for handling those shortcuts for brightness, but I have no idea how to debug it further. See: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1806681

[ks2k2d (ks2k2d)]

I support the findings of Jakub.

The source of the hp_wmi also suggests it is responsible for the brightness shortcuts:
        { KE_KEY, 0x02, { KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP } },
 { KE_KEY, 0x03, { KEY_BRIGHTNESSDOWN } },

On my machine, running dmesg | grep wmi, I get:
[ 6.422405] hp_wmi: query 0x4 returned error 0x5
[ 6.433681] hp_wmi: query 0x4 returned error 0x5
[ 6.447825] hp_wmi: query 0xd returned error 0x5
[ 6.617355] hp_wmi: query 0x1b returned error 0x5

Looking at the source, the meaning of the error is:
HPWMI_RET_INVALID_PARAMETERS = 0x05

So, it seems that we can narrow it down to this kernel module.

[David Sulaiman (sulaiman)]

I found strange thing.

I upgraded BIOS to 01.11.10 thru BIOS Upgrade - booted Ubuntu - keys works ok - reboot to Windows 10 - works ok - reboot to Ubuntu - bug is back

Then I downgreaded BIOS to 01.10.00 and similar problem. Windows is the evil. But how to prevent it? I need them for some things in work.

[David Rosenstrauch (darose)]

Sounds similar to what I reported here: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=208347

[Anton Vovk (antonvovk)]

I also have same problem on my HP ProBook 450 G6.

Using sudo showkey -k gave me these results:
 - pressing Fn+F3: keycode 190 press keycode 190 release
 - pressing Fn+F4: keycode 190 press keycode 190 release
 - pressing Fn+F8: keycode 190 press keycode 190 release

[Sergey Smirnov (ssmirnoff)]

Seems to be hardware issue. Flashing latest BIOS haven’t resolved the issue in my case, but power reset have: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01684768

HP Probook 450 G6

[ZEN (zen-root)]

I had the same issue on HP ProBook 440 G7 and flashing the latest BIOS has resolved this issue.

$ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
S71 Ver. 01.06.00

But, now I think, that reset BIOS setting on defaults may also help in that situation...

[ZEN (zen-root)]

Ok, this problem comes back from time to time. Reset of BIOS settings didn't help. So, only updating BIOS (even if to the same version) works.

[Sergio Daroca Fernández (sergiodaroca)]

The Power Resest suggested by https://launchpad.net/~ssmirnoff worked perfectly for me in a
HP Elitebook x360 1030 G3
And fixed lost laptop speaker audio after plugging and unplugging headphones, too!
Thanks Sergey!

[Golyshin Alexey (stas2z)]

Seems like this issue caused by HP's fn key driver for windows
I own 440 G6 and had this issue for a long time
but mystically it dissapeared once after my laptop was discharged for a long time
but after win10 installation (2nd ssd with it died, so i installed new one and reinstalled w10) it stopped work again

ive tried to update bios, but reverted it back as newer bioses locks possibility of enabling intel speedstep

and only power reset solves issue until you will boot windows again

[dgtlmoon (dgtlmoon)]

release: 20.04, Focal Fossa, xubuntu

Device: HP ProBook 440 G7 2021

The same problem with F3/F4 brightness button.

#sudo acpi_listen

button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F3 pressed in real (wrong)
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F4 pressed in real (wrong)
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K - F8 pressed in real (correct)

# sudo dmidecode -s bios-version
S71 Ver. 01.08.02

[dgtlmoon (dgtlmoon)]

as of April 2021, 01.08.02 is the latest BIOS available https://support.hp.com/au-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-probook-440-g7-notebook-pc/29090063 and the bug is still showing

[Aleks (sjotik)]

Hello!
Device: HP Elite Book 840 g6, BIOS version latest

Distributor ID: Linuxmint
Description: Linux Mint 20.1
Release: 20.1
Codename: ulyssa

Absolutely same problem F3-F4 (brightness up-down) - action doesn't work.

button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K # F3 - brightness down
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K # F3 - brightness up
button/f20 F20 00000080 00000000 K # F8 - Mute

[htpcman (s-nouri)]

Hello,

I have the same issue on my HP Elitebook 850 G6.

Fn+F3 and Fn+F4 change the microphone mute status and not the LCD brightness as they should. I could resolve this by installing a new BIOS temporarily. But everytime I boot Windows 10 on my dual boot system it comes back.

I will try the power reset option described here.

System #1 is Linux Mint Ulyssa 20.1 cinnamon
System #2 is Windows 10 with all recent updates

[Nicholas Stommel (nstommel)]

I'm having the same issue with function keys for brightness on the HP Elite Dragonfly G2. F3 and F4 both map to muting the microphone. This is a firmware bug. It happens on the latest version of Ubuntu and on Fedora 34. Really, this needs to be fixed. If someone would take a look at the firmware, we could solve this issue for all affected HP business laptops.

[heyward (1oveubuntu)]

Hi guys,
I'm suffering from the same issue with controlling back light through Fn+F3/F4.
Finally, I found a method to fix the problem unexpectedly!
As long as power reset your HP laptop, it will be fixed!
Note that my laptop is HP elitebook 845G7 with AMD 4700U version.
I think it will work for recently all series of HP laptop.

Here's the Step of Power reset from HP official website:
(1) Turn off your laptop.
(2) Unplug all cords connecting to your laptops, including power cord / HDMI / USB device!
(3) Press and hold the power button for approximately 15 seconds.
(4) Plug in Power cord first, with others cords and device disconnected.
(5) Turn on your HP laptop and it will be fixed magically.
(Ref): https://support.hp.com/sg-en/document/ish_1997208-1551050-16

Thanks to another Linux Distribution Community - Mint!
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=333181

[My Debugging path]
(1) I've tried the "Update the latest firmware" method and it will work for a short time and it fail again.
(2) Tried any version of kernel I could found.
(3) Update the grub by appending "acpi_backlight=vendor" to /etc/default/grub
(4) Update the latest AMD GPU.

Thank you guys!

[Davide Cochior (davidecochior)]

Did u remove the battery first?

[Tomo Popovic (tp0x45)]

I had the same issue with HP Probook G8, bought this year.
Fn key worked fine when I installed Ubuntu 20.04, but later they started behaving as described here. The brightness buttons (Fn F3 and Fn F4) started turning on and off the digital mic.

I performed the hard reset as somebody suggested and it worked:
1. Power off the device, remove all the periferals
2. Remove AC power supply
3- Hold power button pressed for more than 15 secs
4. After I released the power button, it took it fews secs to start booting.
5. After new login to Ubuntu, Fn key work as expected

No need for BIOS update. I hope this helps.

[Davide Cochior (davidecochior)]

Yeah, helped, but if you are in dual boot, like Windows near Linux, every time you boot Windows, and then Linux, the fn keys don't work, so I have to do every time the reset power.