SHIFT, ALT and CTRL problem with HP pavilion 15 ab062nl

Bug #1532746 reported by Dea1993
64
This bug affects 11 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
linux (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

I've a problem with the keyboard of notebook HP Pavilion 15 ab062nl.
the problem is with SHIFT ALT and CTRL buttons of the keyboard.

for example when i use ALT-TAB shortcut, after few seconds, the ALT-TAB menu disappear as if i release ALT key, but isn't so.
another example is when i navigate on web, when i scroll page with mouse wheel, sometimes the page start to resize, as if i'm pressing CTRL command while scroll, or if i'm writing a text, sometimes, borwser launch shortcut, as if i'm pressing CTRL while i type text, for exaple if i'm typing "b" letter, opens bookmarks...

another example is while i'm typing text, if i press SHIFT key and start typing, begins to write uppercase letters and after a while, writes lowercase like I released shift, but i'm still pressing shift.

for example if i press SHIFT+s, the result is this:
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
some letters are uppercase, but others are lowercase.

WORKAROUND: Use kernel parameter:
i8042.dumbkbd

the only way to solve momentarily the problem, is pressing for some seconds the only SHIFT key, after that, the problems disappears indefinitely, or until the next restart.

This problem occurs with all ubuntu version (x86 and x86_64), now i'm using Ubuntu 15.10, but i've also tried ubuntu 15.04, ubuntu 14.04, ubuntu 12.04, ubuntu 10.04.

furthermore i've this problem also with other GNU/Linux Distributions (i've tried Fedora, OpenSuse, ArchLinux, Antergos, Debian, SteamOS).
but isn't and hardware problem, because on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 i haven't these problems.

i've also tried to plug in an externa USB keyboard, and if i use external USB keybaord i haven't problems.

i think is a problem of compatibility, with integrated keyboard of this notebook.

i've tried to monitor these problems using XEV, and the results is that also if i'm not using notebook, sometimes XEV reads an INPUT of one of these 3 key (SHIFT, ALT, CTRL), and while i'm pressing one of these 3 key, XEV see also if i release and immedialty after press again the key.

this is an example of the input while i press Left_ALT key for a while

KeyPress event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
    root 0x498, subw 0x0, time 129987, (-142,152), root:(452,476),
    state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
    root 0x498, subw 0x0, time 130147, (-142,152), root:(452,476),
    state 0x18, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
    root 0x498, subw 0x0, time 130391, (-142,152), root:(452,476),
    state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

whole log here http://pastebin.com/CPGz40aw

and this is the output of xev, leaving the notebook on a few hours without using it http://pastebin.com/sYSHAbGy

this is "xinput" output

⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech USB Laser Mouse id=11 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HP Truevision HD id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HP WMI hotkeys id=14 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HP Wireless hotkeys id=15 [slave keyboard (3)]

i hope that this bug can be solved

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
Package: linux-image-4.2.0-16-generic 4.2.0-16.19
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.2.0-16.19-generic 4.2.3
Uname: Linux 4.2.0-16-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.19.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: ubuntu 1980 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: ubuntu 1980 F.... pulseaudio
CasperVersion: 1.365
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Mon Jan 11 10:08:12 2016
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
MachineType: Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion Notebook
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 amdgpudrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz.efi file=/cdrom/preseed/username.seed boot=casper quiet splash ---
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.2.0-16-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.2.0-16-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.149
SourcePackage: linux
UdevLog: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/var/log/udev'
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 08/06/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F.13
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 80B5
dmi.board.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.board.version: 81.28
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrF.13:bd08/06/2015:svnHewlett-Packard:pnHPPavilionNotebook:pvr:rvnHewlett-Packard:rn80B5:rvr81.28:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct10:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: HP Pavilion Notebook
dmi.sys.vendor: Hewlett-Packard

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Brad Figg (brad-figg) wrote : Status changed to Confirmed

This change was made by a bot.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

same problem also on daily of ubuntu 16.04 x86_64

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Dea1993, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better.

At your earliest convenience, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from the very top line at the top of the page from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D (the release names are irrelevant for testing, and please do not test the daily folder)? Install instructions are available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds . This will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue.

If testing on your main install would be inconvenient, one may:
1) Install Ubuntu to a different partition and then test this there.
2) Backup, or clone the primary install.

If the latest kernel did not allow you to test to the issue (ex. you couldn't boot into the OS) please make a comment in your report about this, and continue to test the next most recent kernel version until you can test to the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this issue is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon, next to the word Tags, located at the bottom of the report description:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Where X, and Y are the first two numbers of the kernel version, and Z is the release candidate number if it exists.

If the mainline kernel does not fix the issue, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Please note, an error to install the kernel does not fit the criteria of kernel-bug-exists-upstream.

Once testing of the latest upstream kernel is complete, please mark this report's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results.

Thank you for your understanding.

tags: added: latest-bios-f.13
tags: added: xenial
tags: added: lucid precise trusty
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
status: Confirmed → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i've installed from here http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D kernel 4.4 lowlatency.
same problem

tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.4
Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

this is what happends when i press this 3 bottons on keyboard.
as you can see, when i press ALT, CTRL or MAIUSC, it is as if pressed then released and pressed again the button, but i havend released.
when i press for a while maiusc button, the problem is solved

video: https://youtu.be/vMZgCJ2psfw

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Dea1993, the issue you are reporting is an upstream one. Could you please report this problem following the instructions verbatim at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel to the appropriate mailing list (Dmitry Torokhov CC linux-input)?

Please provide a direct URL to your post to the mailing list when it becomes available so that it may be tracked.

Thank you for your understanding.

Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

"the issue you are reporting is an upstream one"
what does it mean?

"Could you please report this problem following the instructions verbatim at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel to the appropriate mailing list (Dmitry Torokhov CC linux-input)?"
i've read all instructions, but I did not understand some things.
how to report in mailing list Dmitry Torokhov CC linux-input?
i must send email to Dmitry Torokhov and CC linux-input?
how to do this? i haven't found related email.

what I must write into the email? the same things i've wrote here and the output of command reported on instructions (from point 1 to point 7.7)?
furthermore i can't send links for email, but the instructions says "Please provide a link to your Launchpad bug report. "

sorry if i'm incompetent and if this a stupid question, but i'm not english and is not simple for me understand all.

someone can help me to report this problem correctly to ensure that the bug is not ignored by the developers?

thanks and sorry

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i've sended an email to dmitry and linux-input.

i've also tried GhostBSD on live, the problem occurs but only a time, for example, i do ALT-TAB, after a while, the menu disappear, but other time i use alt-tab, or other shortcuts with CTRL, ALT or MAIUSC, seems works fine.
this is an output of xev on GhostBSD http://pastebin.com/yxZduwXX
as you can see the problem occurs, but only a time, and you don't have to press MAIUSC to solve the problem.

i don't know if this can be useful

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

I can confirm the same problem with the same machine, HP 15 ab062nl. The problem seems to be kernel related because running ubuntu in rescue mode (pure root shell) still acts the same way

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

I saved a dump of some seconds of the raw keyboard events doing:

cat /dev/input/event3 > /tmp/dump.bin

the result file can be downloaded from http://92.222.39.93/paolo/dump.bin (1.7 kb)
According to the kernel page at https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/input/input.txt (see Event Interface chapter) I created a small C program to analyze the dump structure (can be found here: http://pastebin.com/RkMv0qJr).

An excerpt of the dump is this:

Time: 1456787793.748976 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 29
Time: 1456787793.748976 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787793.750908 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 56
Time: 1456787793.750908 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787793.754067 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 157
Time: 1456787793.754067 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787793.756200 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 54
Time: 1456787793.756200 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787793.759107 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 184
Time: 1456787793.759107 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787795.307134 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 29
Time: 1456787795.307134 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787795.308748 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 56
Time: 1456787795.308748 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787795.311980 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 157
Time: 1456787795.311980 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787795.313908 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 54
Time: 1456787795.313908 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0
Time: 1456787795.317267 Type: 4 - Code: 4 - Value: 184
Time: 1456787795.317267 Type: 0 - Code: 0 - Value: 0

As I said, the computer was idling in the meantime the dump was taken.
As you see, every 1-2 seconds there is a pattern that repeats itself (the sequence repeats always in the same order).
In particular, Type 4 events are EV_MSC (see kernel docs at https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/input/event-codes.txt) meaning "Miscellaneous events", and Code 4 subtype means MSC_SCAN (according to /usr/include/linux/input.h kernel file), which someway is used to "redefine" or map keyboard keys.
Values in the dump also are interesting, because apparently they are keystroke numbers and still according to /usr/include/linux/input.h they are:

29 -> KEY_LEFTCTRL
56 -> KEY_LEFTALT
157 -> KEY_COMPUTER
54 -> KEY_RIGHTSHIFT
184 -> KEY_F14

Curiously they are followed by a reserved event (type: 0), which is of unknown usage to me.

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

Correction: what I said was a reserved event is actually an EV_SYN

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

thanks for your help, i hope someone can fix this issue, now i write an email to dmitry and linux-input with you results, maybe it can be useful, to fix the problem or find a workaround

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

when i play games seem's that i haven't problem (but i'm not sure).
can you confirm?

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

Can't confirm because I'm not playing games with Linux.
Anyway I can confirm that pressing and keeping pressed the LEFT SHIFT key for at least 2 seconds, the glitch seems to disappear for a short period of time (minutes) and the spurious EV_MSC events stops.

I used evtest utility to monitor live events from /dev/event/input3

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

another user has the same problem with another HP notebook

askubuntu.com/questions/742762/keys-malfunctioning/747445#747445

Revision history for this message
César Alejandro Bustíos Benites (cesarbustios) wrote :

Thanks @Dea1993, for me, it happens at random times, the only game I was playing on Ubuntu was Flare but the problem persists.

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@César have you tried if pressing only LEFT SHIFT Key for at least 2 seconds fix the problem for some minutes/hours?

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

I just discovered that NumLock and CapsLock keys restore the spourious input events

Revision history for this message
Gavin Kenna (thegavinkenna) wrote :

Seeing the exact same bug on my Pavilion 15-ab150sa, running Ubuntu 14.04.

Likewise, when I hold left shift (but not right shift) for 2 seconds the issue goes away for a certain amount of time. Hitting Caps-Lock brings the issue back.

Tried other versions of Linux (latest Mint, Fedora 23) and seeing the same issue - Windows works fine though.

On a somewhat separate note, have you seen any Wi-Fi issues? On my HP Pavilion the Wi-Fi seems to stop working intermittently, it requires a reboot to fix the issue.

Revision history for this message
Andrea Tupini (tupini07) wrote : Re: [Bug 1532746] Re: SHIFT, ALT and CTRL problem with HP pavilion 15 ab062nl
Download full text (7.7 KiB)

I can confirm WiFi issues on Windows, but turning off energy saving fixed
the problem (before this WiFi only worked correctly when the charger was
plugged in). On Ubuntu 14 I also experienced the same problem, but once I
updated to Ubuntu 15 the problem went away. It seems that the Linux kernel
used by Ubuntu 14 didn't support the wireless adapter.
On Mar 20, 2016 4:15 PM, "Gavin Kenna" <email address hidden> wrote:

> Seeing the exact same bug on my Pavilion 15-ab150sa, running Ubuntu
> 14.04.
>
> Likewise, when I hold left shift (but not right shift) for 2 seconds the
> issue goes away for a certain amount of time. Hitting Caps-Lock brings
> the issue back.
>
> Tried other versions of Linux (latest Mint, Fedora 23) and seeing the
> same issue - Windows works fine though.
>
> On a somewhat separate note, have you seen any Wi-Fi issues? On my HP
> Pavilion the Wi-Fi seems to stop working intermittently, it requires a
> reboot to fix the issue.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1532746
>
> Title:
> SHIFT, ALT and CTRL problem with HP pavilion 15 ab062nl
>
> Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> I've a problem with the keyboard of notebook HP Pavilion 15 ab062nl.
> the problem is with SHIFT ALT and CTRL buttons of the keyboard.
>
> for example when i use ALT-TAB shortcut, after few seconds, the ALT-TAB
> menu disappear as if i release ALT key, but isn't so.
> another example is when i navigate on web, when i scroll page with mouse
> wheel, sometimes the page start to resize, as if i'm pressing CTRL command
> while scroll, or if i'm writing a text, sometimes, borwser launch shortcut,
> as if i'm pressing CTRL while i type text, for exaple if i'm typing "b"
> letter, opens bookmarks...
>
> another example is while i'm typing text, if i press SHIFT key and
> start typing, begins to write uppercase letters and after a while,
> writes lowercase like I released shift, but i'm still pressing shift.
>
> for example if i press SHIFT+s, the result is this:
> SSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
> some letters are uppercase, but others are lowercase.
>
> i haven't found a solution.
> the only way to solve momentarily the problem, is pressing for some
> seconds the only SHIFT key, after that, the problems disappears
> indefinitely, or until the next restart.
>
> This problem occurs with all ubuntu version (x86 and x86_64), now i'm
> using Ubuntu 15.10, but i've also tried ubuntu 15.04, ubuntu 14.04,
> ubuntu 12.04, ubuntu 10.04.
>
> furthermore i've this problem also with other GNU/Linux Distributions
> (i've tried Fedora, OpenSuse, ArchLinux, Antergos, Debian, SteamOS).
> but isn't and hardware problem, because on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 i
> haven't these problems.
>
> i've also tried to plug in an externa USB keyboard, and if i use
> external USB keybaord i haven't problems.
>
> i think is a problem of compatibility, with integrated keyboard of
> this notebook.
>
> i've tried to monitor these problems using XEV, and the results is
> that also if i'm not using notebook,...

Read more...

Revision history for this message
Gavin Kenna (thegavinkenna) wrote :

Hey,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. That's fantastic, I'll upgrade tomorrow to 15 and report my findings.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Gavin Kenna, please keep the sidebar regarding WiFi off this report, as its scope has nothing to do with this. If your WiFi issue is still reproducible and you would like it addressed, it will help immensely if you filed a new report with the Ubuntu repository kernel (not mainline/upstream) via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

For more on why this is helpful, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Paolo Sabatino
i can confirm that pressing CAPS LOCK or BLOCK NUM, the problem came back.
thanks for the information

Revision history for this message
Joe Helfrifch (joe-c) wrote :

I've got the same issue. Reported it at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/1537308.

Revision history for this message
Joe Helfrifch (joe-c) wrote :

Andrea's email to the kernel.org linux-input list can be found here: http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg43030.html. There doesn't seem to be much activity on it from anyone other than Andrea. I couldn't find a way to respond to that thread to let them know that there are more affected users.

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Joe, i've sended some emails to dmitry and linux-input, but they answered me only 2 times.
i've reported also that other users has the same problem but seem that they ignored me...
maybe if also you (and other) report this issue using this procedure the problem will be fixed faster
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel

hope that also @christopher @paolo @Gavin report this issue to mainstream

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i'm willing to pay to fix this annoyng bug

Revision history for this message
Gavin Kenna (thegavinkenna) wrote :

Yeah it's a very annoying bug.

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

any news?
i've tested also kernel 4.6RC3, problem isn't solved.
i've sended another email to developers, but as always they didn't answered me.

Revision history for this message
César Alejandro Bustíos Benites (cesarbustios) wrote :

The bug remains

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i start to think that this bug will be never fixed, please report it to you too following this guide https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/kernel
in this way dmitry and linux-input devs, will receive more email of users with this problem.

please, i've sended a lot of email to dmitry and linux-input, but after second email seems that they have ignored me.

Revision history for this message
Joe Helfrifch (joe-c) wrote :

Can someone with experience with the kernel devs comment on if additional reports to the mailing list would be helpful, or just annoy them?

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

maybe i've solved the problm, i'm not sure, but i've restarted and i haven't the problem

try to add to grub these options

i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset i8042.direct

on the line

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT

update grub and restart, and tell me if works

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

problem isn't solved in this way, but the situation is really improved, now the problem is present only after pressing block maiusc or block num, and occurs only 1 time, after that the problem disappear immediatly without pressing maiusc for 2 seconds

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i've also noticed that if you press block num or block maiusc keys and after some seconds for example you hit ALT-TAB, the problem doesn't occurs.
so this is a very good thing.
the problem is almost fixed, i hope that now dev, can fix definitively the bug so we have a work keyboard out of box without manual intervent

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

This is GREAT news! We have a hint to start with.

i8042.c linux kernel source code defines more module parameters. The module parameter "direct" disables the scan code translation, but the module parameter "dumbkbd" completely disables the write capability of the kernel module to the i8042 controller and this actually makes the problem totally disappear!
The only side effect I noticed by now is that the keyboard leds don't react anymore to the lock status (ie: the Caps Lock led won't turn on).

I think there is some configuration/setting keyboard controller doesn't like and makes it misbehaving, thus disabling completely the write capability solves the problem.

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i've tried using
i8042.direct

the problem disappera completely, but caps lock led not work, this is a pity.
probably there is some problem with keyboard controller

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

Did you mean i8042.dumbkbd instead of i8042.direct?

To me it happens that i8042.direct causes no apparent side effects, and the sporious events are triggered once after pressing CAPS LOCK or NUM LOCK;
i8042.dumbkbd instead causes the CAPS LOCK keyboard led not to blink (and this is expected), but there are no sporious events after pressing CAPS LOCK or NUM LOCK.

I analyzed a bit the debug messages sent by the i8042 controller and the kernel module, and the sporious messages are sent from the i8042 controller to the kernel module after the kernel module send the 0xED messages, which is the message used to turn on and off the keyboard leds. To enable the i8042 module debug log into dmesg you can use this command:

echo Y > /sys/module/i8042/parameters/debug

This logs both the keyboard and touchpad events.

Anyway since i8042.direct flag changes the behaviour of the i8042 controller leads me to think the controller is initialized with a wrong capability bitmask or sort of.

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.6-rc3
removed: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.4
Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

on comment #38 i was wrong to say
i wanted to say

"i've tried using
i8042.dumbkbd

the problem disappera completely......."

not

"i8042.direct"

sorry

Revision history for this message
César Alejandro Bustíos Benites (cesarbustios) wrote :

Ok, let me see if that works on my laptop and get back to you! Thanks

Revision history for this message
César Alejandro Bustíos Benites (cesarbustios) wrote :

Is this correct?

This is the original line on /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash usbcore.old_scheme_first=1"

And now it looks like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash usbcore.old_scheme_first=1 i8042.dumbkbd=1"

Should I be setting it to 1?

Revision history for this message
César Alejandro Bustíos Benites (cesarbustios) wrote :

Ok, I confirm that is working perfectly with:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i8042.dumbkbd=1"

Cheers!

Revision history for this message
Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i've added simply
i8042.dumbkbd

without
=1

do you work led of caps lock?

on my notebook led not works if i use
i8042.dumbkbd

Revision history for this message
Paolo Sabatino (paolo-sabatino) wrote :

CAPS LOCK led doesn't work with dumbkbd because dumbkbd option disables the i8042 module write capability, so the i8042 can't write the led status to the keyboard controller. Unfortunately this is a side effect of dumbkbd option, but there can be others too. I digged a bit into kernel source code and found that both i8042 and atkbd modules affect the keyboard controller behavior, but I'm still experimenting...

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Dario (dario1992a-c) wrote :

Thank you to everyone. It worked for me with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset i8042.dumbkbd"

But yes, it's true that about the LED, but personally, I don't really care.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Dario if you use this option
i8042.dumbkbd
you don't need these to fix the problem
i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset

so you can also only use
"quiet splash i8042.dumbkbd"

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penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Dea1993, to clarify, you are advising for your own hardware that the following kernel parameter provides a WORKAROUND to the issue:
i8042.dumbkbd

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

yes, unfortunately is only a workaround not a real fix.
i've used the word "fix" for simplicity.

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Joe Helfrifch (joe-c) wrote :

I believe this has also provided a workaround for my problems. (I never saw the repeating keys, only intermittent random control characters.) I finally made the change last night and left it running; after about 12 hours I had no bad events. I've occasionally seen the problem take longer than that to start occurring, but only rarely.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Joe...
good.. now we must hope that developers will fix this bug.
i've reported this bug from months, i've reported a lot of information about this bug, and i've also reported this workaround, but they haven't answered me :(
i think that they are ignoring this bug

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penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Dea1993, one thing that will help keep your report relevant to upstream developers is continue to test the latest mainline kernel as it comes out (currently 4.7-rc4). If you are not doing this, your report quickly falls out of relevancy with those who would address the issue.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

now i've reported that also on linux 4.7rc4 (i'm using mainline kernel) the problem still present... but i think that they will ignore me again

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.7-rc4
removed: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.6-rc3
description: updated
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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

problem still present on linux 4.7rc5

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.7-rc5
removed: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.7-rc4
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Liam Thompson (dejmail) wrote :

I can confirm that the problem is still present on linux 4.7rc5. Slightly different Pavilion 15 ab141no.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

problem still present on ubuntu 16.10 with linux 4.8.0

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.8
removed: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.7-rc5
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Patrick Laurin (plaurin) wrote :

Hi, I believe this is fixed. I had similar issues and needed to use i8042.dumbkbd before.

Now, I just did a fresh install of Ubuntu 16.04. I forgot to enter i8042.dumbkbd in my grub entry but the keyboard works fine.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Patrick are you sure?? i'm using ubuntu 16.10 with kernel 4.8.0-34, the last time that i've verified, the problem wasn't solved.
tomorrow i'll test again.
have you an updated system?? an update fixed the problem?
do you have the problem on ubuntu 16.04.1 live?

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

problem still present on Kernel 4.9

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Patrick Laurin (plaurin) wrote :
Download full text (7.1 KiB)

I'm now currently using 4.10-RC4 Linux Mint and no keyboard issue.

On 20 January 2017 at 05:04, Dea1993 <email address hidden> wrote:

> problem still present on Kernel 4.9
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1532746
>
> Title:
> SHIFT, ALT and CTRL problem with HP pavilion 15 ab062nl
>
> Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> I've a problem with the keyboard of notebook HP Pavilion 15 ab062nl.
> the problem is with SHIFT ALT and CTRL buttons of the keyboard.
>
> for example when i use ALT-TAB shortcut, after few seconds, the ALT-TAB
> menu disappear as if i release ALT key, but isn't so.
> another example is when i navigate on web, when i scroll page with mouse
> wheel, sometimes the page start to resize, as if i'm pressing CTRL command
> while scroll, or if i'm writing a text, sometimes, borwser launch shortcut,
> as if i'm pressing CTRL while i type text, for exaple if i'm typing "b"
> letter, opens bookmarks...
>
> another example is while i'm typing text, if i press SHIFT key and
> start typing, begins to write uppercase letters and after a while,
> writes lowercase like I released shift, but i'm still pressing shift.
>
> for example if i press SHIFT+s, the result is this:
> SSSSSSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
> some letters are uppercase, but others are lowercase.
>
> WORKAROUND: Use kernel parameter:
> i8042.dumbkbd
>
> the only way to solve momentarily the problem, is pressing for some
> seconds the only SHIFT key, after that, the problems disappears
> indefinitely, or until the next restart.
>
> This problem occurs with all ubuntu version (x86 and x86_64), now i'm
> using Ubuntu 15.10, but i've also tried ubuntu 15.04, ubuntu 14.04,
> ubuntu 12.04, ubuntu 10.04.
>
> furthermore i've this problem also with other GNU/Linux Distributions
> (i've tried Fedora, OpenSuse, ArchLinux, Antergos, Debian, SteamOS).
> but isn't and hardware problem, because on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 i
> haven't these problems.
>
> i've also tried to plug in an externa USB keyboard, and if i use
> external USB keybaord i haven't problems.
>
> i think is a problem of compatibility, with integrated keyboard of
> this notebook.
>
> i've tried to monitor these problems using XEV, and the results is
> that also if i'm not using notebook, sometimes XEV reads an INPUT of
> one of these 3 key (SHIFT, ALT, CTRL), and while i'm pressing one of
> these 3 key, XEV see also if i release and immedialty after press
> again the key.
>
> this is an example of the input while i press Left_ALT key for a while
>
> KeyPress event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
> root 0x498, subw 0x0, time 129987, (-142,152), root:(452,476),
> state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
> XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
> XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
> XFilterEvent returns: False
>
> KeyRelease event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
> root 0x498, subw 0x0, time 130147, (-142,152), root:(452,476),
> state 0x18,...

Read more...

penalvch (penalvch)
tags: added: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.9
removed: kernel-bug-exists-upstream-4.8
Revision history for this message
Robert Stolorz (robert-2) wrote :

Guys, this is an issue with the BIOS. For this specific model go and download the latest bios version. Sadly this can only be done under Windows.

http://support.hp.com/ph-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-15-ab100-notebook-pc-series/8499302/model/8857403#Z7_3054ICK0K8UDA0AQC11TA930O2

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@Robert
I can confirm.
I've just updated BIOS to version F.41 (released in october 2016) and now keyboard works also without "i8042.dumbkbd" option.

thanks a lot, finally this problem is SOLVED

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penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

Dea1993, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1532746/comments/63 regarding this being fixed with a BIOS update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

tags: added: bios-outdated-f.41
removed: latest-bios-f.13
Changed in linux (Ubuntu):
importance: Medium → Undecided
status: Triaged → Invalid
Revision history for this message
frank101m (p-lemus-fm) wrote :

Hello, I have the exact same problem but with another model. The real problem here is that hp didn't release the bios update for my model, I'm still in rev.41. My model is pavilion 14 ab151la. My mobo is from American megatrends.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

@frank101m
HP released the new BIOS version also for your notebook, you can found the f.41 version on HP driver web page
http://support.hp.com/it-it/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-14-ab100-notebook-pc-series/8499300/model/9088675#Z7_3054ICK0K8UDA0AQC11TA930O2
(this is the page of your notebook)
under BIOS, you can find the version f.41 (released on october 2016).

PS: check that this is the correct laptop model no.

hope that this help you

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frank101m (p-lemus-fm) wrote :

Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately I have that exact revision (f.41) but the big is still there. I don't mind using dumbkbd but it would be nice if it gets solved.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

Mmm that is strange.. This bios version ahould fix the problem.
Then you should try with i8042.dumbkbd on /etc/default/grub and then execute the command sudo update-grub
This parameter fix the problem but disables LED

PS: are you sure that the new version was correctly installed?
Check inside the bios menu what is the bios version.
On my notebook has fixed the problem, so i think that should work anywhere because probably the bios is always the same.

Revision history for this message
frank101m (p-lemus-fm) wrote :

Yep, ir reads f.41 in bash, bios menu and it did so in Windows 10. I currently have only Linux on my machine so I don't know how to reinstall it since I need Windows 10, but maybe I can boot Windows from a usb and do it. I will post what I get from reinstalling that bios version from the page you posted. Thanjs.

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Dea1993 (andrea-deangelis93) wrote :

i hope that you can solve it.
if you don't fix updating bios, you can alway use i8042.dumbkbd :)

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frank101m (p-lemus-fm) wrote :

Yes, thanks to y'all. I was giving up on having Linux on my machine but that parameter saved me from deception :).

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