Inpsiron 1545 -- superflous key stroke logs (translated set 2, code 0x8d)

[Henry Wertz]

On my Dell Inspiron 1545 dmesg, I get:
[ 529.926369] atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0).
[ 529.926374] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known.
[ 536.168508] atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0).
[ 536.168512] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known.

This will be like 2-10 seconds apart, then it could be 5 minutes or more between pairs.

I've been running 5.7.19 kernel (installed via mainline), but did boot 5.4.0-52-generic to file this since it's a supported kernel.

My battery packed up quite a while ago and shows 0% charge.. it has begun every so often "dropping off" and back on a few seconds later, both in gkrellm, and whatever app shows the battery icon in top right (near network manager, volume, etc.)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: linux-image-5.4.0-52-generic 5.4.0-52.57~18.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-52.57~18.04.1-generic 5.4.65
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-52-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.18
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: GNOME-Flashback:GNOME
Date: Thu Oct 22 15:13:25 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-09-09 (774 days ago)
InstallationMedia:

ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen.xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: linux-signed-hwe-5.4
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
---
ProblemType: Bug
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.18
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: hwertz 3637 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: GNOME-Flashback:GNOME
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-09-09 (774 days ago)
InstallationMedia:

MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 1545
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen.xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-52-generic root=UUID=e2909436-8fb2-4f09-a757-822f78af9d2e ro nosplash noautogroup mitigations=off
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-52.57~18.04.1-generic 5.4.65
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.4.0-52-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.4.0-52-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.173.19
StagingDrivers: ashmem_linux
Tags: bionic staging
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-52-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin lxd plugdev sambashare sudo vboxusers xpra
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 12/07/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A14
dmi.board.name: 0G848F
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA14:bd12/07/2009:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron1545:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0G848F:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 1545
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Henry Wertz (hwertz10)]

I assumed dmesg would be attached... It is now!

[penalvch (penalvch)]

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

Could you please boot into a Ubuntu kernel (not third party kernel) and execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1901083

[Henry Wertz (hwertz10)]

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[Henry Wertz (hwertz10)]

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[Henry Wertz (hwertz10)]

(uname -a:
Linux inspiron-1545.local 5.4.0-52-generic #57~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Thu Oct 15 14:04:49 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
)

I've been using 5.7.19 by default, but I'm on 5.4.0-52-generic for this since it's a supported kernel. (These atkbd messages are identical in both.)

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henry Wertz, please answer all of the following:

1) Do you actually have superflous key strokes, along with that which is logged in dmesg?

2) Could you please test the latest mainline kernel (now 5.9.1) and advise to the results?

3) Did you personally test this with your Inspiron 1545 in a prior version of Ubuntu (not someone else, somewhere else)? If so, what is the earliest version and what were the results?

[Henry Wertz (hwertz10)]

"1) Do you actually have superflous key strokes, along with that which is logged in dmesg?"
Nope, totally asymptomatic.

"2) Could you please test the latest mainline kernel (now 5.9.1) and advise to the results?"
Here ya go. I can attach entire dmesg if you want, but from 5.9.1 dmesg:
[ 256.705741] atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0).
[ 256.705745] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known.
[ 265.118971] atkbd serio0: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0x8d on isa0060/serio0).
[ 265.118975] atkbd serio0: Use 'setkeycodes e00d <keycode>' to make it known.

"3) Did you personally test this with your Inspiron 1545 in a prior version of Ubuntu"
No. I don't think it started logging this (at least often enough to notice) until my battery went from holding like a minute or two of battery life to holding 0, which only happened in the last 2-4 weeks.

Honestly, I'd be totally fine if it was closed "wontfix" (I guess launchpad doesn't have that) or "invalid", the kernel's logging a non-standard keystroke sent by the Dell, which seems legitimate and harmless (it'd be a nuisance if it was every second but it's not close to that); in addition the Dell is effectively sending it in response to a hardware failure, so I could see "if you don't want this in your kernel log, replace your battery" being a legitimate response. Let me know and I'll set it!

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henry Wertz, a hardware failure causing collatoral logging wouldn't be considered something for a developer to change here, but I'll mark this Confirmed for now should a bug exist. Feel free to mark this Status Invalid if you like.