Ubuntu
initramfs-tools package

Surface Pro 4: Keyboard not functional during LUKS password prompt

Bug #1772094 reported by Joe Testa
10
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Unassigned

Bug Description

I installed Ubuntu 18.04 desktop edition on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4, using LVM and full disk encryption. When LUKS prompts for the password, however, the type cover keyboard does not work. I had to plug in a USB keyboard to type in the password and boot.

However, the solution is simple. Edit the /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file, add "hid_multitouch" to a line on its own, then run "update-initramfs -u". Now the typecover keyboard can be used to enter the LUKS password on boot.

The Ubuntu 18.04 desktop installer should be modified to detect if it is running on Surface Pro hardware, and add the module, above, as needed.

Revision history for this message
Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1772094/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

tags: added: bot-comment
Paul White (paulw2u)
affects: ubuntu → initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)
tags: added: bionic
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

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

Changed in initramfs-tools (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
William (william-cobradevil) wrote :

The module gets excluded in the initramfs core package.

attached is a patch which resolves the issue by not excluding the hid-multitouch.ko module.

Revision history for this message
William (william-cobradevil) wrote :

Could this also be backported to xenial 16.04 ?

Best regards,
William van de Velde

Revision history for this message
Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) wrote :

The attachment "multitouch.patch" seems to be a patch. If it isn't, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are a member of the ~ubuntu-reviewers, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issues please contact him.]

tags: added: patch
Revision history for this message
William (william-cobradevil) wrote :

I know you guys are very busy but it does not help to ignore community contributions without any comment.

This is a fairly simple patch and one which just works.

Please have a look at this one.

Best regards,
William van de Velde

Revision history for this message
William (william-cobradevil) wrote :

Any progress on this one?

Best regards,
William

Revision history for this message
Benjamin Drung (bdrung) wrote :

I checked Ubuntu 23.10 and it still does not contain hid-multitouch:

$ find /lib/modules/6.5.0-10-generic -name 'hid-multitouch*'
/lib/modules/6.5.0-10-generic/kernel/drivers/hid/hid-multitouch.ko.zst
$ lsinitramfs /boot/initrd.img-6.5.0-10-generic | grep hid-multitouch

Changed in initramfs-tools (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Medium
status: Confirmed → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Benjamin Drung (bdrung) wrote :

I staged adding hid-multitouch for the next upload of initramfs-tools to noble: https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-dev/ubuntu/+source/initramfs-tools/commit/?id=5948f1d3d8cf961785db8153ce3ec2d9a06dd5e2

Changed in initramfs-tools (Ubuntu):
status: Triaged → Fix Committed
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package initramfs-tools - 0.142ubuntu17

---------------
initramfs-tools (0.142ubuntu17) noble; urgency=medium

  * install hid-multitouch module for Surface Pro 4 keyboard (LP: #1772094)
  * test: log build_initramfs calls

 -- Benjamin Drung <email address hidden> Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:16:46 +0100

Changed in initramfs-tools (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
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