Asus F5N laptop Special keys not working with asus-laptop kernel module

Thank you reporting this bug.

The next version of Ubuntu (Hardy) is in development and it would be wonderful if you could test this issue with a recent LiveCD of Hardy.
You can download the cd here: http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/releases/8.04/alpha-6/

Also, for debugging hotkey issues and finding specific information about the situation this guide is helpful: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch
Please follow one of the methods to determine the keycode of the non-working keys.
Also attach the file lspci-vvnn.log after running this command in the terminal: sudo lspci -vvnn > lspci-vvnn.log

Thanks for your help!

Thank you, Greg. I think the link https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch should be listed on LaptopTesting wiki page found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTesting page. That was my starting point for laptop testing, as directed by www.ubuntu.com web site. The guide was of great help, and now I have the complete log of events generated by special keys. Hope this helps.

Special keys on Asus F5N laptop
===============================

Buttons:

1. Media player (music note on film logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000095 00000001", last number goes up every time the button is pressed
2. Power 4 Gear (running man logo), also Fn+Space - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 0000005c 00000002", last number goes up with every key press. Executing action "/etc/acpi/lockbtn.sh"
3. Web Browser (Saturn logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000051 00000001" executing action "/etc/acpi/webbtn.sh"
4. Touchpad on/off (crossed out touchpad logo) "hotkey ATKD 0000006b 00000002" executing action "/etc/acpi/asus-touchpad.sh" resulting in error message in /var/log/acpid: "Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?" Actually, there is SHMConfig "true" option in /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, and synclient works fine.
5. Power (usual power logo) - ACPI event "button/power PWRF 00000080 00000001" executing action "/etc/acpi/powerbtn.sh"
6. Lid Close - ACPI event "button/lid LID 00000080 00000002" executing action "/etc/acpi/lid.sh"

Special keys:

Fn+F1 - Sleep (Zz logo) - ACPI event "processor P001 00000080 00000000" (event "processor P002 00000080 00000000" is generated on wake-up by pressing any key)
Fn+F2 - wireless on/off (small anthenna) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 0000005d 0000000a" executing action "/etc/acpi/asus-wireless.sh" which exits with status 1 and no error messages
Fn+F5 - Brightness down (full sun logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000033 00000001" executing action "/etc/acpi/video_brightnessdown.sh"
Fn+F5 - Brightness up (empty sun logo) - ACPI event "video LCDD 00000086 00000000" executing action "/etc/acpi/video_brightnessup.sh"
Fn+F7 - LCD off/on (LCD logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000034 00000001" then the screen turns off, event "hotkey ATKD 00000033 00000001" and the screen is back on
Fn+F8 - LCD/LCD+external monitor (LCD/Monitor logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000061 00000001",then "hotkey ATKD 00000061 00000002" and the last number keeps going up indefinetely on every key press (with no external monitor connected)
Fn+F10 - Mute audio (speakers icon) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000032 00000002"executing action "/etc/acpi/mutebtn.sh " and again the last number keeps go up every time the button is pressed.
Fn+F11 - Volume down (speaker icon) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000031 00000001" and again last number goes up every time the button is pressed. Executing action "/etc/acpi/voldownbtn.sh"
Fn+F12 - Volume up (speaker logo) - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000030 00000001" and again last number goes up every time the button is pressed. Executing action "/etc/acpi/volupbtn.sh"
Fn+C (no logo) - ASUS Splendid Utility - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 0000008a 00000009"
Fn+T (no logo) - ASUS Power 4 Phone - ACPI event "hotkey ATKD 00000099 00000001",...

Just found out that synclient for Synaptics Touchpad actually fails with error message "Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?" despite SHMConfig option in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
It's syndaemon that works perfectly fine. Still, the button does not work because synclient fails. All those issues affect Hardy Alpha 6 pretty much, as it uses the same asus-laptop kernel module and scripts. Hardy also relies heavily on Xorg device auto detection and does not bother to generate Input Device section in xorg.conf file. As a result, touchpad does not work out of the box (and id did in 7.10). Still, let's concentrate on special keys here.

Thanks for the information, marking as Triaged.

Performed more testing with Hardy 8.04 Alpha 6 now installed onto the hard drive. Confirming the same log with ACPI events and actions, and same exit status as per my previous post. The change from 7.10 is that now Web browser and Lock Button events got broken. They are triggered an return 0 exit code just like in 7.10 but no web browser is launched nor the screen is locked.

On a side note: system wakes up to the black screen (no backlight) and from kernel log it seems to be ACPI related. Have to report it as a new bug. This is for 8.04 Alpha 6.

To fix Touchpad on/off button in both 7.10 and 8.04 one has to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to include the SHMConfig option into "Input Device" section as follows:

Section "Input Device"
 Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
........
Option SHMConfig "1"
EndSection

Ok, so the problem persist with current Hardy and acpi version 0.09-3ubuntu1.
Further investigation revealed the following.
1. Kernel module asus-laptop recognizes F5N model correctly (from dmesg output: asus-laptop: F5N model detected)
3. All special keys generate correct ACPI events (from cat /proc/acpi/event output)
2. /sys/class/leds directory is empy, making it impossible to control LEDs (all are LEDs are constantly on)
3. acpid works but acpi_fakekey now fails to generate keycodes with certain numbers. For instance, acpi_fakekey $KEY_WWW (defined in /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants file) does not generate any key code with asus-laptop kernel module loaded (but will do it just fine with asus-acpi kernel module). It is a mystery to me because acpi-fakekey should be an independent program. And it is totally unclear what key code acpi_fakekey will generate from its argument.

Suggestions:

1. Replace acpi_fakekey with a program (lets call it fakekey) that simply generates key press / key release events with the key code given as its argument.
2. Use asus_acpid daemon to handle application keys, since GNOME does not have the capability to launch arbitrary application anyways (while it should allow to chose "Custom" to associate with a key in its System->Settings->Keyboard shortcuts dialogue).

In case of using asus_acpi daemon, there may be a need to install correct key map based on laptop model detected. I am attaching the one for Asus F5N model. It enables application keys as follows:

Media button - can be configured with GNOME keyboard shortcuts (it's just that acpi-fakekey generates wrong keycode for this one)
Asus4Power - gnome-terminal
Internet - default web browser
Asus Life Frame - either cheese or camorama (should be put in package dependencies so that webcam application gets installed on a laptop that has web camera built-in)
Asus Splendid Utility - nVidia profiles (requires nvidia-glx-new package to be installed)
Asus Power4Phone - Ekiga

Other keys are working out of the box with regular acpid daemon and therefore need not to be configured.
Attached is the set of configuration files that work fine with asus_acpid v0.41 available from http://acpi4asus.sourceforge.net/
Some settings like running asus_acpid at session startup can be installed system wide to automatically apply to all users.

Now the most critical issue here is the empty /sys/class/leds directory, something I cannot fix myself. Any ideas what is wrong there?

Just moving this from the linux-source-2.6.22 Gutsy kernel source package to Hardy's. Also assigning to the kernel team per their policy - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies. Thanks.

Hello!

Ok I found a way not to fix it but to dodge the issue

I give an example

well my /etc/acpi/webbtn.sh file was

#!/bin/bash

 . /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants
acpi_fakekey $KEY_WWW

but acpi_fakekey $KEY_WWW doesn't work..

so I replace it by

#!/bin/bash

 . /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants
acpi_fakekey $KEY_HOMEPAGE

And then you change the shortcuts in gnome-keybinding-properties and it rolls!

You can find all the $KEY_* avaible in this file

/usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants

For sure all aren't used...

acpi_fakekey doesn't generate keycode grater then 100
tested with xev

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

The problem persists in Alpha 5. Even Web Browser button that used to work in Hardy stopped working as of Intrepid Alpha5.

My laptop is:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
F3F
1.0

I add the attachment file in /etc/acpi/events/

Now, With the media key I get:
KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0x7b, subw 0x0, time 3187468, (320,-102), root:(325,456),
    state 0x0, keycode 234 (keysym 0x1008ff32, XF86AudioMedia), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

I think the asus series F3 have the same key configuration: Bug #211922

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

Still an issue with 9.04 alpha 5. Should we report upsteam? or open a new bug using "ubuntu-bug -p linux" command?

I am running Ubuntu 8.04 with up-to-date 2.6.24.23-generic SMP kernel, on an Asus W7J.

I' ve found a partial solution for Fn+F8 key that works for me, but I need more help to close definitively the problem.

After some searches (over nights)....the solution for me is to disable "video" module :

sudo rmmod video

and then

sudo su

echo 5 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/display

EUREKA!!!

My Desktop is on TV screen with wonderful colors and simultaneously on my laptop-display.

But that's not the real solution.... : - (((

When I did in console:

(as root) echo 1 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/display ---> ONLY laptop-display at correct resolution working!!!

(as root) echo 5 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/display --> not LCD+TV with correct resolution as I expected, but LCD at correct resolution and TV in BLACK and WHITE at little resolution (I think 640x480)

Notes: After restart of X the problem is solved....but only for the first time I pass "echo 5 > /sys/devices/platform/asus-laptop/display"
...then the same situation descripted above.

I hope my step over is useful for someone, but I need help to completly correct this bug.

Thanks all for consideration.

I'm sorry for my bad english

Good day

Unfortunately it seems this bug is still an issue. Can you confirm this issue exists with the most recent Jaunty Jackalope 9.04 release - http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-9.04-desktop . Please let us know your results. Thanks.

i am sorry i ve still not upgrade my system.
i ll tell you when i l do it!
thanks!

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. / S5N / 1.0
up-to-date 9.04 System
Touchpad on/off: inserting SHMConfig 1 in HAL did the trick.
Email and Internet Key: Do not generate events, nor keycodes

can i do anything to help?

thx,
Gerhard

Hi all....

Hi King, I've tried Xubuntu Live 9.0.4 on my Asus W7J and none of the Fn combos worked.

Now I'm using Hardy......after its first installation almost Fn combos worked.....

BRIGHTNESS
VOLUME
SUSPEND
WIRELESS SWITCH
NO VIDEO SWITCH --> but now works with some problems and a workaround
DISABLING TOUCHPAD --> with "SHMConfig On" under Xorg.conf

....but with 9.0.4....none of them!!!

I've tried to understand the source of the problem....using the tool that I used to solve my troubles with 8.0.4:

tail -f /var/log/acpid.....

....... but I've also discovered that under /var/log in 9.0.4, there's no ACPID......

What have happened to ACPID?.....I don't know.....but without it I'm not able to debug Fn combos problem...

Thank you for your help

Hi guys

For Your info. I'm using Ubuntu 9.04 with kernel 2.6.30 and multimedia, "Turbo" and "Web" buttons work.

I have no special kernel module installed.

Cheers

Have you tried Ubuntu Karmic - does this fix the problem?

In karmic some problems continue:

- Touchpad key doesn't generate events.

- The bluetooth led always is ON, but no bluetooth in my laptop.

- The wifi LED is always ON, no matter if the switch is ON or OFF.

Ad hoc fixes for LEDs still work in karmic as per attached file.
Touchpad disable key does not work, however Fn+C disables touchpad when it shouldn't.
Fn+C is supposed to call Asus Splendid Utility and generate different events from the Touchpad disable hot key which does not work. Please note that shared memory should be enabled in HAL for touchpad to be disabled as the driver does not yet support this feature.

Also, Fn+V (camera) and Fn+T (Asus4Phone) keys do nothing in karmic.

All other buttons seem to work, including wireless on/off which is really nice.

My laptop has "Asus splendid" (or FN+C) key too, and I can confirm the same problem as lex with the touchpad.

@Lex: your script has a problem in my case. Your scripts said asus-laptop and my system is asus_laptop.

Anyway, thanks you

Hi,

Lex, i join to Francisco, my system is asus_laptop. My problem is, that the FN+F2 (wireless on/off) still don't working after configered the attached patch. Please don't hesitate to ask mw, if i can solve this problem.
thanks

SirFrankie, my deepest apologies for confusion with attached patch. The path to LEDs has indeed changed from asus-laptop to asus_laptop when upgrading from 9.04 to 9.10. Fn+F2 was working out of the box when performing clean 9.10 install.

The original patch I posted here was only to make Network Manager to turn wireless LED on and off upon network connection and disconnect. It is not meant to fix any of the special keys and is a rough fix anyway as wireless LED is supposed to blink to indicate wireless activity.

I used to run asus_acpi daemon as normal user prior to 9.10 in order to get the keys working. Now that we can see some progress with standard acpid I would look into /etc/acpi/events directory to configure hot keys the right way. For now, I am correcting the original LEDs patch and is going to fix Touchpad button and post the fix here. Special keys like Power Profile, Fn+C, Fn+V and Fn+T are more or less a matter of personal preference so please feel free to contact me directly if you need help configuring them one way or another. It would be nice if we could agree on what the defaults for those keys should be as well.

Please note that the hot keys are now all being translated to key codes reported by showkey command, and as such should be configurable with System->Preferences->Shortcuts menu, with Touchpad button being obvious exception.

The default key codes reported by "sudo showkey -k" command and corresponding keysyms reported by xev command are listed below.

Media Player - 226 (XF86AudioMedia)
Power Profile (also Fn+Space) - 152 (XF86ScreenSaver)
Web Browser - 150 (XF86WWW)
TouchPad on/off (ATKD 06b)- 330
Wireless on/off (Fn+F2) - 238 (XF86WLAN)
Asus Splendid (Fn+C, ATKD 08a) - 148 (XF86Launch1)
Webcam (Fn+V) - 212 (XF86WebCam)
Asus4Phone (Fn+T) - 169 (XF86Phone)

As you can see, most keys are mapped correctly with default settings. I would really appreciate to be able to switch power profiles with the hot key rather then going through Screensaver and Power preferences windows each time I need to watch online movie or anything like that. So that my default profile would be:

Screensaver and display lock in 5 minutes
Brightness at 85%
Dim display on inactivity
Turn display off in 10 minutes

and my alternative profile for watching movies online could be

Screensaver off
Brightness at 100%
Do not dim display on inactivity
Turn off display - never

In the meantime, in order to correct Touchpad button issue please copy attached asus-f5n-touchpad file onto /etc/acpi/events directory and restart acpid as follows.

sudo cp asus-f5n-touchpad /etc/acpi/events/
sudo chmod 644 /etc/acpi/events/asus-f5n-touchpad
sudo restart acpid

You may also wish to move the file /etc/acpi/events/asus-f8sv-touchpad out of acpi directory before restarting acpid. This file is responsible for Fn+C locking the touchpad and is supposed to fix touchpad button on Asus F8 series. Hope this helps.

Correcting LEDs fix for 9.10 Karmic (see attachment)

I have noticed that /usr/share/acpi-support/state-funcs script also has old asus-laptop syntax. The last three lines of that script should be corrected to read as follows.

    # (Newer) asus-laptop module
    test -w /sys/devices/platform/asus_laptop/wlan && echo -n "$action" > /sys/devices/platform/asus_laptop/wlan
}

Also /etc/acpi/events/asus-wireless-* files do not handle ATKD 05d event which is what Fn+F2 (Wireless on/off) key generates on Asus F5N laptop. How wireless on/off switch works on my laptop is a real mystery to me.

I think a script similar to /usr/share/acpi-support/state-funcs should be developed to handle bluetooth LED and on/off switch, if any, on various Asus laptop models.

Since this bug is still marked incomplete, may I list once again the special keys along with their corresponding events and key codes as per 9.10 Karmic release.

Button Name - ATKD code - Key code - Keysym
-------------------------------------------------------------
Media Player - 095 - 226 - XF86AudioMedia
Power Profile - 05c - 152 - XF86ScreenSaver
Web Browser - 051 - 150 - XF86WWW
TouchPad on/off - 06b - 330 -
Wireless on/off (Fn+F2) - 05d - 238 - XF86WLAN
Asus Splendid (Fn+C) - 08a - 148 - XF86Launch1
Webcam (Fn+V) - 082 - 212 - XF86WebCam
Asus4Phone (Fn+T) - 099 - 169 - XF86Phone
-------------------------------------------------------------

dmidecode command output

system-manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
system-product-name: F5N
system-version: 1.0

lspci -vvnn command output is attached.

Hi Junkert,

Thank you for your email. I am just an average user but will try to help you out as much as I can. Canonical support is almost non existent as their priorities are elsewhere.

I double checked Fn+F2 key and yes, it does work on my laptop (NM applet disconnects and says Wireless networks disabled, then reconnects to wireless network when I press Fn+F2 the second time). Wireless LED goes off and on as per my patch.

How it works is a real mystery to me, because Fn+F2 key generates acpi ATKD 05d event while /etc/acpi/events/asus-wireless-* event handlers are designed to translate ATKD 05e and 05f codes into wireless on and off scripts.

You can try to change these values to 05d instead and see if it helps.

I noticed that even if I stop acpid the hot keys still work. Makes me wonder.

Anyways, try to play around and see if it helps.

Kind regards,
Lex

-----Original Message-----
From: SirFrankie <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:28:23 -0000
Subject: [Bug 199682] Re: Asus F5N laptop Special keys not working with
asus-laptop kernel module

> Hi,
>
> Lex, i join to Francisco, my system is asus_laptop. My problem is, that the FN+F2 (wireless on/off) still don't working after configered the attached patch. Please don't hesitate to ask mw, if i can solve this problem.
> thanks
>

Hi Lex, thanks for the answer....

Yepp, i think you are a little bit more than one average user.... ;)

So, the whole situation is, that i have an ASUS F5N-AP222. And i make tomorrow downgrade to Jaunty (last good working system).
I had more than 3 hours fight in Kramic with the wifi driver before this, and he wins :( my greatest problem is, that i dont remember how i this problem solved in Jaunty, so i am in same situation currently in. Exactly i have one madwifi hal 10.5.6 dirver what do not works with Jaunty too...)

yepp, i have the challange currently, on what system i make the wifi to correct....
if have good ideas, pleas share with me,

best regards, Ferenc

On asus A6VM not working brightness +/- buttons(Fn+F5/Fn+F6). It's not see xev. It work only hardware part like in bios. But no indicator in Gnome when change brightness.

MF, please file a new bug for your issue.

~JFo

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