Ubuntu
hal package

Multiple key presses being reported after pressing an Fn key only once

Bug #239706 reported by Sympy
12
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
hal (Ubuntu)
New
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: hal

I recently noticed that the problem reported in Bug #239413 might be deeper than I thought. The brightness keys apparently are not the only Fn combination reported multiple times when I press the button only once and the problem is not reproducible only with brightness changing. It's possible that the power management software has nothing to do with the problem.

Examples for my Dell Vostro 1400:

1 - Open system > preferences > keyboard shortcuts.
2 - Assign "home folder" to Fn+Up (the key for increasing brightness)
3 - Press Fn+Up: FOUR nautilus folders will pop up instead of one.

1 - Open system > preferences > keyboard shortcuts.
2 - Assign "home folder" to Fn+F8 (the key for switching between LCD and CRT)
3 - Press Fn+F8: TWO nautilus folders will pop up instead of one.

Most keys are not affected. Fn+F3 (battery button), for example, will only open one nautilus folder if I assign it to "home folder".

Revision history for this message
Sympy (sympathy4no1) wrote :

Output of lshal -m after pressing Fn+F8:

06:44:12.388: platform_i8042_i8042_KBD_port_logicaldev_input condition ButtonPressed = switch-videomode
06:44:12.389: computer_logicaldev_input_1 condition ButtonPressed = switch-videomode

Revision history for this message
Sense Egbert Hofstede (sense) wrote :

What happens after you've added 'blacklist video' to /etc/modules and reboot after that?

Revision history for this message
Sympy (sympathy4no1) wrote :

By blacklisting video, the multiple key presses problem seems to go away (lshal -m confirms this), but there's some nasty consequences for the brightness applet:

1) Completely loses sync with the screen brightness.

2) Using the slider not only has no effect, but also hangs the system for two or three seconds for each step of the slider.

Since I don't use the brightness applet constantly, it's not much of a big deal, but I fear this might be the symptom of something worse...

Revision history for this message
Sympy (sympathy4no1) wrote :

I've just noticed that with video blacklisted the same short hanging occurs also when the AC cable is plugged in and out.

Revision history for this message
OliFre (freyermuth) wrote :

The hal-update that arrived lately (yesterday?) fixes this, it seems.
However, unblacklisting the video-module breaks FN-F8 (CRT/LCD-Switcher) for me.
Brightness-control works fine again, even with video-module loaded.

Revision history for this message
Ss (srv-box12) wrote :

Hi,
I have the same problem here. I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS on a Dell Inspiron 1720.
I hope a fix will soon be available on Update Manager.

To post a comment you must log in.
This report contains Public information  
Everyone can see this information.
Subscribing...

Other bug subscribers

Remote bug watches

Bug watches keep track of this bug in other bug trackers.