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Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Hello hopefully soeone here has an idea what's going on :)

I'm on a Thinkpad X13 Yoga Gen2, running Artix-runit with the linux-lts kernel.
Since doing an update today, my keyboard has been doing some really bizarre stuff, some things I found thus far include:
  • Shift+Control actiates the Capslock-key, but it doesn't also deactivate it, I have to press Capslock twice for that
  • Shift+Control+> (a shortcut in a program I use frequently) does a paste (Control+v) and then prints 'z' continuosly, until I hit z
  • some keys, especially 'v', 'y', 't' and ',' don't work about 50% of the time

I investigated further and in xev, when pressing Shift+Control it triggers the following sequence:
  • Shift_L
  • Control_L
  • XF86AudioLowerVolume
  • Super_L
  • BackSpace
  • braceleft
  • braceright
  • Y
  • T
  • Caps_Lock
all of those are only KeyPress events, then theres also a KeyPress and a KeyLower event for XF86Display.

Pressing Shift+Control+> triggers an even longer, even wilder string of KeyPress events.

Does anyone have an idea where I could look next? I already tried restarting aswell... Seeing as this just started happening after an update, I don't think it's a hardware fault. Btw, the update didn't include a kernel update.

Thanks a ton!

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #1 –
UPDATE: Switching kernel from linux-lts to linux didn't do anything.

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #2 –
I am a noob and have no clue what I am talking about, but just some ideas to assist someone who maybe does:
  • Try showkey on a TTY instead of xev, to avoid having a GUI program potentially mess with it
  • Try a different keyboard
  • Some info on the X environment and system in general, the usual

(Assuming you mean Shift+Control+< not +>)

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #3 –
Great ideas!

Trying another keyboard actually worked! I kindof wish it hadn't though, as it points towards my laptops keyboard having a hardware-problem, does it? Or is there some software-difference between handling the internal keyboard and an external one?

As for my environment, I'm running standard i3 in an X Server and, apart from configuring multiple keyboard-layouts, I never messed with the keyboard.

And just to show that the problem persists in the tty on the laptop keyboard:

keycode  29 press
keycode  42 press
keycode 114 press
keycode 125 press
keycode  14 press
keycode  26 press
keycode  27 press
keycode  21 press
keycode  20 press
keycode 115 press
keycode  58 press
keycode  15 press
keycode 227 press
keycode 227 release
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  15 press
keycode  29 release
keycode  42 release
keycode 114 release
keycode 125 release
keycode  14 release
keycode  26 release
keycode  27 release

With 29 being Control and 42 being Shift. (I didn't double-check the other keycodes but they shouldn't be there regardless)

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #4 –
Quote from: claudiusgoennus – on
as it points towards my laptops keyboard having a hardware-problem, does it? Or is there some software-difference between handling the internal keyboard and an external one?
It's possible the keyboard developed a hardware fault and the update was coincidental.  It's also possible the update you did included a kernel update which has caused this. The fact that you use a LTS kernel would make the latter less likely but not impossible.

If you post (as an attachment) the content of /var/pacman.log after the update and up until the next one it may be possible to suggest some downgrades to test. You could post sudo dmesg as well in case there's any errors in there.

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #5 –
It seems, that I also did a yay -Syu yesterday, about an hour later than the normal upgrade. There's a bunch on libraries mentioned that I don't really know, so I can't say if they could have had anything to do with this problem.
An additional detail: I noticed that the Lenovo Pen for my toughscreen stopped working, although normal touch operation is still functional.

Thanks a ton, I wouldn't know where to start looking in the dmesg output!

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #7 –
Nothing is jumping out at me I'm afraid. Is it possible the keyboard took some liquid damage ? Might not have been you. I know back in the day my kids would probably have wiped it up and hoped to get away with it!.

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #8 –
My suggestion would be firstly downgrade to a point before where it stopped working, either using the contents of /var/cache/pacman/pkg or use the archive, either manually or as described by nous in this thread:
https://forum.artixlinux.org/index.php/topic,7614.msg47483/#msg47483
Although there's no real chance packages like gimp have anything to do with this it's not going to cost anything to downgrade everything and be 100% certain whether it was an upgrade or not.
Also, boot from a live USB iso or two, to eliminate any dodgy personal config issues.
If it still doesn't work then it sounds like a keyboard fault. The keys are connected in a matrix so several are often affected by internal electronics failures, they have more circuitry than just straight buttons inside them, which is why there aren't more wires coming out. The keyboard is usually quite easy to remove, you should find instructions from the manufacturer and probably videos online for your model of laptop. Typically you unclip some bezel(s) and undo a couple of little crosshead screws with a jewellers screwdriver set, and there's some kind of electrical connector, either on an edge or via a ribbon cable. Take it out, blow (ideally with an airline) and brush it out to make sure nothing is causing a stuck key,  then put it back again and see if it works. If not, look on eBay / AliExpress or wherever to find a cheap replacement, usually you can find something around 10 - 20 £/$/Euros. You can even check if non-English alternatives are cheaper and acceptable, some might be the same layout with 2 sets of characters printed on them for example. I've had to replace several keyboards on various laptops over the years, they can just go wrong for no reason, some laptop models can be prone to regular failures while others endure. I've never worried if it's a non-genuine or used one either, but make absolutely sure it's the right one for your exact model of laptop. You can usually find a part number on the back of the old one, then you might find the same part is used in other models and can find one cheaper even though the ad may not mention your model, just the part number. There might also be keyboards with different part numbers which are the same and are used in your model which would be fine to fit, hence the need to research a little.
If you were really unlucky it could be a mobo issue on the interface circuits, but that's very unlikely.

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #9 –
Quote from: claudiusgoennus – on
It seems, that I also did a yay -Syu yesterday, about an hour later than the normal upgrade. There's a bunch on libraries mentioned that I don't really know, so I can't say if they could have had anything to do with this problem.

yay -Syu = Pandora's box
"Wer alles kann, macht nichts richtig"

Artix USE="runit openrc slim openbox lxde gtk2 qt4 qt5 qt6 conky
-gtk3 -gtk4 -adwaita{cursors,themes,icons} -gnome3 -kde -plasma -wayland "

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #11 –
@#######

I tried booting from Mint 22 bootstick and I saw the exact same behaviour. This would suggest a hardware-fault, so I probably won't try rolling back packages and look for a replacement. Thank you so much for your suggestions! I have replaced laptop keyboards before, but I wanted to avoid it if possible.

One last question: Could a keyboard hardware-fault cause my touchscreen pen to not work? For that maybe I'll try rerolling updates tonight.

@mikapyon

I can change between german and english layouts by pressing Alt+Space, because I prefer the english layout but live in a german speaking country, so sometimes I need special characters. Although this configuration happened so long ago that I couldn't find where I had made it, even after looking for a while... Oops!

Re: Modifier Keys doing crazy stuff

Reply #12 –
It looks like your keyboard includes a trackpoint and buttons, so a fault there might interfere with other pointing devices. The BIOS does hw detection at boot which might compensate for small voltage discrepancies or disable parts of the system if it thinks they are not working properly. Faulty touchpads or trackpoints can drag the pointer to the edge of the screen and pin it there, possibly out of view. You could even remove the built in keyboard and boot with only an external one to test this, usually it is safe to do this, so long as you are very careful with the live exposed circuits, which could be shorted by any careless move.
There were some errors relating to bluetooth in your dmesg, which might also be relevant if it connects using this.
 
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