[ltp] Keyboard issues with intrepid

[Richard Neill]

Phil Shotton wrote:
> After a week of using Intrepid on my T60p I've been very happy until the
> last couple of days, when I've increasingly experienced strange keyboard
> problems. Sometimes when I switch to a window expecting keyboard input
> around 50% of the letter keys don't work - always the same ones.
> Particularly notable is the I key - as I seem to use that a lot!
> 
> If I alt-tab to another window and back again most times everything
> returns to normal. Sometimes it takes a couple of goes.
> 
> Very occasionally (happened about 3 times in the last week) any program
> requiring keyboard input hanges. I can still navigate around using the
> mouse, and do anything that isn't requesting keyboard input. Don't know
> if this is related to partial keyboard failure or not.
> If I go to a virtual terminal everything is fine; go back to X and it's
> still hosed. Once in this state the only solution is to kill X. Nothing
> at all in the Xorg logs.
> 
> Running  2.6.27-7-generic, ATI X-server, standard Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex
> (clean install last week) with all updates applied, on a T60p with ATI
> Mobility FireGL V5250.
> 
> Any clues?
> 

At a guess, your KB is becoming partly detached from the plug/socket on 
which it mounts. Some keycodes are getting corrupted. (note that to get 
a single character, the KB controller sends at least 2 events; see xev 
for a demo). Under a VT, you only get the "raw" codes sent. May I 
suggest 2 diagnostics:
   - plug in an external USB keyboard
   - try with eg a knoppix CD ROM.

HTH,

Richard