[ltp] Keyboard issues with intrepid

[Phil Shotton]

I think I've got to the bottom of it. I had a program (eclipse) dump 
core in a routine that I eventually traced to at-spi. Seems that while 
trying out various settings on my new Intrepid install I'd enabled 
'Assistive Technologies' - text to speech and stuff. Looks like this 
screws up, on a random basis, keyboard input and text output. Having 
disabled it (and uninstalled at-spi) I've not had a recurrence of the 
problem.

Phil

Phil Shotton wrote:
> So I hit reply, and started typing, and straight away got the problem. 
> The following is the output from typing all the letter keys from left 
> to right, top row to bottom.
>
> wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm
>
> Note that this is with a USB keyboard. I then moved onto the laptop 
> keyboard, started typing, and everything was fine.
> Moved back to USB keyboard, and it's all working. WTF is going on here?!
>
> Phil
>
> Richard Neill wrote:
>>
>>
>> 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
>