Mailing List Archive

Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work
Hello,

On an ordinary keyboard, the extended function keys, F13 to F24, should
be accessible as Shift + Fn, where Fn are the keys F1 to F12.

Well, up until a few days ago, the Shift+Fn combination was working as it
should. Then suddenly, Shift+Fn stopped working correctly. I noticed
it when using the Midnight Commander (MC) file manager where I extensively
use Shift+F5 and Shift+F6 to conveniently rename and copy files.
MC is a terminal program but the problem also shows up in some X programs
that use Shift+Fn combinations.

Because I have no need to closely monitor changes on my system I can't
actually pinpoint any new install that may be responsible. My first
guess would be a new version of xorg-server-1.11.1 that was emerged
on October 2.

I need to know how I can debug this situation further. Using xev
to record key presses gives the following output when using
Shift+F1:

KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0xe00001,
root 0x121, subw 0x0, time 6919279, (23,152), root:(463,411),
state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0xe00001,
root 0x121, subw 0x0, time 6921351, (23,152), root:(463,411),
state 0x1, keycode 67 (keysym 0xffffff, VoidSymbol), same_screen YES,
XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 63
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

The data for the F1 keypress is not correct. Compare this output with
the expected output that is shown in this forum thread:
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-524537-start-0.html

It appears that the X server is at fault.

Can anyone using xorg-server-1.11.1 very that the Shift+Fn keys
are broken?

Frank Peters
Re: Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work [Update] [ In reply to ]
On Sun, 9 Oct 2011 13:45:07 -0400
Frank Peters <frank.peters@comcast.net> wrote:

>
> Well, up until a few days ago, the Shift+Fn combination was working as it
> should. Then suddenly, Shift+Fn stopped working correctly.
>

I found this report of the same problem:

http://forums.funtoo.org/viewtopic.php?id=817

The culprit is the new keyboard-config-2.4.1, which I had installed
on October 5. This version breaks the Shift+Fn keys. Downgrading to
version 2.3 solves the problem.

Before filing a bug report with Gentoo, it would be good to have
a confirmation from someone with keyboard-config-2.4.1.

Frank Peters
Re: Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work [Update] [ In reply to ]
On 10/09/2011 09:15 PM, Frank Peters wrote:
> On Sun, 9 Oct 2011 13:45:07 -0400
> Frank Peters<frank.peters@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Well, up until a few days ago, the Shift+Fn combination was working as it
>> should. Then suddenly, Shift+Fn stopped working correctly.
>>
>
> I found this report of the same problem:
>
> http://forums.funtoo.org/viewtopic.php?id=817
>
> The culprit is the new keyboard-config-2.4.1, which I had installed
> on October 5. This version breaks the Shift+Fn keys. Downgrading to
> version 2.3 solves the problem.
>
> Before filing a bug report with Gentoo, it would be good to have
> a confirmation from someone with keyboard-config-2.4.1.

Same problem here. And downgrading to 2.3 fixes it.
Re: Re: Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work [Update] [ In reply to ]
On Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:44:38 +0300
Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> wrote:

>
> Same problem here. And downgrading to 2.3 fixes it.
>

Thanks. I filed a bug report with Gentoo.

Frank Peters
Re: Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work [ In reply to ]
On Sun, Oct 9, 2011 at 10:45 AM, Frank Peters <frank.peters@comcast.net> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> On an ordinary keyboard, the extended function keys, F13 to F24, should
> be accessible as Shift + Fn, where Fn are the keys F1 to F12.
>
> Well, up until a few days ago, the Shift+Fn combination was working as it
> should.  Then suddenly, Shift+Fn stopped working correctly.  I noticed
> it when using the Midnight Commander (MC) file manager where I extensively
> use Shift+F5 and Shift+F6 to conveniently rename and copy files.
> MC is a terminal program but the problem also shows up in some X programs
> that use Shift+Fn combinations.
>
> Because I have no need to closely monitor changes on my system I can't
> actually pinpoint any new install that may be responsible.  My first
> guess would be a new version of xorg-server-1.11.1 that was emerged
> on October 2.
>
> I need to know how I can debug this situation further.  Using xev
> to record key presses gives the following output when using
> Shift+F1:
>
> KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0xe00001,
>    root 0x121, subw 0x0, time 6919279, (23,152), root:(463,411),
>    state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
>    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
>    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
>    XFilterEvent returns: False
>
> KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0xe00001,
>    root 0x121, subw 0x0, time 6921351, (23,152), root:(463,411),
>    state 0x1, keycode 67 (keysym 0xffffff, VoidSymbol), same_screen YES,
>    XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 63
>    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
>    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
>    XFilterEvent returns: False
>
> The data for the F1 keypress is not correct.  Compare this output with
> the expected output that is shown in this forum thread:
> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-524537-start-0.html
>
> It appears that the X server is at fault.
>
> Can anyone using xorg-server-1.11.1 very that the Shift+Fn keys
> are broken?
>
> Frank Peters
>
>
>

Hi Frank,
I've never used the Shift-Function keys myself. Here is what I'm
seeing here using xev to capture Shift-F1:

KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
root 0x26a, subw 0x0, time 14761403, (323,554), root:(1606,577),
state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 33, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
root 0x26a, subw 0x0, time 14762104, (323,554), root:(1606,577),
state 0x1, keycode 67 (keysym 0xffbe, F1), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 33, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
root 0x26a, subw 0x0, time 14762163, (323,554), root:(1606,577),
state 0x1, keycode 67 (keysym 0xffbe, F1), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 33, synthetic NO, window 0x3e00001,
root 0x26a, subw 0x0, time 14762733, (323,554), root:(1606,577),
state 0x1, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False


I didn't read through the link you posted but it's showing left-shift
& F1, both key on and key off, so I assume it's working correctly
here. This is, however xorg-server-1.10.4 so possibly there's a bug in
the testing version? I still show 1.10.4 as stable but haven't updated
in a couple of days on this machine.


mark@c2stable ~ $ eix -I xorg-server
[I] x11-base/xorg-server
Available versions: 1.9.4 1.9.5 1.10.2 ~1.10.3 1.10.4 ~1.11.0
~1.11.1 {dmx doc ipv6 kdrive minimal nptl static-libs tslib +udev
xnest xorg xvfb}
Installed versions: 1.10.4(03:34:56 PM 08/30/2011)(nptl udev
xorg -dmx -doc -ipv6 -kdrive -minimal -static-libs -tslib -xnest
-xvfb)
Homepage: http://xorg.freedesktop.org/
Description: X.Org X servers

mark@c2stable ~ $


Hope this helps,
Mark
Re: Shift + Fn Keys Suddenly Don't Work [ In reply to ]
On Sun, 9 Oct 2011 12:13:05 -0700
Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> I've never used the Shift-Function keys myself. Here is what I'm
> seeing here using xev to capture Shift-F1:
>

Thanks for taking the time to test, but I may have posted a bit
prematurely again. Further searching has revealed that the problem
is with the newest (and unstable in Gentoo) xkeyboard-config-2.4.1.
This package contains the configuration files for the X keyboards.

Hopefully, the next release will correct things, but otherwise
a downgrade to 2.3 will help if the problem affects you. Most
users probably don't have much need for Shift-Fn.

Frank Peters