Hey guys,

My new laptop has a keyboard that includes a numberpad. Though it has separate cursor keys, it relies on the numpad keys for home, end, pgup, pgdn etc.

Now the issue I've noticed is that scrollback shift-pgup (numpad 3) doesn't work on VCs, or at all for that matter.

I've looked a little deeper into this using showkey -s and pressing the key while holding down shift doesn't generate any scancodes, though it does generate a code if pressed alone, or with alt or ctrl. The other keys on the numpad seem to generate scancodes as expected with or without a modifier, its just the combination of pgdn/numpad3 with the shift modifier that has a problem.

Checking in windows by filling notepad full of junk and then trying to shift-pgdn also shows that its not functioning correctly, though again shift-pgup works as expected.

Am I right in thinking that scancode generation will be a function of the BIOS? It's a fairly new model so it wouldn't surprise me if its a bios issue. My vendor does have a bios update listed on their patches site, but there's no detail on what it fixes.

I'll probably give their support line a call, but in the meantime it'd help if anyone in the know about such things could confirm that I'm thinking along the right lines here.

Thanks.

Gaz.

Just to aid anyone who may hit this same issue and stumble on this thread when searching for help, I'll keep a log here of my progress.

Summary:

The laptop in question is a
Medion MD97110 (aka. P6612).
BIOS V1.02,
KBC 03.13 (displayed on the main bios screen, I'm assuming it stands for KeyBoard Controller?)

The pgdn key doesn't generate a keypress when used with shift.
The problem occurs in both Windows Vista and linux.


Detailed:

When running 'showkey -s' from a linux VC it can be observed that when used with the shift modifier depressed, the pgdn key generates neither a key-down or a key-up scancode.

When used with ctrl or alt depressed, or on its own with no modifiers, the key generates both scancodes as expected.

pgup works correctly in all cases, the problem appears isolated to pgdn only.

Under Windows, the easiest way to see this is to pop open a notepad, fill it with text and then try to shift-pgdn through it which should scroll down and select text as it goes.


Progress:

22/11 - I've spoken with Medion's UK support team. They've confirmed the issue on their machine, so its clear that this is not just my machine. They've also tried an external usb keyboard which they tell me operates correctly.

This model of laptop is fairly new, and mine is the first report they've had of this issue, which they have told me they will pass back to the engineering team at their manufacturing plant.

I guess now, I find out how good their support is. Until there's a fix for this issue, you may want to consider avoiding this laptop. I'll keep you posted.

Does an external USB keyboard work properly?

:-)

Apparently so, according to Medion's Tech support, but I don't own a external USB keyboard so I'll have to take their word for it.

I said I'd update this incase it'd be of use to someone. Unfortunately, it won't as I've hit a brick wall. (read on for details if you're really interested)

After speaking with medion's uk tech support team again, it would appear they have done nothing with this issue in the last 5 days despite what they told me on Saturday about escalating my problem to the factory. The gentleman I spoke with today simply stated that there was no hints within his knowledge base for this problem and that he was unable to help me further.

Anyway, rather than get involved in protracted arguments with them or get stuck with a lame duck product, I decided the best thing to do was return it for a refund while I'm still within the period of time that my retailer allows for returns.

I've still got the feeling that the keyboard controller is at fault and that perhaps a bios update would have fixed this issue, however the medion tech support people insisted that updating the bios would void any warranty I had. I know that bios updates are risky as a bad flash can brick a motherboard, but bios updates are released to fix faults, saying that applying them is at your own risk and will void any warranty when the only reasons you're applying them is that it fixes a fault in the first place is completely bonkers. Is this really standard policy for laptop vendors?

So, that's the end of my story. It's gone back to the store and I'm in the market for a new laptop yet again, which is a bind as I thought I was going to be settled for the next 3 years with the medion. Oh well....