Can a key combination "die"?

lucmove · 10-13-2022, 10:50 PM

I have many key combinations configured to launch applications in Openbox.

Suddenly, WinKey + n and WinKey + m didn't work anymore.

The really weird part was that n and m still worked as standalone. I could open a text editor and write anything, all keys worked including n and m. Only WinKey + n and WinKey + m didn't.

WinKey + many other keys (possibly all others) worked too.

I replaced the keyboard and everything is working as expected again. So the other keyboard broke down. But I still find it strange that the keys worked as standalone, only failing in combination with WinKey.

Does this make sense?

The new keyboard has different layout. Slows me down badly. :-(

pan64 · 10-14-2022, 12:26 AM

No, it doesn't make sense, although I'm not saying you're lying.
I would check the events sent by the keyboard (with xev). And probably I would try another OS too. Or another usb port.

lucmove · 10-14-2022, 01:33 AM

I am using another keyboard on the same OS and USB port. Everything works.

I put the old keyboard again. The problem persists.

Back to the new keyboard, fixed again.

Seems obvious the old keyboard has some kind of internal failure. I just find it very strange the problem only affects two keys and only in combination with another key that works in combination with other keys.

pan64 · 10-14-2022, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucmove

I am using another keyboard on the same OS and USB port. Everything works.

I put the old keyboard again. The problem persists.

Back to the new keyboard, fixed again.

Seems obvious the old keyboard has some kind of internal failure. I just find it very strange the problem only affects two keys and only in combination with another key that works in combination with other keys.

again, you can check it with a tool which can inspect the raw keyboard events (like xev). And you can check the same keyboard on another host/os/usb port/whatever. Keyboards have their own hardware and software, and they may fail too.
But anyway, stating that the new keyboard is working is not enough to diagnose.

lucmove · 10-14-2022, 03:41 AM

I forgot to comment on xev.

It doesn't help because it prints too much information. And when I try to capture anything, it detects my movements, dumps more output and everything gets worse.

But I noticed that when I press WinKey + keys that work, xev prints something like this among a ton of other stuff:

Code:

KeymapNotify event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  68  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   4294967168 0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

Which doesn't happen when I press WinKey + n or WinKey + m.

pan64 · 10-14-2022, 06:10 AM

what kind of keyboard is it at all? Does it have batteries?

boughtonp · 10-14-2022, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucmove

It doesn't help because it prints too much information. And when I try to capture anything, it detects my movements, dumps more output and everything gets worse.

See man xev - you can filter the events it displays.

Quote:

But I noticed that when I press WinKey + keys that work, xev prints something like this among a ton of other stuff:

Code:

KeymapNotify event, serial 48, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  68  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   4294967168 0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

Which doesn't happen when I press WinKey + n or WinKey + m.

That event indicates when window focus changes.

smallpond · 10-14-2022, 09:06 AM

When I do

Code:

xev -event keyboard

and press Win m I get 4 events:

KeyPress Super_L
KeyPress m
KeyRelease m
KeyRelease Super_L

lucmove · 10-14-2022, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pan64

what kind of keyboard is it at all? Does it have batteries?

It's a pretty regular USB keyboard. No batteries.

frankbell · 10-14-2022, 08:45 PM

You might try popping the cap off the key and seeing whether there's some dust or something of that nature fouling the key.

lucmove · 10-14-2022, 08:47 PM

I picked up and hooked up the bad keyboard to record a video while running tests on xev, but... WinKey+n and WinKey+m are working again!

What in the world?

What did I do?

Well, I rebooted, but I had done that before.

Well, this time I actually unplugged everything from the mains to clean the room. Could that have made a difference? I don't suppose so. If it did, I have no idea why.

I will come back if anything weird happens again. Thank you for the attention.

lucmove · 10-14-2022, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

You might try popping the cap off the key and seeing whether there's some dust or something of that nature fouling the key.

I had done that too.

Weird.

pan64 · 10-15-2022, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucmove

I picked up and hooked up the bad keyboard to record a video while running tests on xev, but... WinKey+n and WinKey+m are working again!

What in the world?

What did I do?

Well, I rebooted, but I had done that before.

Well, this time I actually unplugged everything from the mains to clean the room. Could that have made a difference? I don't suppose so. If it did, I have no idea why.

I will come back if anything weird happens again. Thank you for the attention.

If it is that regular usb keyboard a simple unplugging/waiting/plugging in again probably solved this issue. Anyway, it is now solved.