[Bug 746892] [NEW] Keyboard randomly stops working, but autorepeat and mouse work

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occurs in: Karmic and Lucid
hardware: Sony Vaio laptop

problem:
1-4 times a day, the keyboard will stop working. The mouse will still work though. To fix this requires either a hard-reset, or navigating to the logout button, and logging out and back in. Novice users, or users who do not use the mouse, or who are not using a desktop environment that allows saving with just the mouse, will lose their work. Unsaved files will require the user to save them using copy-pasting with the mouse.

After a few months of this problem, I noticed that holding down a key
causes it to autorepeat. Thus, the keyboard is just broken "on
keypress". For example, to type "testA", it would take about 10 seconds,
and I would have to hold down t and let go the moment autorepeat
started, then the same for e, then the same for s, then the same for t,
then hold down shift for about a second, then hit A and lift up before
autorepeat starts.

There doesn't seem to be any useful information in /var/log/Xorg.0.log
or or /var/log/messages or dmesg, though I haven't checked extensively.

Rarity: unknown
Severity: absolutely infuriating, happens constantly, and is a major hassle and possible source of data loss for many users

WORKAROUND:
- open the System Settings > Accessibility (or type "kcmshell4 access" in a terminal)
- under "[tab]Keyboard Filters" you may see Sticky Keys enabled if you are suffering from this; disable it and hit Apply
- to prevent this from happening again, go to "[tab]Activation Gestures", disable "Use gestures to activate...", set the inactivity timeout to the lowest possible setting (1min), and enable all the notification features

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: linux-image-2.6.32-30-generic 2.6.32-30.59
Regression: No
Reproducible: No
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-30.59-generic 2.6.32.29+drm33.13
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-30-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.21.
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC262 Analog [ALC262 Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1:  mats      28505 F.... kmix
 /dev/snd/controlC0:  mats      28484 F.... knotify4
                      mats      28505 F.... kmix
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xd5200000 irq 22'
   Mixer name	: 'Realtek ALC262'
   Components	: 'HDA:10ec0262,104d2e00,00100302'
   Controls      : 13
   Simple ctrls  : 9
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'HDMI'/'HDA ATI HDMI at 0xd0030000 irq 17'
   Mixer name	: 'ATI R6xx HDMI'
   Components	: 'HDA:1002aa01,104d2e00,00100100'
   Controls      : 4
   Simple ctrls  : 1
Card1.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
   Playback channels: Mono
   Mono: Playback [on]
Date: Thu Mar 31 21:24:50 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
Frequency: I don't know.
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=afae68d8-7f7a-4d31-8f2c-03f09b908b81
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release amd64 (20091027)
MachineType: Sony Corporation VGN-FW510F
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-30-generic root=UUID=ac25e2f1-8517-47db-afe1-3b8d5f4ecd00 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.34.4
SourcePackage: linux
dmi.bios.date: 08/24/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: R4060Y0
dmi.board.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.board.name: VAIO
dmi.board.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.board.version: N/A
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: N/A
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Sony Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrR4060Y0:bd08/24/2009:svnSonyCorporation:pnVGN-FW510F:pvrC6025K0U:rvnSonyCorporation:rnVAIO:rvrN/A:cvnSonyCorporation:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: VGN-FW510F
dmi.product.version: C6025K0U
dmi.sys.vendor: Sony Corporation

** Affects: kdeadmin (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug karmic lucid maverick natty needs-upstream-testing
-- 
Keyboard randomly stops working, but autorepeat and mouse work
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/746892
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