Issues with Nanoxia Ncore Retro USB Keyboard

[linuxbrad]

Hello,

I got this keyboard for Christmas last year and since then it's been finicky with my Mageia 6.1 set up. It will stop responding or start repeatedly adding a letter (e.g. The quick red foxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...) Often, I have to unplug it from the USB port and then plug it back in again to get it work properly again. However, this solution never fixes the problem for long. I have tested it on a Window 7 machine and it appears to behave properly. Could there be an issue with the driver that is automatically selected by the OS? What can I do?

The keyboard's specs can be found here: http://nanoxia-world.com/en/products/ke ... block-tech

I'll provide them here as well:

SPECIFICATIONS
Model: Nanoxia Ncore Retro Aluminium - US-Layout
EAN: 4260285297069
Manufacturer Number: NNR-US-ALU
Order Number: 900700120
Working voltage: 5V
Operating frequency: Built-in 12 MHZ oscillation, max 16 MHZ
Braided cable: 1.8m
Support system: Win XP/Vista/7/8/10
Material: Aluminum
Light: White LED
Weight: 1.330 g
Dimensions: 436.5 x 133.5 x 41.9 mm

Any assistance would be appreciated. I love this keyboard and it upsets me that I can't get it to work with Mageia.

Thanks,

Brad

[doktor5000]

Is it connected directly to an USB port of your box or connected via some kind of USB hub?

Also please provide the output of

Code: Select all

xinput list

You may need to install xinput for that.

[linuxbrad]

Hello,
I have the keyboard connected directly to a USB port.

I get the following from the suggested command:

Code: Select all

$ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                          id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=11   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Synaptics s3203                           id=15   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Gaming KB  Gaming KB                      id=13   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                         id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                                 id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                              id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=10   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Integrated_Webcam_HD: Integrate           id=14   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Dell WMI hotkeys                          id=16   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard              id=17   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=18   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Gaming KB  Gaming KB                      id=12   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Gaming KB  Gaming KB                      id=19   [slave  keyboard (3)]


[doktor5000]

Dumb question, how many actual keyboards did you have connected when you took that output, only the Nanoxia Ncore Retro, or also another one?

[linuxbrad]

Not a dumb question. The machine is a laptop with an onboard keyboard. I have a USB 3.0 hub and a wireless mouse attached. The issue has been occurring whether or not the USB hub is plugged in.

[doktor5000]

Can you test if that also happens outside of the X server, e.g. when you switch to a tty via Ctrl+Alt+F2, then login and test it in that console session?

Please also attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log here.

[linuxbrad]

Can you test if that also happens outside of the X server, e.g. when you switch to a tty via Ctrl+Alt+F2, then login and test it in that console session?

Please also attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log here.

I've attached the log file as requested. The issue still occurs in a tty.

Thanks,

Brad

[morgano]

IIRC the keyboard sends key down and key release events and i am thinking if somehow the key up event get lost for some reason, the key looks continously depressed and the auto repeat function kicks in. I have no idea where autorepeat is generated nowadays. Long a go it was a "BIOS" setting, but it use to be configurable also in the desktop environment.

Test: When you have a repeating key, does it stop repeating if you again press and release that key on
a) that external keyboard?
b) the onboard keyboard?

Experiment with setting key repeat off in places where that function is found?

[JoesCat]

The keyboard specs are also a little interesting...
It mentions 5V. This can also be a warning...some laptops might not supply 5V, so you would have to plug it into a hub that supplies 5V, but since you mention it works ok in windows, this is unlikely a problem (another thing to try here is see if you might see similar behaviour with lights-on if USB was struggling with 5V, but works ok with lights off).

The 12MHs "oscillation" sounds fast, but that is the CPU clock, and this can maybe divide down 2 or 4 (for some CPU types), so you may be working with only 6 or 3MHz. This is plenty fast for typing, and ps/2, but very slow for higher USB speeds - this might be where the problem happens. If you can dedicate a USB port for the keyboard and then tell the port to run slow, USB1.0 @1.5Mbits, this may solve the problem. If you have BIOS settings for keyboard legacy, that helps too.

Your keyboard list (above) with many keyboards may also suggest that the all the different keyboards are attempting to transmit at the same time. Check if there is a difference between the larger general keyboard that only has one keyboard type, vs the gaming keyboard overlays that map differently (these might be sending keys simulating the different mappings). If the othe keyboard maps are sending their keys, it may mean you need to filter-out the other keyboards and listen to only one keyboards.