Ubuntu

Home, End, PgUp, PgDn not working with LUBUNTU 18.04 on Dell Inspiron 11 (3162)

Asked by Steve Ahn

I just installed LUBUNTU 18.04 LTS x86_64 on a brand new Dell Inspiron 11-3162 but the "Home | End | PgUp | PgDn" functionality does not work. I'm a first time user of any Linux Ubuntu after having ditched Windows 10 and saying goodbye to Windows forever (I hope). I'm learning about Linux as fast as I can but cannot figure this out and would be infinitely grateful for help or even the solution.

On to the problem:

On this particular keyboard you have to hit Fn+LeftArrow for Home, or Fn+RightArrow for End, Fn+UpArrow for PgUp and Fn+DownArrow for PgDn. The crazy part is the first time I use one of these functions it works. But if I try and go "home" or "end" a second time, nothing happens. I have to reboot to be able to do it again for the first time, and then nothing the second time.

Strangely, I do not have this problem in the FIle manager PCManFM (ie the Fn + arrow keys all work to get me home, end, PgUp or PgDn.)

Also, the Function key does work with other features ... for example the Fn+F2 and F3 de/increase the volume; Fn+F12 brightens the screen ; Fn+F1 mutes the sound.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

I suggest you report a bug

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Steve Ahn (ccwnoob) said : 		#2

I just reported it as bug but in the meantime, I think I've identified the problem and I think I need help editing the keycode.

Can someone tell me:
1. If my diagnosis is correct, and
2. If so, how to add the release codes to the keys

Explanation for the diagnosis: When I used SHOWKEY for the four keys (Home, End, PgUp, PgDn), I noticed there is no release code. This would explain why each of the direction keys works the first time but not upon subsequent times. It also would explain why the first time I press PgUp or PgDn, it acts as if I have held the key down even when I take my finger off of it - for example, in Excel, the first time I press PgUp or PgDn, even when I take my finger off the key (Fn + up arrow or Fn + down arrow), the screen keeps scrolling up or down the spreadsheet as if I've held the key down (ie, not released it.) Therefore, I think I need a release code to each of the four direction keys.

I'd like to try to edit the keycodes by adding the release codes to each direction key. I assume if this does not work, then I could just undo the edits and keep searching for a solution.

I would greatly appreciate any help!

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Steve Ahn (ccwnoob) said : 		#3

PS - When I used SHOWKEY for the Fn+other keys (like for volume, screen brightness), there are indeed releasse codes for those so I feel pretty convinced all I need to do is add release codes to the direction keys.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#4

Have you tried with an external keyboard (just to eliminate the possibility that there is a hardware problem with the built-in one)?

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Steve Ahn (ccwnoob) said : 		#5

No, I have not but all the hardware including ALL the keyboard keys and functions worked 100% perfectly with Windows 10 right before I replaced it and installed Lubuntu 1804. Thanks for the idea though.

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Steve Ahn (ccwnoob) said : 		#6

Here's the closest thing I've found elsewhere about this. I found some other "solutions" that claimed this problem went away after (i) updating BIOS for one situation and (ii) for another situation, someone said they installed XUBUNTU 16.04 and after a software update, the problem went away.

For that situation-i above, I do suspect that the BIOS could be an issue, because I read BIOS is one of the ways the Fn key gets "activated". For the other situation-ii, I wonder if the update affected the BIOS or installed the keycode to "release" which is the solution I'm trying to do.

If someeone knows how to edit the press/release codes for a key, can you please let me know or point me in the right direction?

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