Linux Lite Forums

I seem to be having a few problems with my latest LL conversion from a Windows 7 to LL 6.2 and now 6.4., with some very strange keyboard behaviour.


I’m using the original machine, on which I checked the ram with Memtest86v4, and using a brand new 8TB WD Gold HDD, checked with gsmartcontrol.


I down loaded the LL6.2 from the LL support site, checked the checksum and verified the DVD burn.
And have since upgraded to LL6.4. All seemed to go well, after ignoring the usual update error message, when using the whisker menus LL Update for the first time. A second try produces success, and I ‘m now on LL6.4.


However, by LL6.2 and LL6.4 have the same problem with regard to the keyboard.


LL seems to causing the response of the keyboard output to vary. Sometimes it freezes, and sometimes it has a big delay, resulting in the cursor moving around the screen like ghostly movements, and sometimes missing characters when typing out. As if the process has lost priority, resulting in major lags and lose of response.


I have adjusted keyboard and mouse setting to the same values as a very similar machine that I have, which has been running very successfully on LL4.8 for some time.


Also another strange thing is that the Whisker Menu sometimes pops up by itself, although there might be some loose relationship to the movement of the cursor, but nowhere near the menu area.


Added to which there seems to be a conflict in the setting of the keyboard layout.
During initial installation the option of UK is given, and sure enough when you look at /etc/default/keyboard you do indeed see



XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="gb"


But the LL Terminal is set to use the US layout, with no £ and the # in a different place.


However, if you us the




you get a UK layout keyboard on the LL Terminal, but that does not survive a reboot.


The ‘Control Panel/Keyboard/Layout’ is set to ‘Use System Defaults’ as per my other machine, which has a persistent UK layout on both the LL Terminal and in all Apps.


This may or may not have a bearing on the strange keyboard behaviour, but it’s certainly causing me a big headache, in not knowing what to check next.


Can anyone help please.

The random keyboard/mouse activity suggests hardware so I guess you've tried physically changing the keyboard and mouse and dismantling and cleaning where possible.

Otherwise, to debug mouse and keyboard input, open a terminal and type


followed by return.

This should open a small 'Event Tester' window.

Any pointer moves/mouse clicks within the Event Tester window should be logged in the Terminal window.
Similarly, if the Event Tester window is selected/active, operating any key should cause two messages (press and release) in the Terminal window.

Adjust the Terminal and Event Tester windows so there is no overlap and both are visible.

To check the system for keyboard lag.
Ensure the Event Tester window is selected but keep the mouse pointer well away from the window.
Press keys while watching the terminal.
Any significant lag between the physical press/release and the 'KeyPress' and 'KeyRelease' reports should be easily detectable.

To check for spurious mouse activity
Place the mouse cursor in the window. Note the event time stamp in the terminal window and then leave the system alone while watching the terminal for any spurious events.

To end the xev session, select the terminal window and press 'ctrl' and 'c'

For the UK/US key mapping conflict.
Go back to the Settings->Keyboard->Layout tab
If there is more than one Keyboard layout in the lower section remove any extras, leaving just the one you want.

Thanks for the response.


Firstly the keyboard is okay and has been swapped with my other LL4.8 system, which has been working with zero errors 24/7 for several years, just in case, but with the same results. As I say the two systems are very similar, including the keyboard.


The use of the xev has proved very informative on the way the system operates, but it has also emphasised that the actual problem is very elusive. I have spent quite a while trying to find a combination that is repeatable, but when all is said and done, this is the summary.


The Whisker Menu popping up seems to be the catalyst for any further cursor delay behaviour.


But as I say, it’s elusive, and tends to happen when the system is being used, with various windows active, configuration work and such like going on.


When using xev with the cursor on the desktop area, and just pressing keys, you get very responsive KeyPress and KeyRelease  event results from the terminal. And with the cursor in the  Event Tester Window, MotionNotification events are also very responsive. I even enlarged the Event Tester Window to achieve large movements, but the only time the Whisker Menu popped up, during the xev session was when I started moving the cursor in circles on the desktop, on the right hand side away from all the windows.


In fact the most repeatable, or at least the most frequent occurrence was when just a normal LL Terminal was opened, with no other programs running on the desktop, and again just doing rapid circles with the cursor for a few minutes. This caused the Whisker Menu to pop up, and just pressing escape closed it down. I was able to do this twice within about  a 5 minutes period.


After working with an LL4.8 that has been so reliable, it has been a surprise to see anything LL be less than almost perfect.


Could it be some buffer overflow problem somewhere, or suchlike.


BTW I still don’t know how to persistently set the system keyboard layout to UK or gb, as the /etc/default/keyboard didn’t do it, nor did the installation setup. So where is it defined?


It sounds to me like this is software rather than hardware, especially with the cursor lag, when it happens. But my confidence has been knocked somewhat, and I can’t really move forward with all the usual configurations if there’s something unreliable in the works somewhere.


I’m even tempted to move back to LL4.8, if it wasn’t for the fact that support for that version won’t be for much longer.

I can reproduce what I think you are seeing with the keyboard setting symptoms.

Under the following conditions

Control Panel->Keyboard->Layout tab - set to match my hardware
specifically
Keyboard model  = "Generic 105-key PC"
Change layout option = "-"
Compose key = "-"
Keyboard layout = "English (UK)"
Any other layouts deleted

Switch the 'Use system defaults' between left and right, logging out back in if required.
Checking function in Linux Lite Terminal

switch to the left  - shift 3 = '£'
switch to the right - shift 3 = '#'

How is your switch set ?

Following your suggestion, I can't reproduce the spurious Menu pop up.
I've read about touchpads doing odd things - does your system have one ?

As you suspect software, have you tried Linux Lite 5.x ?

Followed what you said with the Control Panel settings.


Mine are the same as those you listed.


Moved ‘Use System Defaults’ between left and right. Saw the pop up message about next time login.


Logged out and logged in, and its exactly the same, with the LL Terminal still on US layout.


Then I moved the ‘Use System Defaults’ to left, ie. off, where it remains (no pop up message).


The result is that the LL Terminal is now UK layout, without logging out and in again.


In other words the ‘system’ layout is still US, but the ‘system’ setting is not used by either the LL Terminal or other apps.


With regard to what version to use, I’ll be trying 5.8 as you suggest, and I note that both yourself and Jerry are indicating 5.x.


I’ll provide an update message when I’ve done the new install and got some predictable and hopefully stable results.


Many thanks again for your responses.

Quote:I note that both yourself and Jerry are indicating 5.x

There's the potential for confusion here.

I think the 5.x in a user profile refers to the Linux kernel version rather than the Linux Lite version number.

Out of the box, Linux Lite version 5 uses kernel 5.4 and Linux Lite version 6 uses kernel 5.15.

There is the freedom to change to a different Linux kernel and I understand some may be using 6.x which is why the forum allows you to select that in a profile, but most users will be on some flavour of Linux kernel 5.x if they are using Linux Lite version 5.0, 5.2, 5.4, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2 or 6.4.

The actual Linux Lite version specified in a profile seems not to be on display anymore - many forum users didn't keep it updated when they upgraded and users with several systems could only pick one anyway.

Tried LL5.8, and nearly reached the point where I was going to press on with the full installation of all my settings and apps. But then it started to show some cursor lag when using the system, which again caused me to pause.

The good news is that the keyboard layout was set correctly with UK, and it was already set to use  system defaults with a tick box,so the terminal and apps were using the correct UK layout from the get go.

The bad news is that, although it was more difficult to achieve, when having no apps running and an empty desk top, moving the cursor diagonally and rapidly from bottom left to top right eventuallycaused problems, resulting in a cursor that still moved on the screen, after inputs had stopped, trying to catch up with the path that had been taken.

The Whisker Menu also popped up, but only once. So I then move on to LL4.8, which as explained, is the same as my other highly reliable machine. It also had the keyboard set up correctly, using system settings,with nothing more to do there.
To keep the story short, it was the familiar rock stable system that I was familiar with, and using very heavy moving cursor as described above, I was not able to see any lag, once the input movement was stopped.
And there was never a Whisker Menu pop up. This is on a 1920 x 1080 HDMI display BTW.

Overall, it seems there is a problem when using my type of machine, (E35M1-I with dual core 1.6Ghz CPU, HD 6310 GPU, 8GB memory) on LL5xx and LL6.x.
I’ll be staying with LL4.8, until I get a RYZEN processor, on something like a Gigabyte B550 Aorus ITX, in a year or so.
Can’t help but wonder if the same cursor tests as mentioned have/should be checked on the minimum stated machine requirements for LL.

Best Regards.