Update: Issue disappeared without doing anything. After just letting my computer sit turned off for a few hours I started it back up to troubleshoot. Now it works again. Something happened to break it and then to unfuck it again without any input from me. Something is unstable and I’m gonna try to figure it out.
Started my PC up today, logged in like normal, but my keyboard wont work after logging in. Except for the calculator button. None of the keys will actually do anything. But logging in works normally.
Worked fine last night, no updates have run or anything. Where to start diagnosing this? In a way where I won’t need a keyboard?
Fedora 42 KDE
Edit: Keyboard works fine in a live environment on the USB I used to install yesterday. Tried a different keyboard on my main install, and that didn’t work either. So it’s not the keyboard itself at least
Worked fine last night, no updates have run or anything. Where to start diagnosing this? In a way where I won’t need a keyboard?
Okay, couple routes to get in. It sounds like whatever you have going on is probably some setting specific to your graphical environment and account (a KDE keyboard setting?)
root
If Fedora lets you log in as root and the root account isn’t affected, that could get you to a point where you can affect the system.
onscreen keyboard
If you want to try working from inside your account, I suspect that KDE has some sort of onscreen keyboard, which would temporarily let you use your mouse to fill in for the keyboard, though I don’t use KDE. For GNOME, it sounds like it’s at “GNOME Settings > Accessibility > Typing > Screen Keyboard”.
just use the mouse and copy-paste
I have no idea how KDE Plasma sets things up, but traditionally on X11, and for me still on Wayland, you can select text to put it into the PRIMARY clipboard, and then middle-click to paste it somewhere. So if you can get selectable text with letters up and that’s available, that should let you input text.
use the mouse alone
I’m guessing that most likely this is some KDE keyboard setting specific to your account. So if you can get into your keyboard settings with your mouse — can’t help you there, don’t know how to navigate KDE — you could pop into there.
console rescue mode
You very probably have a “rescue mode” or some such option in GRUB, the bootloader that comes up initially after any BIOS screen when booting. I don’t know whether current Fedora shows GRUB’s menu and gives you a couple seconds to hit a key as GRUB shows up, but I believe that holding shift during boot should show GRUB if Fedora hides it. On Linux distros, that’ll tend to get you logged in as root on a console, though I haven’t used Fedora in a long time.
Whatever config is affecting you may not apply in that mode.
init=/bin/sh console mode
If Fedora doesn’t have a rescue mode, you can boot into an extremely primitive mode where barely anything is running (e.g. Control-C won’t work to kill programs, you have one console) by stopping the boot process in GRUB and then editing the kernel command line and appending
init=/bin/bashto the kernel command line. You’ll have basically nothing but the kernel and bash running, but this will get a Linux system that has basically everything broken at least to a command line. Doubt that it’s necessary in this case.I’ll give these steps a go later today! Thanks!
You may have inadvertently triggered some sort of Accessibility feature, perhaps. If your mouse still works, or you have a Bluetooth keyboard handy, go to your settings and make sure your keyboard input matches the correct type of keyboard.
If that looks correct, make sure something like Slow Keys didn’t get enabled, and hold a single letter key down for like 5 seconds and see if you get any feedback from that.
Already checked the i put and that looks to be right. No slow keys enabled in settings and no response holding down keys for up to 15 seconds.
My keyboard can both use a dongle and BT. But I can’t find it on BT. Other keyboard is the same model, which isn’t ideal but it was worth testing out.
Also, mouse still works. And I’m logged into here on my browser so I can copy commands and stuff.
Checked your accessibility menu and see if anything there may be turned on?
Also, can you drop to a straight terminal (ALT+F2) and the key card works fine?
Also, can you drop to a straight terminal (ALT+F2) and the key card works fine?
Alt-Fn works to switch among terminals once you’re in a terminal.
If you’re in Xorg or Wayland already, then you need Control-Alt-Fn to get out to a terminal, and I believe that some distros disable this.
Tried turning stuff on, then off, then reset to default. Nothing.
Nothing, except function keys for volume etc. and the calculator keys work when I’m logged in. I can log out and write my password normally.
I can get to a console from the login screen, which tells me to login. But I get incorrect credentials even though they are correct.
This is old, but maybe helpful: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=292996
My thinking is you may have gotten an update, restarted, and now you’re seeing this issue. What’s the specific model of keyboard?
Logi MX Keys S.
I had an update available today(after this issue). Ran it but it didn’t fix the issue sadly.
Okay, so let’s try connectit via BT as a test at least. You said it wasn’t showing up in your BT menu, check this out.
The other thing here is that this is a wireless-only key card, so you’ve got a potential HID configuration problem because of that receiver. The fact that you can actually login first, THEN it stops working tells me it’s something like this. The fact it works fine on LiveUSB screams settings/config issue. You may need that LiveUSB again to go in and chroot some stuff away.
It just works again after the computer being shut off for a few hours. I did quite a few restarts earlier today that didn’t help so something isn’t right. I’m thinking there’s something broken with the HID config myself.
If I was on Windows I’d reinstall the driver, check chipset driver etc. maybe check if there’s something wrong with Logitech’s software. I’ll do some digging now that I have a keyboard again to see how if I find anything.
Are you on a convertible laptop? Is Fedora perhaps thinking you’re on keyboard-less mode? Is there an OSD keyboard enabled that may be overriding your input?
Desktop.
I can’t get the on screen keyboard to show ip anywhere. Tried to both enable and disable is but no difference to my physical keyboard.
If ur keyboard doesn’t work then how did you post this?? Smdh
With a device known as a smartphone.
Obvious mate. It was a joke
