New keyboard issue

[sandspur]

After an update using the graphical application with Mobian my mechanical keyboard does not work. The on-screen keyboard does work, however.

One of the updated files had something to do with the keyboard.

If anyone has experienced the same problem and can offer a suggested fix please do so.

sandspur
lesser wizard
running Mobian bookworm updated 1 June 2022 at 0830 UTC approximately.

[zltpxqhp69o2]

I had the same issue today with the kernel 5.15.41 apparently («uname -a») compiled on May 25. It also seems to break docking.

I see two options: find the previous version in /var/cache/apt/archives and install it; or go to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mobian.list to copy the repo line and replace bookworm with unstable in the copy, then after apt update install linux-image-5.17-sunxi64

I used the latter option, now typing this reply from the PinePhone using an external keyboard but some words in this replied are typed on the PinePhone hardware keyboard…

---

(about my debugging findings: normally there is a kb151 module, the linux-image-5.15-sunxi64 package with kernel version 5.15.41 seems to lack it)

[sandspur]

Thanks zltpxqhp69o2. I may try one of your suggested fixes if I get my courage up.

In the interim I hope someone who maintains Mobian sees these posts and issues an update that addresses the problem.

sandspur
lesser wizard

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

After an update using the graphical application with Mobian my mechanical keyboard does not work. The on-screen keyboard does work, however.

One of the updated files had something to do with the keyboard.

If anyone has experienced the same problem and can offer a suggested fix please do so.

sandspur
lesser wizard
running Mobian bookworm updated 1 June 2022 at 0830 UTC approximately.

I seem to have just experienced this problem. Although it could be a coincidental hardware failure due to the way the fault appeared. 

I left the PinePhone on overnight, it stayed up which is normal with both the phone and keyboard battery at full charge. The phone was NOT charging overnight.

This morning the keyboard does not work and the battery is not seen under Settings->Power although the PinePhone shows charging when the charger is disconnected from the keyboard's USB C connector.

The rate at which the reported % power on the PinePhone decreases suggests that it might still be drawing some current from the keyboard. While the decrease is slower than a solo PinePhone it is decreasing at a much higher rate than when the keyboard was connected and working as it should. 

I still have the last image I installed on the phone on my computer. So I will dig out a spare SD card over the weekend and make a fresh install with the old image before mucking about with the fixes above. The main image is on the internal storage so I would need to back that up before making significant changes to it.

[zltpxqhp69o2]

True that — I run all the things off an SD card anyway.

Disappearance of keyboard from power sources and lack of keyboard functionality is in line with what I have observed with the kernel that misses the drivers.

If «sudo lsmod | grep kb151» finds nothing and «sudo modprobe kb151» says the module is not found, I think you can be pretty sure you have the software issue, which does not exclude a hardware issue but puts its chances to the baseline.

About Mobian just fixing things — the unstable kernel package might indeed end up being promoted to bookworm in some time. A week or two maybe? Or has almost enough time passed already anyway? Not sure if this topic would change the timing. Maybe report the bug in their tracker and post the link here?

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

True that — I run all the things off an SD card anyway.

Disappearance of keyboard from power sources and lack of keyboard functionality is in line with what I have observed with the kernel that misses the drivers.

If «sudo lsmod | grep kb151» finds nothing and «sudo modprobe kb151» says the module is not found, I think you can be pretty sure you have the software issue, which does not exclude a hardware issue but puts its chances to the baseline.

About Mobian just fixing things — the unstable kernel package might indeed end up being promoted to bookworm in some time. A week or two maybe? Or has almost enough time passed already anyway? Not sure if this topic would change the timing. Maybe report the bug in their tracker and post the link here?

I just updated mobian this morning, no change in the kernel and the keyboard is still not being seen by the PinePhone.

I flashed the mobian-phosh image from 20220116 to an SD card and after the the phone booted the keyboard started working. This iteration of the OS does not have seperate bars in Settings->Power so there is no information about the charge of the keyboard battery. However, on pressing the button on the right hand side of the keyboard the "charging" symbol appeared in the phone's battery icon. I'm assuming that this means that the keyboard battery is providing power to the phone.

Anyway, it seems to confirm that the current version of mobian (stable?) is broken and that it is not a hardware issue.

[Brother Cadfael]

After an update using the graphical application with Mobian my mechanical keyboard does not work. The on-screen keyboard does work, however.

One of the updated files had something to do with the keyboard.

If anyone has experienced the same problem and can offer a suggested fix please do so.

sandspur
lesser wizard
running Mobian bookworm updated 1 June 2022 at 0830 UTC approximately.

This was discussed in Matrix.  Here's a message from Undef on June 1st: Assuming the fix goes well, there should be a (completely untested) patched kernel in the build artefacts of https://gitlab.com/mobian1/devices/sunxi...equests/60 in about an hour if anyone with a keyboard (and the ability to revert the update) is willing to test it.
Somebody did test it and it worked for them, but I haven't checked for other updates on the situation.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

After an update using the graphical application with Mobian my mechanical keyboard does not work. The on-screen keyboard does work, however.

One of the updated files had something to do with the keyboard.

If anyone has experienced the same problem and can offer a suggested fix please do so.

sandspur
lesser wizard
running Mobian bookworm updated 1 June 2022 at 0830 UTC approximately.

This was discussed in Matrix.  Here's a message from Undef on June 1st: Assuming the fix goes well, there should be a (completely untested) patched kernel in the build artefacts of https://gitlab.com/mobian1/devices/sunxi...equests/60 in about an hour if anyone with a keyboard (and the ability to revert the update) is willing to test it.
Somebody did test it and it worked for them, but I haven't checked for other updates on the situation.

I have a fresh install on a sacrificial SD card that is undergoing a dist-upgrade at the moment. So I expect the keyboard to stop working when I reboot. If it does, then I can use that to test.

Ah, the dist-upgrade left me with an image that would not boot. I will try again. First a normal upgrade then the dist-upgrade. EDIT: no luck. I it looks like a duff SD card.

What is involved in installing the patched kernel? Downloading and installing a .deb or will it need to be built first, or something else?

[MacarioMorenoUK]

Many thanks to everyone in this thread for all the information. I also experienced this issue and was trying to diagnose it as it definitely looked like a botched Mobian update. Both kb151 and ip5xxx_power modules are now missing from the /lib/modules/5.15-sunxi64/kernel subtree. Great to hear that the Mobian maintainers have already been notified.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

Is there any information as to when the fix will be released into the wild?

Which Matrix client(s) work (best) under Mobian on the PinePhone?