Function key fails on Gateway LT4009u netbook

[cdupree]

Over the last year I bought a $200 Gateway netbook, and it runs Kubuntu well enough to be my travel machine. Then my girlfriend bought one too, though she's still a Windows user, and she likes it as well. So when my mother visited recently she ended up buying one. Naturally the model numbers evolve over this time frame.

I've installed Kubuntu 12.04 on her LT4009u and it runs fine. However, the critical function key fails for shutting off the mouse so you can type without worrying about the mouse moving while you're typing. The other function keys, for volume control, blanking the screen and brightening it, and turning off the wireless radio all work fine. The one that fails, F6, works fine on my netbook and my girlfriend's. My mom's machine is a dual boot, and when I boot into (gag) Windows the function key works as expected. So there's something in the combination of 12.04 and this particular model that is causing the F6 key to be ignored. I desperately need this key to work, because you can't type more than a word or two without accidentally touching the mouse pad, and presto! the text you enter is now going somewhere you didn't intend.

Any ideas about where to look for fixing this problem?

[Snowhog]

See http://www.kubuntuforums.net/showthr...l=1#post310947
Might solve your issue.

[cdupree]

Thanks for your reply, Snowhog! I get the idea presented in the post you link to, and I'm fine with using EMACS to edit grub files. But I don't know what to use for parameters in hooking this key to the desired function. I don't know how to refer to the function because it's worked fine for me and for my girlfriend. It seems to be a hardware function that I want to call with (or perhaps bind to) the F6 key, but I don't know where to look for the parameters I'd need to insert according to the linked post.

[Snowhog]

Edit (as root) the /etc/default/grub file.

Find the line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

and un-comment it if it is commented (remove the #). Make it look like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor"

Save and close the file. Then open a console and type:

sudo update-grub

Then reboot and see if the keys work as they are supposed to. If they do not, just redo the process and comment the line above and redo the update-grub command.

[cdupree]

Thanks again for the reply! Unfortunately that had no discernable effect. Some of the keys work but others don't; it's frustrating and confusing.

[Snowhog]

It's a 'game' that requires one to play.

Try using:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="noapic"

[cdupree]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, somehow I no longer seem to get emails when replies happen. I'll look in my settings...

I tried "noapic" with no effect on the key in question. Some function keys continue to work but not all of them. Any more ideas? Is there anything else I might test for?

[Snowhog]

Try

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi=noirq"

[cdupree]

Nope, that doesn't do it. Any more?