Keyboard and mouse "dead" after leaving the PC for some time

[nilsA]

If i leave the PC without shutting down, I can't get into the log in screen. In the lower left corner, an icon signifying "virtual keyboard" is shown.

The only way to get in is to do "big red switch" (that is, physically shutting the PC off and on again.

Virtual keyboard is something I associate with a touch screen. Nothing like that on my very stationary, two screen setup.

[rab0171610]

A couple of things to know . . . when you say the login screen, are you referring to the lockscreen? Or are you referring to the login screen of SDDM, the login manager? My system is set to lock the screen after a period of time. If you somehow have set it to log out after a period of time, it would instead be the latter. If it is indeed the latter, at one time I added:

[General]
InputMethod=

to /etc/sddm.conf to get rid of the virtual keyboard on the login screen. That has been about a year ago and it worked at that time. Sometimes one of the following files has

[General]
InputMethod=qtvirtualkeyboard

/usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d System configuration directory
/etc/sddm.conf.d Local configuration directory
/etc/sddm.conf Local configuration file for compatibility
Only edit the last one (local configuration file) as instructed above, it takes precedence above the other two. It should be blank after the equals sign. Also IF a file exists called /etc/sddm.conf.d/virtualkbd.conf you would want to either edit it as well to say the same(InputMethod= under the [General] section), delete it, or rename it to /etc/sddm.conf.d/virtualkbd.conf.bak. The file is not necessary if you do not wish to use a virtual keyboard on the login screen. Note that there should be nothing written after the equal sign and if the [General] section already exists add the line InputMethod= under that heading.

If you are indeed talking about the lockscreen that is not handled by SDDM anymore but is part of Kscreenlocker. If that is the case, post back so someone can help you further.

[rab0171610]

If indeed your mouse and keyboard are dead that is a separate issue I did not address. That may have something to do with sleep/hibernate settings or usb powersave or USB autosuspend for the mouse/keyboard if they are USB connected. If there is not a setting in the BIOS to disable this feature for USB, then there is probably a way to disable it in Linux, but I do not know what that is off the top of my head. It probably involves creating a special udev rule. If it is bluetooth, for example, rather than USB here is an example of someone who had that issue with their specific hardware:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1303...luetooth-mouse

[nilsA]

Thank you for your answers - I have been otherwise occupied due to "life". Perhaps I should clarify a little, as I don't understand all your technical words.

It is the log-in screen that locks. This happens when the PC closes down because I have not used it for some time.

It is not a full shutting out of the keyboard, because the <CTRL> <ALT> >DEL> works by shutting down the PC after some time.

The problem is I can't put in the password, so I can't log in again.

When this happens, a virtual keyboard icon and text is present.

Possibly it is only the mouse that is shut out?

[Snowhog]

Possibly it is only the mouse that is shut out?

Do you see the mouse cursor? Does it move about? If no mouse cursor, can you get to a TTY? What Theme are you using?

[claydoh]

odd.

Normally, the password box should have focus here, so just typing should work. Perhaps try using the tab key to sew it it isn't in focus, and see if you can get it back there.

if you have changed to different theming on the lock screen, it might be worth trying another.

I wonder if it may be specific to the keyboard and/or mouse? Wired? Wireless? Bluetooth? Model?
Are you using suspend/sleep at all?



The virtual keyboard may seem to be odd on a non-touch system, but I have most definitely used it on my PC on more than one occasion when my wireless USB KB batteries have died, and had no spares. or a spare wired KB. Don't forget accessibility aspects, as well.

[nilsA]

No cursor.

I am using an old fashioned USB keyboard (Microsoft) and USB mouse (Labtech) and a ATEN KVM. Never had any problems with this before installing the new long term Kubuntu on a second hand PC. The same PC has no problems running WIN10.

It is not a virtual keyboard appearing on the monitor, just a small icon down left corner, labelled Virtual Keyboard.

I was going to try the <TAB> - but the WIN10 started updating on the PC, so I'll come back to that.

[nilsA]

This is getting weirder. It seems loading plasma is a problem. The black screen with the little wheel running under the "logo" (or what to call it) stops. Then first the PC is reset by itself. Then it freeze with the wheel stopping. No other way to get out of it than power off.

I now try an older version from GRUB menu, it loads, but not bad resolution.

I forgot to tell - I use two monitors L(eft) and R(ight).L directly, R by KVM.

Windows starts up at L, while Kubuntu (after BIOS) get into the GRUB menu on R, then back to L, and then both, and last login on L.

I had a lot of problems when installing - the graphics board and the R monitor seems not to be all that happy with another. The high resolutions on the R is not present in the graphics board and the other way round, so I have to use a lower compromise.

The old install seems to run over time, but when I switch so the R monitor is visible, then "out of range" is displayed" - even though it is not near any high res.

Sorry, this gets weirder and weirder!

[nilsA]

Can all this be due to problems with graphics card driver and one of the monitors? (R) In Windows, the recommended resolution is 1920 x 1080. Kubuntu seems only to work with 1440x900 on both. Trying to go over that, will freeze the mouse, and eventually reset the PC.

I found that OPEN GL was turned off because of a once conflict. Trying now with that on. There were also indications that the driver for the graphics card is not good.

I'll test what happens when I now have set things to what it seems the PC/Kubuntu can "agree" on, and get back tomorrow. (I'm at 2300 now.)

[claydoh]

ATEN KVM.

I am guessing this may be the thing to look at, particularly as your screen resolution is not correct

[nilsA]

I am guessing this may be the thing to look at, particularly as your screen resolution is not correct

In what way? Should I try changing how the monitors are attached to the KVM and the PC?

The setup works just fine with WIN10, and did work fine with a former PC attached as #2 in the KVM, 20.04 (Focal Fossa.)

Two things has changed - the PC and the Kubuntu version at the same time. Other than that, everything is the same. The old PC had a GE Force GT 710 graphics card, the new one has ATI Radeon HD 4770.

[claydoh]

Could be from a kernel or driver update. Maybe test a previous kernel if this stared recently.
The KVM is what the system is using to determine the correct and available resolutions, not the actual monitors, and unfortunately it working fine in Windows 10 does not mean much, if the device has drivers or firmware tuned to Windows and any quirks both may have.
Might be useful to see if there are any firmware updates for the device (if applicable)

Or maybe some xrandr magic may be able to add better resolutions? No idea about peripherals.

Which specific switch model is this?

[rab0171610]

While waiting for OP to respond with KVM model, some people have had luck with unresponsive KVM peripherals by doing one of two things:

Disabling USB autosuspend with kernel boot option:

usbcore.autosuspend=-1

This can be verified after reboot with:

cat /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/autosuspend

If disabled successfully it should return -1 instead of 2 for example.

The second thing is to consider turning off the mouse emulation setting on the KVM itself. Without knowing which KVM model, it is hard to advise how to toggle this, as they are all different. Some have settings that can be toggled (pass-through mode on/off) and some do not. Most ATEN KVM's do.

With regards to the video resolution, is it possible that the EDID of the monitor is not being relayed through the KVM?

[nilsA]

The KVM is ATEN USB CS84U

About the kernel option - for a long time I have done nothing but usi9ng LS versions of Kubuntu with small problems, so I don't remember how to uts the "usbcore.autosuspend=1" ? I assume this should be something in the start of the PC, not a one time operation?

[nilsA]

Since yesterday, I have changed the monitors. This led to the log on screens, both GRUB and KUBUNTU login, now showing on both monitors, and generally almost all is in both.

Now I *can* set a higher resolution on my right monitor (BENQ), but the size on the screen is not correct. However, I now can run with different resolutions - but when I want to wake up the PC after the power saving is set for a while (the monitors both gone black), I can wake up, the cursor is there for a second or two, then it all freezes.

To get back I have to switch off and on the power, start in advanced mode, choose restart from advanced mode, and then login anew. Wether I use the latest or the next to latest core seems to be the same. Older I don't have - this is a new installation.

I can see the ATEN being the problem, and am preparing to do a firmware upgrade - probably tomorrow. Some of the things mentioned in the upgrades may be influencing.

Thank you for directing me!