Keyboard & Touchpad not working in Linux mint live install or after install

[cata09]

Hello,

Short story: 2 days ago I bought a new laptop(Lenovo ideapad 5 pro - https://amzn.to/3SvfXNA - with Ryzen 7 6800HS).
I tried to install Linux mint 21 Cinnamon edition and while in live install I couldn't manage to use neither the keyboard nor the touchpad. The keyboard, after multiple keystrokes on a key, gets stuck on that letter and will spam it until I press multiple times on another key. The touchpad is just not working.
So, I conected a wireless usb and used the on screen keyboard to finish the installation of Linux mint thinking that maybe it's a live install problem. But, it didn't work after install either.
So now, I'm sitting here growing white hair trying to figure out what might be the problem.

P.S: I installed windows and the keyboard works fine. => not a hardware problem.
P.S.S: On the fresh Linux Mint install, apparently, I don't have the network driver as well as I can't connect to any Wi-Fi.

Does anyone know what might be the problem?

Thanks in advance

Edit:

I did a few tweaks and now the touchpad works.

After reading this post: viewtopic.php?t=286484
I tried to run Ubuntu live install and the keyboard is not working in there as well.
Also, inside grub cmd line the keyboard works fine which is very interesting.

[MikeNovember]

Hi,

If it didn't work with a live USB / DVD, why did you expect it would work once installed, and why did you install it ?

If you have Windows, use Linux Mint in a virtual machine (VMware Workstation Player or Virtual Box). If you have a PRO version of Windows 10 or 11, use WSL (Windows Subsystem Linux). Ubuntu is officially available, Linux Mint not (but there are tutorials showing how to install it anyway).

You won't have any keyboard or touchpad problems.

Regards,

MN

[cata09]

Hello,

Thank you for your reply

To answer your reply, I already have a machine in which I run Windows. The fact is that I bought another machine to use Linux specifically on it. Call it madness but that’s how I like it. I don’t like to have dual boot or a VM with Linux.

Also, regarding my problem, I know for surely the isue is regarding a certain parameter somewhere that makes my keyboard inoperative while booting linux as in grub cmd is working fine.

I only want another opinion from someone else that might provide me with a different angle on my problem. If that opinion might result in a solution that would be a success

I’m grateful for each and every reply I get on this post.

Thanks again

[MikeNovember]

Also, regarding my problem, I know for surely the issue is regarding a certain parameter somewhere that makes my keyboard inoperative while booting linux as in grub cmd is working fine.

With a new and recent computer, you may have more incompatibility problems than with old beasts, where these problems have been identified and fixed.
Maybe kernel 5.15 is not recent enough for your computer, and a more recent version might solve your problem.
Note that:
It would have been better (too late now) to check the Linux compatibility of your computer before to buy it.
It would have been better (too late now) to choose a computer with Linux support (your Lenovo model has only Windows support and drivers).
It would have been better (too late now) to test a live USB / DVD of your preferred distro before to buy it.

I only want another opinion from someone else that might provide me with a different angle on my problem. If that opinion might result in a solution that would be a success

I gave you different angles: use LM in a virtual machine or in WSL for Windows Pro versions. It is a way to expect your keyboard problem is solved. I added now the change of the kernel.

Here are some other different angles:
- It arrives that keyboard and touchpad drivers conflict; in that case you can completely disable the touchpad in your UEFI / BIOS and use a mouse, or you can set the touchpad to be inactive when keyboard is used (depending on your hardware);
- you can try an external USB keyboard;
- you can test other distros, a rolling one like Manjaro.

Regards,

MN

[SMG]

I only want another opinion from someone else that might provide me with a different angle on my problem. If that opinion might result in a solution that would be a success

Welcome to the forum, cata09.

I would definitely suggest a newer kernel, but I'm not sure what options are available to you from a networking standpoint. You would need a network connection to install another kernel (or even update your system).

There is a 5.17-oem kernel. You can install the latest 5.17-oem kernel with

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install linux-oem-22.04

There is also the option of using a mainline kernel. Here is information on how to install one. Mainline – Another Tool to Install Latest Kernel in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

The person in this topic Microphone does not show up in sound settings. has a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 ProX 14ARH7 with the same 6800HS CPU your computer has. They posted they are using a mainline kernel. I do not know how all the components on your hardware compares to it. I do suggest making sure your computer has the most recent BIOS/UEFI.

If you can get a copy of your system information that would be helpful. Please open the System Reports app and click the System Information tab on the left. Your computer's information should come up in the right pane. Then click Copy, and paste the results to a file so you can get a copy to upload here. That will let us know how Linux Mint views your hardware.

[rohdes]

I have a Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 which I purchased around 2020. I had hoped the incompatibility issue might have been identified and solved by now.

I have the same issue... my Lenovo Ideapad Slim3 touchpad will NOT WORK AT ALL under Mint or UNDER OTHER Linux distros such as MX Linux and
Windows FX. BUT, the touchpad works just fine under Windows (obviously it would or they wouldnt sel any computers)

My Lenovo runs in dual boot machine so I can access either Windows OR Linux, I DO NOT want to run a virtual machine.

I have overcome my 'dead' touchpad glitch by using a Logitech wireless keyboard / mouse (via a USB dongle). BUT, if I take my laptop away from home I always remove the USB dongle as it can snag on my laptop bag so I have to remember to take A CORDED MOUSE or I am 'dead in the water'.

I have tried installing a synaptics driver but to no avail.

I have also loaded and selected the latest Mint kernel but that made no difference either.

Lenovo seems notoriously difficult to contact and in any case, they have my money so probably not really interested in supporting clients running Linux. BUT, it would be good to find out just which driver comes pre-installed for the Windows system on my computer so I can try to find where I can install that same driver under Mint.

Any suggestions as to how I might do this would be greatly appreciated. I LOVE Mint 20 and it is my operating system of choice. (I really only have Windows in case the kids need it for specific packages or assignments or games).

I DO appreciate all the effort made by those who support Linux but raise this matter in the hope that a solution might be found for not just my benefit but for the benefit of others too.

Ian

[MikeNovember]

Hi,

Lenovo DOES NOT support Linux. No Linux drivers are available for any of their computers.

This is not the case of Lenovo only: very few computer brands, such as DELL, do support Linux.

So, buying a brand-new computer, with recent design and components, not designed for Linux, with no support for Linux by the manufacturer, includes some risks that Linux will not correctly work.

These risks should be taken into account when choosing the computer to buy, ideally by testing the computer with a live USB / DVD of the Linux distro, or at least by reading user forums (Linux Mint, Ubuntu, computer brand forums) to check if somebody has already been successful in using a Linux distro on this computer.

At the opposite, on old beasts, problems have been solved.

The problem is the same for external peripheral (printers, scanners). Some are supported by manufacturer (examples: Brother printers and scanners; Epson scanners). Some are not supported by manufacturer but are Linux supported (sane-backends for scanners; CUPS, IPP, Gutenprint for printers). Before buying, the user should check that the external peripheral will work on Linux.

When something in a recent computer does not function, the workaround is generally to use a very recent kernel version, in the hope the specific hardware has been taken into account.

With keyboard and touchpad problems, workarounds are to use external keyboard, external touchpad, external mouse.

When keyboard and touchpad are recognized and work, there are very often drivers conflict (they manifest generally by mistyping); in that case BIOS or UEFI menu might allow to disable touchpad (and use external touchpad or mouse), or to disable touchpad when keyboard is in use (when user hits keys).

Finally, since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, and since Ubuntu makes the kernel and the drivers, any complaint of non-functioning hardware should be addressed to Ubuntu as a feature request or bug report. Don't expect users on a forum could solve this kind of problem instead of Ubuntu.

Regards,

MN

[t42]

You can try to change the kernel boot option on Yoga Slim.
Edit /etc/default/grub:

Code: Select all

xed admin:///etc/default/grub

Find the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and change it to :

Code: Select all

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="i8042.direct i8042.dumbkbd"

Run sudo update-grub and reboot.

[SMG]

BUT, it would be good to find out just which driver comes pre-installed for the Windows system on my computer so I can try to find where I can install that same driver under Mint.

I would think you could check in Windows to find out what type of driver (manufacturer name), but drivers are operating system specific so you technically you could not use the "same" driver.

There is also an evdev driver (in addition to the Synaptics option) if that might be the type of touchpad your laptop has.

Within the next few weeks Canonical will be releasing Ubuntu 22.10 which will have a HWE (hardware enablement kernel) which is expected to be 5.19. That kernel will become available in Linux Mint's Update Manager some time after that release. I would think in the future the functionality for your computer will make it into the Linux-distro ecosystem, but I have no insight into when that might happen. Trying newer kernels or workarounds such as what t42 mentioned for the keyboard are the only advice I have at this time.