MSI Laptop Fn Key Problem

[ressss]

I recently reinstalled linux mint again after installing an ssd on my laptop. For some reason, the Fn keys that control the touchpad and webcam only seem to turn off the hardware and not turn them back on. If I go into settings and turn the touchpad back on then press the Fn key again, it turns off the touchpad and pressing the button a second time doesn't seem to do anything. The keys worked fine when it had linux mint installed before so I have no idea why this is happening.

I'm pretty new to linux and I couldn't find anything about this after hours of googling. Please help thanks!

[deepakdeshp]

Did you install the same version of Mint with the same desktop?

[ressss]

Not entirely sure about the version, but I first installed mint on my laptop just two months ago if that helps.

[deepakdeshp]

Please post output of

Code: Select all

 inxi -Fxz

in code tags.

[ressss]

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-46-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 5.4.9 Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa
    base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Micro-Star product: GL62 6QE v: REV:1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Micro-Star model: MS-16J5 v: REV:0.A serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: E16J5IMS.10F date: 01/21/2016
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 38.1 Wh (96.9%) condition: 39.3/42.4 Wh (92.6%)
    volts: 12.2 min: 10.8 model: MSI BIF0_9 status: N/A
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-6300HQ bits: 64 type: MCP
    arch: Skylake-S rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3200 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800
    4: 800 bogomips: 18399
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM107M [GeForce GTX 950M] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 515.65.01 bus-ID: 01:00.0
  Device-3: Chicony USB 2.0 Webcam Device type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-11:4
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-46-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 3165 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 02:00.0
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: alx v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: surfshark_ipv6 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A
    mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-10:3
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down
    bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
    address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.03 TiB used: 20.42 GiB (1.9%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Tammuz model: SSD size: 119.24 GiB
    temp: 50.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS721010A9E630
    size: 931.51 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 116.32 GiB used: 20.41 GiB (17.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C pch: 47.0 C mobo: 27.8 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 268 Uptime: 1m Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 2 GiB (26.1%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 Packages: 2346 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13

Here is the output of inxi -Fxz

[antikythera]

Not entirely sure about the version, but I first installed mint on my laptop just two months ago if that helps.

Yes, kind of. There's a potential regression then for your hardware in kernel 5.15 of Mint 21 compared to which version of Mint 20.X you used two months ago.

Do you still have that original install media? If so, boot into live mode and test the function keys with it and see if they behave properly or not.

[antikythera]

Also, your BIOS is not patched for spectre & meltdown

BIOS:E16J5IMS.11D
Release Date:2018-02-12
Size: 4.90 MB
Update CPU microcode 0xC2 for Intel-SA-00088 (Meltdown & Spectre) speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities.

Additionally apply Intel Management Engine update AFTER applying the BIOS update using SOP as instructed on the page: ME11871

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GL62-6QE/support

[ressss]

So, I tried booting up with the older linux mint version and I can press the Fn key to turn off the touchpad, but it switches back instantly.

Also, I did manage to update the BIOS, but I don't know how to apply the Intel Management Engine on Linux.

[antikythera]

It may be possible to update the IME via the linux vendor firmware service. that is an opensource firmware management project that numerous manufacturers actively support and utilise.

in a terminal window:

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fwupdmgr get-devices

that will show what devices if any are supported in your system by the service (hopefully the IME component)

the next command will check for firmware database updates:

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fwupdmgr refresh

then to check for any updates your devices need

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fwupdmgr get-updates

if there are any for the IME you will need to run the final command with elevated privileges:

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sudo fwupdmgr update

source: https://www.mankier.com/1/fwupdmgr#Description

[ressss]

It seems like none of the devices are updatable according to the output of the commands.