Just wanted to ask if anyone has some idea where i can even start looking for reasons why this happens and how to fix it.

Situation is as follows:

When i switch from any window with potential text input using alt-tab to another window, MOST of my keyboard stops working until i alt-tab back and forth between these windows again, sometimes multiple times. Keys that keep working are the W key, and most of the right-hand side of the keyboard. When i activate Caps Lock, i can use all keys (while being forced to use upper case -.-). After getting back my input, single keys cause double outputs or no outputs for a single activation, returning to normal function afterwards. Switching to another terminal using Ctrl-Alt-F<x> does also not fix it.

This issue is not Keyboard-Hardware related and keeps occurring regardless of the used USB port. Switching out the keyboard (or disconnecting/reconnecting it) does not restore normal function.

This has been going on for a while, predating even the Fedora 44 update (can’t remember the exact time, but i’d say somewhere around the release of Nobara 42.

inxi -Fzx :

System:  
  Kernel: 7.2.0-202.nobara.fc44.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc  
    v: 16.2.1  
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.7.4 Distro: Nobara Linux 44 (KDE Plasma Desktop  
    Edition) base: Fedora 44  
Machine:  
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: AB350 Pro4 serial: <superuser required>  
    Firmware: UEFI vendor: American Megatrends v: P10.43 date: 06/26/2025  
CPU:  
  Info: 16-core model: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+  
    rev: 2 cache: L1: 1024 KiB L2: 8 MiB L3: 64 MiB  
  Speed (MHz): avg: 4612 min/max: 582/5086 boost: enabled cores: 1: 4612  
    2: 4612 3: 4612 4: 4612 5: 4612 6: 4612 7: 4612 8: 4612 9: 4612 10: 4612  
    11: 4612 12: 4612 13: 4612 14: 4612 15: 4612 16: 4612 17: 4612 18: 4612  
    19: 4612 20: 4612 21: 4612 22: 4612 23: 4612 24: 4612 25: 4612 26: 4612  
    27: 4612 28: 4612 29: 4612 30: 4612 31: 4612 32: 4612 bogomips: 217191  
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a  
    ssse3 svm  
Graphics:  
  Device-1: NVIDIA GB205 [GeForce RTX 5070] vendor: CardExpert driver: nvidia  
    v: 610.57.04 arch: Lovelace bus-ID: 0a:00.0  
  Display: wayland server: Xwayland v: 24.1.13 compositor: kwin_wayland  
    driver: gpu: nv_platform,nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch resolution: 2560x1440~180Hz  
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: nvidia,swrast platforms:  
    active: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: device-1  
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.6 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 610.57.04  
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070/PCIe/SSE2  
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.341 drivers: nvidia,llvmpipe surfaces: N/A devices: 2  
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo  
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi  
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr  
Audio:  
  Device-1: NVIDIA GB205 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel  
    bus-ID: 0a:00.1  
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio  
    vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0c:00.4  
  API: ALSA v: k7.2.0-202.nobara.fc44.x86_64 status: kernel-api  
  Server-1: aRts v: 1.5.10 status: off  
  Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off  
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.6.8 status: active  
Network:  
  Device-1: MEDIATEK MT7922 802.11ax PCI Express Wireless Network Adapter  
    vendor: AzureWave ASUS PCE-AXE59BT driver: mt7921e v: kernel bus-ID: 07:00.0  
  IF: wlp7s0 state: up mac: <filter>  
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet  
    vendor: ASRock driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 09:00.0  
  IF: enp9s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>  
  IF-ID-1: br-1d77995a534e state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown  
    mac: <filter>  
  IF-ID-2: br-224a1b052b89 state: down mac: <filter>  
  IF-ID-3: docker0 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: unknown mac: <filter>  
  IF-ID-4: veth549dfd5 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full  
    mac: <filter>  
  IF-ID-5: veth55163a6 state: up speed: 10000 Mbps duplex: full  
    mac: <filter>  
Bluetooth:  
  Device-1: IMC Networks Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB  
    bus-ID: 1-8:3  
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.3  
    lmp-v: 12  
Drives:  
  Local Storage: total: 39.18 TiB used: 33.95 TiB (86.6%)  
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0  
    size: 931.51 GiB temp: 36.9 C  
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Mushkin model: MKNSSDTR512GB-3DL size: 476.94 GiB  
  ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Toshiba model: MG07ACA14TE size: 12.73 TiB  
  ID-4: /dev/sdc vendor: ASMedia model: T106x- V0Volume size: 1.86 TiB  
  ID-5: /dev/sdd vendor: Seagate model: ST16000NM001G-2KK103 size: 14.55 TiB  
  ID-6: /dev/sdf vendor: Seagate model: ST3000VN000-1H4167 size: 2.73 TiB  
    type: USB  
  ID-7: /dev/sdg vendor: Seagate model: ST3000VN000-1H4167 size: 2.73 TiB  
    type: USB  
  ID-8: /dev/sdh vendor: Seagate model: ST3000VN000-1H4167 size: 2.73 TiB  
    type: USB  
  ID-9: /dev/sdi vendor: Phison model: ESMP512GMB47C3-E13TS size: 476.94 GiB  
    type: USB  
Partition:  
  ID-1: / size: 441.25 GiB used: 249.83 GiB (56.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3  
  ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 666.7 MiB (68.5%) fs: ext4  
    dev: /dev/sda2  
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 299.4 MiB used: 76.6 MiB (25.6%) fs: vfat  
    dev: /dev/sda1  
  ID-4: /home size: 441.25 GiB used: 249.83 GiB (56.6%) fs: btrfs  
    dev: /dev/sda3  
Swap:  
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 4.7 GiB (58.8%) dev: /dev/zram0  
  ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 34.39 GiB used: 1.03 GiB (3.0%)  
    dev: /dev/sda4  
Sensors:  
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: 34.0 C  
  Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 2532 fan-3: 0 fan-4: 1603 fan-5: 0  
  Power: 12v: N/A 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.31 vbat: 3.26  
Info:  
  Memory: total: 64 GiB note: est. available: 62.7 GiB used: 19.73 GiB (31.5%)  
  Processes: 871 Uptime: 8d 12h 12m Init: systemd  
  Packages: 151 Compilers: clang: 22.1.8 gcc: 16.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.9  
    inxi: 3.3.41
  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    30 days ago

    OK strange problem.

    Few suggestions:

    1. Try disabling the KDE virtual keyboard (should be in settings --> keyboard). There is apparently some know issues with the virtual keyboard interfering with physical keyboards on Wayland at present (KDE 6.7) but I can’t see reports that say its causing this specific issue on searching

    2. Double check you dont have multiple keyboard layouts set up and a shortcut key bound to alt tab or caps lock that triggers it? Even if not, this could still be a broader issue with something else also accidentally bound to alt-tab. Alt tab isn’t restricted as shortcut for switching tasks to my knowledge, you can change it and also set other things to be triggered by it so its worth checking in settings what is bound to it

    3. Do you have any custom tools installed & running which may have their own keyboard shortcuts that are getting triggered when you alt tab?

    4. To test things you may also want to try switch between x11 and Wayland to see if the problem is Wayland specific. That may mean installing the x11 stack though, which may be annoying if you dont have it be default in Nobara?

    5. There is a terminal tool “wev” that basically shows all events associated with the Wayland shell. So it should show you what keyboard strokes Wayland is receiving when you get the problems. That might help localise the problem - if wev is seeing the right keys its a KDE issue, if not it may be more fundamental back to USB / kernel?

    Hope that helps get a bit further to a fix. Sorry if its not helpful at all!

    • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusOPEnglish
      1·
      30 days ago

      Thanks for your reply.

      1. I did disable the virtual Keyboard after your reply, i’ll report if i see any changes. The issue isn’t replicable on every task switch, so it will take at least a day to make sure it is gone.

      2. I double checked all keyboard bindings (ugh, there are a lot). I did not see anything bound to alt-tab outside of “Walk through Windows” and “Reverse-Walk through Windows” bound to alt-tab and shift-alt-tab, just as i would expect them to be.

      3. I do have an input remapper installed (github.com/sezanzeb/input-remapper/), but the issues appeared long before i installed it and are occurring regardless of if the remapper being active or not. I can remove it, but i am pretty sure it is not actively involved in the situation.

      I also realized i had another remapper installed (https://codeberg.org/JakobDev/jdMacroPlayer), which used ydotool with a virtual device. I have removed them now, lets see if this was the culprit. This i installed a long time ago but was never able to fully get it to work, so it might cause some issues.

      1. X11 it no more supported on Fedora and therefor Nobara - i would go that route only if i had no other choice because i am pretty certain that this would bork my system for good.

      2. If the problems persist i will monitor with wev (started it in a terminal and will keep it open) to narrow down the issue.

      Thank you very much, i will keep you in the loop!

      • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusOPEnglish
        1·
        27 days ago

        @bananatrifleviolin@lemmy.world

        Your suggestions did not fix it, but it helped eliminating some common offenders, so thanks for that! I also removed the other input remapper just to make sure it doesn’t interfere, but still no luck. wev did not help me sadly - i have the issue that it only works when it’s window is being focused (i somewhat expected as much when taking wayland architecture in consideration), and therefor i cannot simply switch over to wev when this happens, because the alt-tab often is enough to resolve the issue, and i am not aware of anything able to monitor all wayland applications at once.

        Installing X11 is probably out of scope for this annoyance - since Fedora dropped X11 support completely, it would probably mean introducing more issues than i could fix by such a move. I am still somewhat of a linux newb - i like digging around and have general knowledge, but there are some arcane things happening especially in the graphics stack that i do not have the knowledge to confidently tackle.