Fn keys suddenly stopped working

[Mizx]

So the story is that I was just minding my business, playing Death Stranding on GeForceNOW and after my session I shut down my pc. Next time I boot it up about 2 hours later and when I go to adjust the volume with Fn+F2, it doesn’t work. It worked when I was using it the last time 2 hours ago. I tried other fn keys, they don’t work anymore. But the F(1-12) keys work as intended. It’s only the function ones which stopped working. All of this happened suddenly, again. The last time this happened was before I reinstalled Garuda. I reinstalled it just because of that exact problem and now it’s back. I don’t know if it’s a KDE bug or Garuda bug or something else.

Caution (idk what work I can use here) :-

• I use it on a desktop pc not a laptop. So there is no fn key option in the BIOS
• I only installed the Droidcam package and it dependencies 2 days prior to this issue. Also, I noticed, my audio players changed from Analog Stereo Duplex and something including HDMI to like 10 different options after installing.

Garuda-inxi :-

System:
Kernel: 6.9.9-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=499935ae-879c-4739-bd9a-7e5630e6e63e rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet resume=UUID=0a0ae877-4772-417a-9f6f-3783651327cc loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.1.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.3.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: ZRD1105 v: REV V52.9
serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 5.12 date: 02/15/2023
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i3-7100 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake
gen: core 7 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
model-id: 0x9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF8
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3900 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 bogomips: 31199
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 630 driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5
process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: HDMI-A-1
empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5912 class-ID: 0300
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.1
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
device: 1 drv: swrast surfaceless: drv: iris wayland: drv: iris x11:
drv: iris inactive: gbm
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.1.3-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2)
device-ID: 8086:5912 memory: 3.75 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 7 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
HD Graphics 630 (KBL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.1.3-arch1.1
device-ID: 8086:5912 surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 1 type: cpu
name: llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe
v: 24.1.3-arch1.1 (LLVM 18.1.8) device-ID: 10005:0000
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170
class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.9.9-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.1 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8136 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: enp0s20f0u2 state: unknown speed: -1 duplex: half mac: <filter>
IF-ID-2: wlp0s20f0u1i2 state: up mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8723BU 802.11b/g/n WLAN Adapter driver: btusb,rtl8xxxu
type: USB rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-1:2
chip-ID: 0bda:b720 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0
lmp-v: 6 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c0104
Device-2: Xiaomi Mi/Redmi series (RNDIS) driver: rndis_host v: kernel
type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-2:6
chip-ID: 2717:ff80 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 762.83 GiB used: 329.72 GiB (43.2%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: SK Hynix model: BC511 NVMe 256GB
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 11004101 temp: 36.9 C
scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD5000LPVX-22V0TT0 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: MBR
ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 model: USB Disk 2.0 size: 58.59 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0 spd: 480 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2.00 scheme: MBR
SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 229.67 GiB size: 229.67 GiB (100.00%)
used: 53.79 GiB (23.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-2: /home raw-size: 229.67 GiB size: 229.67 GiB (100.00%)
used: 53.79 GiB (23.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /var/log raw-size: 229.67 GiB size: 229.67 GiB (100.00%)
used: 53.79 GiB (23.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-4: /var/tmp raw-size: 229.67 GiB size: 229.67 GiB (100.00%)
used: 53.79 GiB (23.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.68 GiB used: 944.5 MiB (12.0%)
priority: 100 comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4
dev: /dev/zram0
ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 8.8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C pch: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.68 GiB used: 4.4 GiB (57.3%)
Processes: 257 Power: uptime: 5h 14m states: freeze,mem,disk
suspend: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 3.06 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1717 libs: 511 tools: octopi,pamac,paru,yay
Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.1.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: fish
v: 3.7.1 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.35
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
System install date:     2024-06-27
Last full system update: 2024-07-13
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot:       <superuser required>
Failed units:

[BluishHumility]

What kind of keyboard is it? Some keyboards have a Fn lock feature that can be toggled with a specific binding, commonlyFn+Esc.

[Mizx]

Sorry for replying so late. Fn+ Esc didn’t change anything whatsoever

[BluishHumility]

That was just an example. The actual question is this:

@BluishHumility

What kind of keyboard is it?

Test with another keyboard as well, if you can.

[Mizx]

I already did that. Still doesn’t work

[petsam]

@Mizx

when I go to adjust the volume with Fn+F2, it doesn’t work. It worked when I was using it the last time 2 hours ago. I tried other fn keys, they don’t work anymore.

Are all Fn shortcuts disabled, or only audio-related ones? Check.

@Mizx

I reinstalled it just because of that exact problem and now it’s back. I don’t know if it’s a KDE bug or Garuda bug or something else.

It looks like a firmware/hardware problem. What does the keyboard User Manual say about it? Post a link to the manual, if available online.

@Mizx

my audio players changed from Analog Stereo Duplex and something including HDMI to like 10 different options after installing.

It could be possible that the keyboard is not aware of pipewire/wireplumper etc.
Use any audio configuration utilities (pavucontrol, KDE settings, easyeffects, etc.) to change input/output sources and check for changes.

[Mizx]

Are all Fn shortcuts disabled, or only audio-related ones? Check.

All of the Fn shortcuts are disabled and Fn+F11 just makes the keyboard go bonkers and none of the 105 keys on the keyboard work. (That just might be shortcut that I didn’t know earlier)

It looks like a firmware/hardware problem. What does the keyboard User Manual say about it? Post a link to the manual, if available online.

The keyboard is pretty old and I’ve also lost the box, so there’s no manual physically with me. Also this model was redesigned by the company so the old one that I have is no longer available anywhere. Not even the manual.

It could be possible that the keyboard is not aware of pipewire/wireplumper etc.
Use any audio configuration utilities (pavucontrol, KDE settings, easyeffects, etc.) to change input/output sources and check for changes.

Did that. Still doesn’t work. Well the only way that sounds is outputted is via the 2 Analog options and the 2 HDMI options. Others are virtual and do not output any sound.

[petsam]

Since you don’t know how your keyboard works in regard to Function keys (no manual, no troubleshooting ), I would suggest forgetting it. You may use other ways to use a shortcut for sound etc., like KDE keyboard shortcuts.

[Mizx]

I was thinking of doing that but while trying out an android os (phoenix os) i accidentally wiped out my whole disk. Although it was fortunate that I didn’t have any important data on it, but now I had to reinstall it still all those keys work fine now.