MX23.6 xfce - Onboard keyboard keeps crashing. Still looking for a fix.

[madmax25]

(EDIT: Sorry, there was a typo in the "Subject:". Of course, I'm running MX 23.6 xfce, not 23.5)

After several months, I'm still trying to find a fix for the issue, where the "onboard" keyboard icon is disappearing when my bluetooth mouse wakes up from standby (for example, if I watched a longer video and the mouse wasn't moved for about 15 minutes, or more). Please note: Only the icon is disappearing, but according to the task manager, the entire onboard tool does not crash.

So far, as a workaround, I made this script to restart "onboard" when the icon is gone (but clicking that file each time, is quite annoying):

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash

killall onboard
sleep 4
onboard &
# /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/onboard --not-show-in=GNOME,GNOME-Classic:GNOME --startup-delay=3.0
exit

Meanwhile, I found something strange, what I do not understand.
I found entries like this one:
"Modern Mobile Mouse Keyboard"
For example:

Code: Select all

 [48.515] (II) config/udev: Adding input device Modern Mobile Mouse Keyboard (/dev/input/event22)

I can add more examples, if you need any.

There are the files with the mentioned entries (in /var/log/):
./auth.log
./syslog.1
./Xorg.1.log
./syslog
./Xorg.0.log
./kern.log
./Xorg.0.log.old
./kern.log.1
./Xorg.1.log.old

Of course, the mouse is not a keyboard, so why are these "Modern Mobile Mouse Keyboard" entries there?
Could this be causing the issue of the disappearing tray icon?
If yes, how can I fix this, please?


My QSI:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto Jan 12  2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977) v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1.I0 date: 06/26/2018
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S gen: core 6 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/4200 scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave
    cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 63999
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: conditional; RSB filling;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GM206 [GeForce GTX 960] driver: nvidia v: 535.247.01 non-free: 530.xx+
    status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Maxwell code: GMxxx process: TSMC 28nm built: 2014-19 pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1401 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Creative Live! Cam Chat HD [VF0700/VF0790] type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4.1:4 chip-ID: 041e:4097
    class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-3: TerraTec GmbH Video Grabber type: USB driver: cx231xx bus-ID: 1-4.2:6
    chip-ID: 0ccd:00a6 class-ID: ef00 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1017x286mm (40.04x11.26")
    s-diag: 1056mm (41.59")
  Monitor-1: DP-0 pos: primary,right res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 82 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23")
    diag: 686mm (27.01") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: HDMI-0 pos: left res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 93 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65")
    diag: 604mm (23.8") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.247.01 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960/PCIe/SSE2
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 1-4.1:4 v: kernel chip-ID: 041e:4097 bus-ID: 00:1f.3 class-ID: 0300
    chip-ID: 8086:a170 serial: <filter> class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM206 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3
    speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fba class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Creative Live! Cam Chat HD [VF0700/VF0790] type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid,uvcvideo
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 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: Intel 82574L Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:10d3 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: TP-Link Archer T4U v2 [Realtek RTL8812AU] type: USB driver: rtl8812au bus-ID: 1-4.4:8
    chip-ID: 2357:010d class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-9:3 chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
    sub-v: 22bb hci-v: 4.0 rev: 22bb
  Info: acl-mtu: 310:10 sco-mtu: 64:8 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio,
    telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.09 TiB used: 2.71 TiB (66.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST4000DM000-1F2168 size: 3.64 TiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5900 serial: <filter>
    rev: CC54 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 48.86 GiB size: 47.79 GiB (97.81%) used: 22.46 GiB (47.0%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda9 maj-min: 8:9
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 99.2 MiB (99.20%) used: 33.5 MiB (33.8%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 64.66 GiB size: 63.1 GiB (97.58%) used: 27.67 GiB (43.8%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda10 maj-min: 8:10
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 6 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C pch: 46.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 58 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 21%
Repos:
  Packages: 2710 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2696 libs: 1477 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 14
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg arch=amd64,arm64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 306 Uptime: 24m wakeups: 1 Memory: 31.3 GiB used: 3.25 GiB (10.4%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

[CharlesV]

Have you tried reinstalling onboard ? ( three modules in MX Package Installer on the enabled repos tab.)

Also, there are reports of a problem involving xfce Screensaver and the onboard keyboard. If you have the xfce screen saver installed, trying opening settings and on the Lock Screen Tab, toggle the On Screen Keyboard to off.. and then back on again. (or if its currently off.. turn it back on.)

Also, you might try running the following in a terminal and see if there are error messages?

Code: Select all

onboard 

There is also a debug option when using the onboard command, might be of use.

One more thing I noticed.. my onboard-autostart.desktop file has the following in it, which MAY be an issue here ?

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OnlyShowIn=Unity;MATE;

[madmax25]

Have you tried reinstalling onboard ?

Yes, but I didn't in the end, because onboard is a dependency of lightdm-gtk-greeter-mx23.
If I try to uninstall onboard (that's what happening before it installs again), I will also loose lightdm-gtk-greeter-mx23.

see if there are error messages?

Sorry, no such messages provided in the terminal.

my onboard-autostart.desktop file has the following in it, which MAY be an issue here ?

My entry in that file looks like this:

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OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity;MATE;

Btw., I have two of these files,...

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/etc/xdg/autostart/onboard-autostart.desktop
/home/my-user-name/.config/autostart/onboard-autostart.desktop

opening settings and on the Lock Screen Tab, toggle the On Screen Keyboard to off.. and then back on again. (or if its currently off.. turn it back on.)

For the time being, this looks like the solution, thank you very much!
I will keep an eye on this for about one or two days and as soon as I'm sure about it, I will mark this subject as solved.

[CharlesV]

opening settings and on the Lock Screen Tab, toggle the On Screen Keyboard to off.. and then back on again. (or if its currently off.. turn it back on.)

For the time being, this looks like the solution, thank you very much!
I will keep an eye on this for about one or two days and as soon as I'm sure about it, I will mark this subject as solved.

Your very welcome and hope that does it :-)

[madmax25]

Sorry, bad news. It happened again.
Today, I was on the start page of Youtube without playing any video, left my computer to my window sill for about 10 to 15 minutes to water my plants, went back to my computer, clicked the left mouse button and moved the mouse around to wake it up, and... that icon disappeared again.

Let me add a short "off-topic":
In my previous post, in the 1st code block it should say "OnlyShow In=..." (without the space), but "In" is not accepted and therefore doesn't appear in the post. Is there any known reason for that?

EDIT:
I'm still testing the screensaver setting (toggle the On Screen Keyboard to off and on again). Currently, it looks like that fix does actually work, but it doesn't survive a reboot.
Is there any way to make it permanently?

EDIT2:
OK, please ignore my 1st "EDIT:".
Sadly, I just noticed, the fix doesn't work, no matter if I try with or without reboot.