Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Ian Coleman]

I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
behind the keyboard.

I have started a thread here
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t\x1751914 about this issue

I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
/lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4

However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
buttons are pressed.

According to /usr/share/doc/udev/README.keymap.txt.gz, step 6 says I
should email this list with some info as listed below.
> 6. Send the system vendor/product names, the key mapping from step 2,
>  and /tmp/udev-db.txt from step 4 to the linux-hotplug@vger.kernel.org mailing
>  list, so that they can be included in the next release.

== Vendor and product names =Vendor
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Product
90X3A

== Key mapping =
0x96 kbdillumup #Fn-F8
0x97 kbdillumdown #Fn-F7

== udev.db.txt =An extract only, assuming that this section contains the info that is
helpful. The full length of the file was >4000 lines so if there is
any other info from it that is useful please do ask.

obtained from running
udevadm info --export-db > /tmp/udev-db.txt

> P: /devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input4/event4
> N: input/event4
> S: input/by-path/platform-i8042-serio-0-event-kbd
> E: UDEV_LOG=3
> E: DEVPATH=/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input4/event4
> E: MAJOR\x13
> E: MINORh
> E: DEVNAME=/dev/input/event4
> E: SUBSYSTEM=input
> E: ID_INPUT=1
> E: ID_INPUT_KEY=1
> E: ID_INPUT_KEYBOARD=1
> E: ID_SERIAL=noserial
> E: ID_PATH=platform-i8042-serio-0
> E: ID_PATH_TAG=platform-i8042-serio-0
> E: XKBMODEL=pc105
> E: XKBLAYOUT=us
> E: XKBVARIANT=colemak
> E: DEVLINKS=/dev/input/by-path/platform-i8042-serio-0-event-kbd
> E: DMI_VENDOR=SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Greg KH]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 03:10:45PM +1100, Ian Coleman wrote:
> I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
> laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
> 'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
> behind the keyboard.
> 
> I have started a thread here
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t\x1751914 about this issue
> 
> I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
> the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
> /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4
> 
> However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
> buttons are pressed.

Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?

If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
sorry.

greg k-h

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Victor Engmark]

n Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 8:00 PM, Greg KH <greg@kroah.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 03:10:45PM +1100, Ian Coleman wrote:
>> I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
>> laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
>> 'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
>> behind the keyboard.
>>
>> I have started a thread here
>> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t\x1751914 about this issue
>>
>> I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
>> the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
>> /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4
>>
>> However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
>> buttons are pressed.
>
> Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
> that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
>
> If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
> sorry.

Is there an Ubuntu package for this?

-- 
Victor Engmark

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Greg KH]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 08:55:32PM +0200, Victor Engmark wrote:
> n Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 8:00 PM, Greg KH <greg@kroah.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 03:10:45PM +1100, Ian Coleman wrote:
> >> I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
> >> laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
> >> 'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
> >> behind the keyboard.
> >>
> >> I have started a thread here
> >> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t\x1751914 about this issue
> >>
> >> I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
> >> the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
> >> /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4
> >>
> >> However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
> >> buttons are pressed.
> >
> > Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
> > that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
> >
> > If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
> > sorry.
> 
> Is there an Ubuntu package for this?

It should be in your kernel already, if not, go bug the Ubuntu
developers to enable the configuration option.

greg k-h

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Martin Pitt]

Victor Engmark [2011-10-17 20:55 +0200]:
> > Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
> > that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
> >
> > If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
> > sorry.
> 
> Is there an Ubuntu package for this?

No need for a package, that module just comes with the standard
kernel. It should autoload as it seems to have proper modaliases
(dmi*:svn*SAMSUNG...). Doesn't it appear in "lsmod | grep samsung"?

Martin
-- 
Martin Pitt                        | http://www.piware.de
Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com)  | Debian Developer  (www.debian.org)

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Martin Pitt]

Hello Ian,

Ian Coleman [2011-10-17 15:10 +1100]:
> I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
> laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
> 'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
> behind the keyboard.

Thanks for the data. I'll commit this to udev as soon as I get write
permissions back.

> I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
> the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
> /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4
> 
> However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
> buttons are pressed.

I can't test these myself as I don't have an illuminated keyboard, but
gnome-settings-daemon's "media-keys" plugin has code to react to
these:

  http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-settings-daemon/tree/plugins/media-keys/gsd-media-keys-manager.c#n1549

Can you please ensure that X.org actually knows about these? Please
run "killall gnome-settings-daemon", then "xev", move the pointer into
the white window and press Fn+F7/F8. Do you see keyboard events for
XF86KbdBrightnessUp/XF86KbdBrightnessDown in the terminal?

Martin
-- 
Martin Pitt                        | http://www.piware.de
Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com)  | Debian Developer  (www.debian.org)

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Victor Engmark]

On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 6:41 AM, Martin Pitt <martin.pitt@ubuntu.com> wrote:
> Victor Engmark [2011-10-17 20:55 +0200]:
>> > Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
>> > that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
>> >
>> > If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
>> > sorry.
>>
>> Is there an Ubuntu package for this?
>
> No need for a package, that module just comes with the standard
> kernel. It should autoload as it seems to have proper modaliases
> (dmi*:svn*SAMSUNG...). Doesn't it appear in "lsmod | grep samsung"?

Nope, nothing there. For reference, I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit
(and was running 11.04 a week ago, with the same problem).

$ uname -a
Linux lup0 2.6.38-11-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 12 21:18:14 UTC
2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Cheers,
-- 
Victor Engmark

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Victor Engmark]

On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Victor Engmark
<victor.engmark@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 6:41 AM, Martin Pitt <martin.pitt@ubuntu.com> wrote:
>> Victor Engmark [2011-10-17 20:55 +0200]:
>>> > Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
>>> > that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
>>> >
>>> > If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
>>> > sorry.
>>>
>>> Is there an Ubuntu package for this?
>>
>> No need for a package, that module just comes with the standard
>> kernel. It should autoload as it seems to have proper modaliases
>> (dmi*:svn*SAMSUNG...). Doesn't it appear in "lsmod | grep samsung"?
>
> Nope, nothing there. For reference, I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit
> (and was running 11.04 a week ago, with the same problem).
>
> $ uname -a
> Linux lup0 2.6.38-11-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 12 21:18:14 UTC
> 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Correction: Running Ubuntu 11.04 still (won't upgrade to the POS that
11.10 is after trying it on the desktop).

-- 
Victor Engmark

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Ian Coleman]

I ran xev and tested the kbdillumup and kbdillumdown hotkeys with the
cursor in the white box that appears, with no result (nothing
appears/changes in terminal). To confirm the 'white box' was working I
tried known-working hotkeys (eg volume) and they gave the expected
result in terminal.

Just to clarify, I am running xfce so the command "killall
gnome-settings-daemon" returned the message "no process found".

I've got 64 bit 11.10 xubuntu installed on the laptop.

$ uname -a
Linux xxxxxx-laptop 3.0.0-12-generic #20-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 7 14:56:25
UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Thanks,
Ian


On 18 October 2011 15:48, Martin Pitt <martin.pitt@ubuntu.com> wrote:
> Hello Ian,
>
> Ian Coleman [2011-10-17 15:10 +1100]:
>> I am trying to get the Fn+F7 and Fn+F8 keys working on my Samsung
>> laptop, model 90X3A. These map to 'keyboard illumination down' and
>> 'keyboard illumination up', which sets the brightness of the LEDs
>> behind the keyboard.
>
> Thanks for the data. I'll commit this to udev as soon as I get write
> permissions back.
>
>> I have managed to get the scan code (0x96 and 0x97) to respond with
>> the correct key code (kbdillumup and kbdillumdown) when I run
>> /lib/udev/keymap -i input/event4
>>
>> However the keyboard backlight level still does not change when these
>> buttons are pressed.
>
> I can't test these myself as I don't have an illuminated keyboard, but
> gnome-settings-daemon's "media-keys" plugin has code to react to
> these:
>
>  http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-settings-daemon/tree/plugins/media-keys/gsd-media-keys-manager.c#n1549
>
> Can you please ensure that X.org actually knows about these? Please
> run "killall gnome-settings-daemon", then "xev", move the pointer into
> the white window and press Fn+F7/F8. Do you see keyboard events for
> XF86KbdBrightnessUp/XF86KbdBrightnessDown in the terminal?
>
> Martin
> --
> Martin Pitt                        | http://www.piware.de
> Ubuntu Developer (www.ubuntu.com)  | Debian Developer  (www.debian.org)
>

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Greg KH]

On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 09:41:17AM +0200, Victor Engmark wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 9:26 AM, Victor Engmark
> <victor.engmark@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, Oct 18, 2011 at 6:41 AM, Martin Pitt <martin.pitt@ubuntu.com> wrote:
> >> Victor Engmark [2011-10-17 20:55 +0200]:
> >>> > Are you using the proper kernel driver for this laptop (samsung-laptop)
> >>> > that provides the ability to change the backlight levels?
> >>> >
> >>> > If not, the keys themselves are not going to do anything on their own,
> >>> > sorry.
> >>>
> >>> Is there an Ubuntu package for this?
> >>
> >> No need for a package, that module just comes with the standard
> >> kernel. It should autoload as it seems to have proper modaliases
> >> (dmi*:svn*SAMSUNG...). Doesn't it appear in "lsmod | grep samsung"?
> >
> > Nope, nothing there. For reference, I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit
> > (and was running 11.04 a week ago, with the same problem).
> >
> > $ uname -a
> > Linux lup0 2.6.38-11-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 12 21:18:14 UTC
> > 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
> 
> Correction: Running Ubuntu 11.04 still (won't upgrade to the POS that
> 11.10 is after trying it on the desktop).

Then there's no way your brightness will work, unless your laptop
happens to use ACPI for brightness.

greg k-h

Re: Samsung 90X3A Fn Keys

[Tomasz Chmielewski]

>> >> No need for a package, that module just comes with the standard
>> >> kernel. It should autoload as it seems to have proper modaliases
>> >> (dmi*:svn*SAMSUNG...). Doesn't it appear in "lsmod | grep samsung"?
>> >
>> > Nope, nothing there. For reference, I'm running Ubuntu 11.10 64 bit
>> > (and was running 11.04 a week ago, with the same problem).
>> >
>> > $ uname -a
>> > Linux lup0 2.6.38-11-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Mon Sep 12 21:18:14 UTC
>> > 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
>> 
>> Correction: Running Ubuntu 11.04 still (won't upgrade to the POS that
>> 11.10 is after trying it on the desktop).
> 
> Then there's no way your brightness will work, unless your laptop
> happens to use ACPI for brightness.

FYI, it looks like samsung-laptop module doesn't like this Samsung laptop, even on the newest kernel (3.1.0):

root@s9:~# modprobe samsung-laptop
FATAL: Error inserting samsung_laptop (/lib/modules/3.1.0-030100-generic/kernel/drivers/platform/x86/samsung-laptop.ko): No such device



BIOS Information
        Vendor: Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
        Version: 07HL
        Release Date: 09/26/2011

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
        Manufacturer: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
        Product Name: 90X3A
        Version: 0.1

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
        Manufacturer: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
        Product Name: 90X3A
        Version: FAB1



-- 
Tomasz Chmielewski
http://wpkg.org