>>>>> David Wright <[email protected]>: > ScrollLock, similar to NumLock and CapsLock.
Ah, ok. Thanks! >> Also Fn has no events in xev at all. Its neighbours Ctrl, Windows and >> Alt has full event activity. > I would expect Fn alone to generate no activity. (I don't have a > device that does.) Ok. Noted! >> Hm... could it be as simple as the Fn key being physically broken...? >> The key doesn't feel stuck in any way...? > That's always possible, but I've only experienced keys that require > extra pressure, like the left Ctrl and Delete keys on one of my > laptops. However, those two keys are at the diagonal extremes of the > keyboard, which might be contributory in some way. Or a SpaceBar, > where you had to press hard at one end because its switch underneath > was near the other end. > Keyboards attract dirt, dust and food. Vacuuming can help. Yes, but every time there have been something stuck in previous keyboard I have clearly felt it. > I also recall your laptop case flexes slightly—is it a cheap build? Well case flexing is my theory as to why the touchpad is so overly sensitive, at least... But the keys are quite flush to the casing. I.e. there is no space on the side of the keys where dirt can enter. > I saw your post mentioning INSYDEH2O NVRAM passwords. I've never had > one; do you? Does the password have to be clear for this bug to strike? I don't know but I don't think so. From what I've read it amounts to a buffer overwrite, so that the data that overwrites the buffer boundary ends up in the location for the passwords. > The firmware can act on a key and tell the OS nothing, as in my > own keyboard backlight example. (I'm assuming the kernel is honest > with xev.) The BIOS swap is all or nothing: it reverses the meaning > of pressed/unpressed for the entire set of Fn-keys. Right! So no xev events no chance to fix this in software? (software outside of the BIOS that is) > I don't know the search terms by which you reached [4], but it seems > natural not to self-advertise how to circumvent your own security, > even when googling gives people recipes for doing just that. I haven't thought about it from that angle. I was just focusing for a way to fix it. [snip!] > Notwithstanding that, similar googling suggests that authorised > resellers can sometimes supply software upon proof of ownership > for unlocking individual machines. Hm... I guess I could contact Acer and ask? No harm in trying. > I've no experience of that— I've always set my venerable BIOS password > as my first action upon getting a new PC; a password I've used in > various contexts for over fifty years. > Not for security, but to make sure I can get to the BIOS, change it, > and see that all the passwords are clear— particularly the most > "senior" one, which I then set. (All my computers are hand-me-downs.) Well, like I said above. I have never thought about why I should set a password.
