Kernel error message 0xe5

Support Kernel
1

I have an Asus zenbook. Every few days, the keyboard stops working (also an attached one). I can move mouse cursor, but button press is not recognised. I have tracked the issue to the message below, in the output from journalctl and dmesg:

zenbook kernel: asus_wmi: Unknown key code 0xe5

The remedy, short of powering off the laptop, is to log in remotely and kill the X server. I was not able to find references to this particular error code.

After the above message, the journal shows a lot of messages

kscreen.xcb.helper: RRNotify_OutputProperty (ignored) kscreen.xcb.helper:     Timestamp:  445219518
kscreen.xcb.helper:     Output:  67
kscreen.xcb.helper:     Property:  EDIDlete1
kscreen.xcb.helper:     State (newValue, Deleted):  1

I don’t know whether that is a coincidence, those show up quite frequently. There are no errors in Xorg.0.log.

❯ inxi -v7azy
System:
  Kernel: 6.6.16-2-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
    root=UUID=ba18252e-1eda-45ef-ba86-61703c337b4c rw quiet splash
    resume=UUID=e8adf0a0-f0fd-445f-a72c-a003302f2ad2 udev.log_priority=3
  Console: pty pts/9 DM: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: Zenbook UX3404VC_UX3404VC v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: UX3404VC v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: UX3404VC.303
    date: 08/18/2023
...
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake-P [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-13 process: Intel 7 (10nm) built: 2022+ ports:
    active: HDMI-A-1,eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, DP-4 bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:a7a0 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA107M [GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU] vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: nvidia v: 545.29.06 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 545.xx+
    status: current (as of 2024-02; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:25ab class-ID: 0302
  Device-3: Shinetech USB2.0 FHD UVC WebCam driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-8:3 chip-ID: 3277:0033
    class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.11 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris
    gpu: i915 tty: 93x31
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: LG (GoldStar) HDR 4K serial: <filter>
    built: 2023 res: 3840x2160 dpi: 163 gamma: 1.2 size: 600x340mm (23.62x13.39")
    diag: 690mm (27.2") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 3840x2160 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 model: Samsung 0x416d built: 2021 res: 2880x1800 dpi: 234
    gamma: 1.2 size: 312x195mm (12.28x7.68") diag: 368mm (14.5") ratio: 16:10
    modes: 2880x1800
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland,x11,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 23.3.5-manjaro1.1
    note: console (EGL sourced) renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop
    GPU/PCIe/SSE2, Mesa Intel Graphics (RPL-P), llvmpipe (LLVM 16.0.6 256
    bits)
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.276 layers: 1 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce RTX 3050 4GB Laptop GPU driver: nvidia v: 545.29.06
    device-ID: 10de:25ab surfaces: N/A
2

That’s just informal. This key is usually a IME key, commonly populated on east asian keyboards, since it has more signs. A web search would make this clear. Do you have such a keyboard?

Is the screen probably half-frozen? It can happen that you can move the mouse, but the GUI does not react to a mouse click. It is not a static image, videos, for example, can continue to run, but it simply stops responding. Probably such a problem? This can happen due to the graphical effects of Plasma.

3

The asus_wmi message might be a red herring (I have a US keyboard). I can consistently lock the keyboard(s) by pressing Fn-F12. According to [Notebook] Asus Keyboard hotkeys - Introduction | Official Support | ASUS USA, this combination launches MyASUS. I am still puzzled about the random freezes, I am positive I did not use that key combination last night.

4

It happened again last night when I was not at the keyboard. Same message. This time I had to kill Xorg with SIGKILL.