Hi All.
I have a HP wireless keyboard and mouse (model KBIM according to the sticker on the back). The dongle’s plugged into my Lenovo E460 notebook (i7 processor), running Mate 18.04. The keyboard loses keystrokes regularly, and I have to go back and add in the characters that have been missed. Very annoying. I’ve changed the batteries, and re-paired the dongle.
Is it just a “really-cheap-keyboard” problem, or is there something I can tweak in the OS?
Gonzo
What is the USB id of the keyboard/mouse? Use the “lsusb” command to find out.
The only time I have issues with wireless keyboard and mice is in high RF noise environments. Many of the wireless keyboards and mice use frequencies near CB radio, 27 MHz., and can be interfered with by CB radio.
djb
Hmm. Don’t know of any radio stuff - it’s a quiet suburban neighbourhood.
lsusb came up with:
3938:1032
no description other than that.
Gonzo
OK. It appears to be a MosArt Semi (Taiwan) Keyboard/Mouse combo. Operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band (same as some cell phones, wifi, bluetooth, radar, and microwave ovens). Could still be interference.
There is really nothing to tweak in the OS. The wireless keyboard becomes a standard USB HID (Human Interface Device) and is handled by generic HID drivers.
You may want to see this:
djb
USB3 can interfere with 2.4GHz signals.
I was having issues with both keyboard and mouse on two different systems using three different keyboards and mouse.
The dongle was plugged in the back usb 2 ports next to usb 3 ports.
Plugging the dongle into usb 2 port at the front of the computer fixed the problem.
Having your mobile phone with usb 3 to close can also affect the signal.
Place the dongle so the signal does not pass usb 3 ports before it receives the keyboard mouse signal.
Desktop computers seem to suffer more from this than laptops. Laptops may have additional shielding.
For my Logitech Trackman Wireless on a laptop with only USB3.1 ports, I had success using a cheap unpowered USB2 hub to get the dongle away from the neighbouring USB3 ports. But I think it was isolating it from the USB3 port it was connected to which had the most effect. (Because on a similar laptop but with one USB2 port, it worked fine plugged into that despite USB3 ports adjacent.)
Aaah! I changed USB ports and it’s fixed. The one I was using was right next to the power in socket. Maybe that was the problem. All the ports are USB3, so I couldn’t switch to USB2.
Thanks guys.
Thanks also to Dave for the security note.
Gonzo