Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

889664 · 2025-08-11 07:52:24

Hello, everyone.

After last week's update, I noticed that the key repeat behaviour changed from holding to auto-repeat to "one press, one action". For example, if I held the 'a' key, the result was "aaaaaaaa", but now only a single 'a'.

I've asked ChatGPT, which suggested setting config in ~/.xinitrc via

$ xset r rate 700 30

which worked perfectly for a day, now it seems other program automatically reset it after some time.

So my questions are, has anyone encountered this? What happened? Thank you.

My desktop runs X11 with i3 window manager. More information can be provided if you need.

More details:
1. I use fcitx for input method (and fcitx-mozc, fcitx-table-extra, fcitx-qt6), but fcitx is not started since boot up.
2. The behaviour persists after restarting or complete closing of fcitx;
3. All application in X11 are affected, like vim in terminal and Firefox, Telegram. ~~I forgot to test in console, I'll do it if it reappears;~~ Console is not affected.
4. The output of

 xset q | grep "auto repeat"

shows "auto repeat" was off, that why I followed ChatGPT's advice to turn on by

 xset r rate 700 30

Update
~~After days of observing, I cannot reproduce the problem and since there are no other people reporting similar bug,~~ I suppose it is a local problem, ~~due to worn-out hardware or bad configuration, or other causes.~~

Thank you very much, mpan, euromatlox and seth, among others. I'll try to contribute in archlinux community.

Cause
Maybe inappropriate closing of snes9x causes the problem. Here is how to reproduce:
1. Open a game rom:

$ snes9x ~/games/sfc/roms/Contra.Spirits.zip

2. Close the game by shortcut in i3-wm - super(win-key or alt) + Shift + q
In the past several months, snes9x should exit then, but now it only minimised, as I can hear the audio of the game, now the auto repeat doesn't work.
3. Close snes9x with command

$ kill `pgrep snes9x`

Here is my full snes9x configuration, just in case someone need to diagnose

Last edited by 889664 (2025-08-21 12:23:41)

mpan · 2025-08-11 10:40:58

Hello. What input method engine do you use? Is it properly configured?

If making sure IM is configured properly doesn’t help, check which packages may be responsible for this regression.

You may also check system journal to see, if it’s not associated with keyboard getting disconnected or powered down. This should not end in key repeat not working at all. But it may be responsible for state resets and may point to the source of the original problem.

889664 · 2025-08-11 16:50:18

mpan wrote:

Hello.

Thank you for replying, mpan.

1. Yes, I use fcitx for input, and fcitx-mozc for Japanese, fcitx-table-extra for Chinese characters, and fcitx-qt6. But the input engine may not be the culprit, as I have tried restarting it, but keyboard repeat behaviour remained unchanged.

2. Downgrading the software is beyond my IT ability, but here is my pacman.log this month, just in case if someone needs to compare to pin down the culprit.

3. I don't think it is because keyboard got disconnected or powered down, as I've check with

 sudo dmesg | grep -i keyboard

, yet only got info at boot time. Plus, I use dvorak layout, and I have to set up the layout manually every time the keyboard connects.

It has been hours but no one reports similar bug, so the cause probably is on my side, since the desktop does have many minor problems, like the power switch, RJ45 socket, etc. So I will wait at most one week before closing this thread.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

euromatlox · 2025-08-11 18:32:48

There's also kbdrate available.
Usually it's recommended to use primarily links to ArchWiki or Manual, but I think this superb explanation suits well here.

Sometimes I have keyboard typing a letter continuously, like 'aaaaaaaaa...', and have to press ESC to stop. Might be related to KVM switch I'm using or not. Not been a big problem.
I remember not setting any rates for keyboard, so must be defaults I'm using.

Last edited by euromatlox (2025-08-11 18:42:13)

seth · 2025-08-11 19:53:40

When the autorepeat doesn't work, what's the output of

xset q

Instead of restarting fcitx5, what if you flat-out stop the daemon. Does the autorepeat return?
Are all clients affected? What eg. about xterm?
Is the console affected (ctrl+alt+f3)?

889664 · 2025-08-12 00:34:14

euromatlox wrote:

There's also kbdrate available.

That is a very useful utility, thank you.

seth wrote:

When the autorepeat doesn't work, what's the output of
xset q
Instead of restarting fcitx5, what if you flat-out stop the daemon. Does the autorepeat return?
Are all clients affected? What eg. about xterm?
Is the console affected (ctrl+alt+f3)?

Thank you for replying.

The output of

xset q | grep "auto repeat"

was "off"

  auto repeat:  off    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000000
  auto repeat delay:  700    repeat rate:  30
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf

That's why I followed the advice to turn on by

xset r on

The auto repeat didn't return regardless of restarting or closing fcitx.

Yes, all clients in X11 were affected, like vim in terminal, Firefox, and Telegram. ~~But I forgot to test in console. I'll test in console if it reappears.~~ Console is not affected.

Last edited by 889664 (2025-08-17 04:50:35)

seth · 2025-08-12 06:40:47

I'll test in console if it reappears.

likely not necessary if something keeps setting the server repeat rate to off.

The auto repeat didn't return regardless of restarting or closing fcitx.

It will not magically re-activate, the question is whether fcitx is at all what's deactivating it.
You might get that from some setxkbmap calls (manual or done by your IME)

mpan · 2025-08-12 09:53:08

At which point the problem appeared?

The pacman log linked in the post spans 3 days. The upgrade from August 7th doesn’t contain anything that, in my eyes, should affect xorg behavior. So, is this the time at which key-repeat stopped working?

On August 4th there was a partial upgrade. The system was allowed to remain broken for days. But the chances this causes any issues a week later are slim.

My angle here is pinpointing the regression.

Last edited by mpan (2025-08-12 17:59:12)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-08-11 07:52:24

Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#2 2025-08-11 10:40:58

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#3 2025-08-11 16:50:18

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#4 2025-08-11 18:32:48

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#5 2025-08-11 19:53:40

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#6 2025-08-12 00:34:14

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#7 2025-08-12 06:40:47

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

#8 2025-08-12 09:53:08

Re: Keyboard repeat issue [Caused by snes9x]

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