Fn keys for volume and brightness don't work on Lenovo Thinkpad e460 running Ubuntu 18.04

Question

On my Lenovo Thinkpad e460, Fn keys don´t work.

I tried to enable/disable in the BIOS but it didn't help.

When I was using fedora with GNOME 3 on this device it worked perfectly. I don't know how to adjust volume or display brightness without the Fn keys.

What could be the problem and how can I fix it?

Solution

Disclaimer: I don't have an E460 but an S540 but they have similar keyboards. The picture shows an E460's keyboard:

^{Source (emphasis mine)}

The keys in the top row have two functions:

• The usual function keys F1 … F12
• Special functions, such as Volume Down, Volume Up, etc.

The Fn key in the lower left has a tiny LED that indicates the default behaviour when you press e.g. F2/Volume Down. If the LED is on, then it behaves as F2, else as Volume Down.

To temporarily access the other function, press Fn and F2 simultaneously.

To permanently switch the behaviour, press Fn and ESC/FnLk simultaneously. The tiny LED will toggle and the keys have the other function.

In my case, the default beaviour is LED off, i.e. the keys have the Volume Down etc. behaviour. In your case the default seems to be LED on.

Comments

[Victor Fabio Restrepo L]

thanks for response, in my laptop the fn key led always is on an dont disable in the bios. The volume, display brigness dont work

[PerlDuck]

@VictorFabioRestrepoL And the LED doesn't go off when you press ESC+Fn at the same time?

[Victor Fabio Restrepo L]

not, its always is on, when the pc had windows installed it worked perfectly

[Dhruv garg]

did you find any sol? I am having same issue with ubuntu 20.10 on thinkpad e14.