Logitech K360 keyboard types extra characters on certain keys like the 'n' key

Question

Whenq I turnqed my computer onq today, the keyboard started typinqg extra characters like inq this messed up senqtenqce. The only way to get rid of the extra characters is to highlight them and press delete on the keyboard because pressing backspace just types a backslash which it then deletes. The keys affected are below:

• Pressing 'n' types 'nq', as does pressing 'q'
• Pressing backspace types a backslash, which is then "backspaced"
• Pressing 'b' moves the cursor back to the beginning of the text field.
• Pressing 'z' types '\z', as does pressing '\'
• Pressing '.' on the numpad types '<.'

I am using Xubuntu 13.10, the default drivers, the "Logitech Generic Keyboard" layout, and Solaar to pair the keyboard with my Unifying Receiver. The extra characters are also typed in the grub console. It also took me about 20 minutes to type this. UPDATE: tried swapping the unifying receivers that came with the mouse I have and the keyboard, did nothing to help.

Solution

If you have lent your computer to a friend, or if someone else got in the neighborhood of your computer, then I would look at the calendar and ask him/her for help.

Debugging tools:

• Open a terminal, type the xev command and press Enter. Now see if you still see multiple characters when typing the command.
• In the terminal, list all files in your home folder sorted by modification time. If your .bashrc got modified lately, then that would be a good candidate file to check out. The command is: ls -latr (newest file on the bottom). You could also check this in the graphical file browser, ensure that you configure it to show hidden files and sort by time too.
• For hardware modifications: plug the device and receiver in a second computer and see if it is also affected by this.

Comments

[Alex Dueppen]

Strangely, the issue fixed itself when either upgrading to Trusty or switching to UbuntuGNOME.

[Alex Dueppen]

Nevermind, the issue is back

[Lekensteyn]

@SomeRandomUbuntuLover Have you tried the debugging steps in this answer? Since you have this bug at GRUB too, could it be that your hardware is broken?

[Alex Dueppen]

Yes, but I ended up just changing the batteries, and that worked.

[Lekensteyn]

@SomeRandomUbuntuLover Right... that could also be a problem. UPower and Solaar are supposed to report battery levels. Haven't you seen any low battery warnings?

[Alex Dueppen]

I'm not using Solaar anymore, I don't have any need to, but I haven't gotten any warnings

[Lekensteyn]

@SomeRandomUbuntuLover Ok, but UPower is used by many desktop environments so you likely have it installed. Use upower -d to dump all devices, upower -e to list available devices and upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/mouse_... to find out battery details.

[Alex Dueppen]

I ended up just fixing it once and for all by getting a warranty replacement