"atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed..." error on random keyboard keys

[Jhedron]

I'm stumped!

I'm using a Microsoft Wireless Comfort Keyboard 1.0A with Fedora Core 3. My kernel version (as given by "uname -r") is 2.6.10-1.770_FC3. I am repeatedly getting the following errors from seemingly random keys on the keyboard:
Apr 3 23:08:09 localhost kernel: atkbd.c: Unknown key released
(translated set 2, code 0x81 on isa0060/serio0).
Apr 3 23:08:09 localhost kernel: atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e001 <keycode>'
to make it known.
and
Apr 3 23:08:11 localhost kernel: atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed
(translated set 2, code 0xd9 on isa0060/serio0).
Apr 3 23:08:11 localhost kernel: atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e059 <keycode>'
to make it known.
When these messages appear, it is always after hitting one of the "standard" keys (e.g. alphanumerics, space, brackets, punctuation, etc.). The media and other special keys all give different messages when pressed, so I don't think the problem is with one of those. I can't simply ignore the messages as they happen several times per minute and are flooding my system log. When I'm not running X, they appear in the middle of whatever I'm typing (even when running programs like vi). I've noticed several other posts regarding similar problems here at JL and other forums, but nothing has helped thus far. I also tried a search on Google, but didn't find anything there either.

I'm still rather new to Linux, so I'm not sure what to do next. Any suggestions?

[je_fro]

I'm not sure exactly what FC calls it's X config file, but I suspect that's what you need to edit.
as root, try:

gedit /etc/X11/XF86Config

and take a look at that file...you'll probably need to change keyboards...

Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"

maybe that will help

[Jhedron]

Originally posted by je_fro
I'm not sure exactly what FC calls it's X config file, but I suspect that's what you need to edit.
as root, try:

gedit /etc/X11/XF86Config

and take a look at that file...you'll probably need to change keyboards...

Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"

maybe that will help

Thanks for the suggestion. I found the config file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf on FC3) and changed
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
to
Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
However, I'm still getting those two errors. I've also tried moving the receiver around on the off-chance it was receiving signals from some other device and interpreting them as key presses, but that didn't seem to work either.

Oh, one more thing. Since I neglected to mention this in my original post, I'd like to add that the errors also appear on the login screen when I'm in runlevel 3.

[je_fro]

well then it's not X.
maybe something in /etc/rc.d/
?

[Jhedron]

Well, I did some looking in /etc/rc.d and didn't find anything that looked like it might be causing trouble. The only file that appeared to address the keyboard directly was /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit, and that was only to load the keymap. It seems to be picking the appropriate keymap, so I don't believe the problem is there.

I also played around with showkey a little bit and discovered something interesting. With the standard keys, the errors appear to show up at random, with any number of keypresses happening between occurances of the errors. However, when I hit the "Sleep" key on the keyboard, the error regarding code 0xd9 will always appear. I also noted that none of the keys on my keyboard generated a scancode corresponding to the two listed in the errors I've been receiving.

At this point, I'm wondering if there is a way for me to instruct whatever piece of software is generating these messages to ignore the scancodes and not even process them. It's probably not the best solution, but at least it would get rid of the error messages.

[Jhedron]

Well, the problem seems to be solved. I forgot that I had plugged the keyboard & mouse into the PS/2 port when I had problems getting XP to boot from its own CD (when I initially reinstalled Windows...long story). Well, long story short, the keyboard and mouse are now plugged into the USB port and the problem is gone. Of course, I now have some new problems, but those are for a different thread if I can't find the solution on my own.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help, and sorry for wasting your time on what turned out to be my own stupid mistake.