Public bug reported: Whenever capslock is pressed on host, both capslock keycode(0x3a 0xba) and capslock LED keycode(0xfa 0xfa) would be sent to the ps2 keycode stream.
However, capslock LED is handled by another thread, confirmed by tracing `ps2_write_keyboard` with gdb. The keycode of casplock LED might divide For example, I sent AaBb but got ABa. I was using vncdotool, so it equals sending `capslock a capslock a capslock b capslock b`. In ps2_queue, I was expecting `3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a fa fa ba 30 b0 3a fa fa ba 30 b0`. But actually once in a while, it might not receive such streams. In one case I got `3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a ba 1e fa fa 9e 3a ba 30 b0 3a ba 30 b0 fa fa` In this specific example, `a` was lost because LED keycode 'jumps in' its keycode. Kernel event device receives below streams ``` # /dev/input/event receives what is sent from ps2_queue # I use cap_1 to show capslock key down cap_1 led caps_0, # 0x3a 0xfa 0xfa 0xba a_1 a_0 # 0x1e 0x9e caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba led # 0x1e 0xfa 0xfa 0x1e (we lost `a` here) caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba b_1 led b_0 # 0x30 0xfa 0xfa 0xb0 caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba led b_1 b_0 # 0xfa 0xfa 0x30 0xb0 ``` I made sure kernel receives the correct key stream as the qemu ps2_queue sends using /proc, ftrace and dynamic_debug. I explained the details in this [post](https://medium.com/@alapha23/quick-peek-into-kernel-land- keyboard-events-handling-with-ftrace-and-dynamic-debug-24a790056d5a) So it seems to be a concurrency issue. A hacky path on my mind is to skip all `0xfa` in ps2_queue. But I'm not sure if capslock LED is the only stink bug to our ps2 keycode queue as I've seen other keycodes handled by `ps2_write_keyboard` sent to ps2 queue. Another solution might be a memory barrier or a lock. Making key down and key up atomic will prevent another thread modifying the ps2 queue unwantedly. What do you think? ** Affects: qemu Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of qemu- devel-ml, which is subscribed to QEMU. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1809075 Title: Concurrency bug on keyboard events: capslock LED messing up keycode streams causes character misses at guest kernel Status in QEMU: New Bug description: Whenever capslock is pressed on host, both capslock keycode(0x3a 0xba) and capslock LED keycode(0xfa 0xfa) would be sent to the ps2 keycode stream. However, capslock LED is handled by another thread, confirmed by tracing `ps2_write_keyboard` with gdb. The keycode of casplock LED might divide For example, I sent AaBb but got ABa. I was using vncdotool, so it equals sending `capslock a capslock a capslock b capslock b`. In ps2_queue, I was expecting `3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a fa fa ba 30 b0 3a fa fa ba 30 b0`. But actually once in a while, it might not receive such streams. In one case I got `3a fa fa ba 1e 9e 3a ba 1e fa fa 9e 3a ba 30 b0 3a ba 30 b0 fa fa` In this specific example, `a` was lost because LED keycode 'jumps in' its keycode. Kernel event device receives below streams ``` # /dev/input/event receives what is sent from ps2_queue # I use cap_1 to show capslock key down cap_1 led caps_0, # 0x3a 0xfa 0xfa 0xba a_1 a_0 # 0x1e 0x9e caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba led # 0x1e 0xfa 0xfa 0x1e (we lost `a` here) caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba b_1 led b_0 # 0x30 0xfa 0xfa 0xb0 caps_1 caps_0 # 0x3a 0xba led b_1 b_0 # 0xfa 0xfa 0x30 0xb0 ``` I made sure kernel receives the correct key stream as the qemu ps2_queue sends using /proc, ftrace and dynamic_debug. I explained the details in this [post](https://medium.com/@alapha23/quick-peek-into- kernel-land-keyboard-events-handling-with-ftrace-and-dynamic-debug- 24a790056d5a) So it seems to be a concurrency issue. A hacky path on my mind is to skip all `0xfa` in ps2_queue. But I'm not sure if capslock LED is the only stink bug to our ps2 keycode queue as I've seen other keycodes handled by `ps2_write_keyboard` sent to ps2 queue. Another solution might be a memory barrier or a lock. Making key down and key up atomic will prevent another thread modifying the ps2 queue unwantedly. What do you think? To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/+bug/1809075/+subscriptions