USB/BLUETOOTH keyboards not working - black screen stopping Kodi

Hi all,

I’m having trouble running OSMC/Kodi (sept 2016 update).

Issue occured suddenly after power on. It did NOT occur after and update/install.

Description:

  • USB keyboard keypress don’t trigger any action in Kodi - device is powered on and working
  • BT keyboard: pairing should be OK (so says the light on the keyboard) but I get the same issue as using my UQB keyboard.

Config:

  • HW: Raspberry Pi 3,
  • OS: Linux osmc 4.4.16-6-osmc #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Oct 2 13:04:26 UTC 2016 armv7l GNU/Linux.

SSH:

  • Internet connection (WiFi): OK,
  • fsck: can’t be run on the mounted SD card: /dev/mmcblk0p2 59G 46G 10G 82% /,
  • Permissions on /home/osmc: 755.

advancedsettings.ini:
`
2

true
32,64,128,256,512,1024,2048,4096,8192,16384,32768,65536
false

``

Kodi logs after restarting Pi with :
21:27:34 18.815228 T:1791783920 DEBUG: script.module.osmcsetting.updates : - 47 21:27:34 18.815275 T:1791783920 DEBUG: script.module.osmcsetting.updates : - ============================= 21:28:04 47.767376 T:1956414384 DEBUG: SECTION:UnloadDelayed(DLL: special://xbmcbin/system/ImageLib-arm.so) 21:28:04 47.850422 T:1748268016 DEBUG: Thread JobWorker 1748268016 terminating (autodelete) 21:28:23 67.342537 T:1791783920 DEBUG: script.module.osmcsetting.updates : - blurp 666 - MyVideoNav.xml 21:28:25 69.440262 T:1935668208 DEBUG: CAESinkPi:Drain delay:99ms now:0ms 21:28:35 79.440475 T:1935668208 DEBUG: CAESinkPi:Deinitialize 21:28:35 79.440865 T:1935668208 DEBUG: CAESinkPi:SetAudioProps hdmi_stream_channels 0 hdmi_channel_map 00000000 21:28:35 79.442459 T:1935668208 DEBUG: COMXCoreComponent::Deinitialize : OMX.broadcom.audio_render handle 0x73701f78 21:29:13 117.376106 T:1791783920 DEBUG: script.module.osmcsetting.updates : - blurp 666 - MyVideoNav.xml

This log did NOT change when I unplugged/plugged back the USB keyboard (tail -f).

So what next?

Edit: don’t worry I won’t post extra long log files.

Bye!

Please provide a complete set of logs.

grab-logs -A

There you go.

I also get a blank black screen when tying to stop Kodi via systemlctl.

Logs:
Grab logs
kodi.log

apt-get install console-common
apt-get upgrade

Don’t set up console-common, it will cause problems. Also don’t run apt-get upgrade in the future.

I suspect you will need to reinstall.

Also don’t use aptitude unless you really know how to administer a Debian system. You have effectively introduced some packages which will delineate you from OSMC’s upgrade path. We can’t provide support for this.

Sam, it doesn’t explain the root cause.

For a Debian based OS, OSMC is far from being stable.

Where did you find relevant information in the logs?

I use aptitude mostly because it displays search results in an easier to read output than apt-get.

Do you see any drawback in installing Nodejs alongside OSMC?

How to Endear Yourself to People From Whom You Are Seeking Help.

Chapter One
Not this:

For a Debian based OS, OSMC is far from being stable.

The End.

1 Like

Actually, it probably does. The use of apt-get upgrade has not been recommended by Debian since the turn of the decade.

OSMC needs to maintain compatibility and an update system for many systems and users. We cannot guarantee updates will work if modifications are made, although such changes are usually harmless. Installing aptitude is unfortunately not supported.

We don’t have the resources to verify every permutation of system modification. However we can, and do support users upgrading via the official upgrade path.

We maintain an update path for a lot of users. If you are comfortable enough to install things like ‘console-common’ which has been remarked as a ‘black box’ by Debian developers and is scheduled for deprecation in Stretch+1, you should probably know what you are doing and be prepared to investigate and work this out. I recommended this in the past, but it was assuming that you would be willing to investigate issues around it. There’s a reason this isn’t in standard OSMC yet.

Nope, but you’ll get an older version of Node that may not be appropriate for your use case. You can use the official Node repos for a more up to date version.

Neither do your logs. There is more than meets the eye here. Your posts suggest that OSMC is incorrectly handling USB and Bluetooth keyboards, but this is not the case for a large number of users. Your issue lies in your changes to the OSMC system. If you make modifications without telling us that you made them; explaining why you made them or in detail what you did, there’s not much we can do to help. I want to support as much customisation as possible, but some things are currently not possible. I’d be more interested in improving things incrementally.

There is substantial evidence you have not managed your system properly. Your current comments are not particularly constructive. When you can administer one system properly, as recommended by Debian, I will happily listen to your suggestions on how to administer hundreds of thousands of devices.

Point taken.

Do you need additional information?

I would happily troubleshoot the issue if it can help you and, bear with me on this one… Not take hours of work.

I’ll do some research on console common & other details.

Hi Sam,

What a wonderful way to say FU.

Now back to constructive feedback.

Stability:

  • I totally understand that OSMC is a small project not backed up by a large company. As a result, people like you take on their personal time to run this project.

So aparently running aptitude upgrade may cause issues, but can I run apt-get upgrade safely on OSMC in the future?

About the logs:

  • The keyboard is detected but unresponsive. I figured as much when ready the logs. Just needed a more experienced opinion on what I saw in case I missed anything.

About OSMC updates:

I think that and console window appearing during update might not respond to BT keyboard input. Not a 100% sure on this one.

About grab-logs script:

Care to share this script?

No. And you cannot run this on Debian or Ubuntu either, because it upgrades packages without capturing new dependencies. The proper command is dist-upgrade. apt-get dist-upgrade is fine; aptitude dist-upgrade is fine.

This isn’t your fault, but many tutorials and examples follow 2009 era instructions when apt-get did not track dependencies as well as it does today. But it is your fault for not reading the Wiki which explains this under the Updating OSMC article.

The issue is has come up before and in the next release of OSMC, we will feature a warning when apt-get is invoked with upgrade. It leads to problems.

Nor will you need it. The upgrade is set to run in non-interactive mode to ensure that people aren’t left requiring to input when they may not be able to do so (no keyboard attached). My suggestion is that if you want upgrades to work reliably, you do so via My OSMC. You won’t have a problem with this upgrade method, and it’s supported.

I do not think you have read the Wiki article on troubleshooting.

I think I used the letters ‘F’ and ‘U’ across those sentences, yes.

Now that your reading has improved, check out Wiki - OSMC.

Your problem is rooted in knowing enough to cause invasive system changes, but not really understanding what these changes do, and not reading resources provided to you on how to properly manage your system.

Time that could have been spent improving the OSMC experience for everyone. I’m not normally harsh on newcomers, as there’s always a learning curve. However, when people denounce OSMC as unstable; stubbornly refuse to read resources provided to them and then take personal offense when told to do so, I’ll remind them that time can be better spent.

Reinstall osmc, check if keyboard works, if so -> your fault.