USB device sending random volume up signals

[Doug Weiman]

I have an IOGear USB wireless keyboard/mouse combo which,
although both devices work well, they seem to be sending random volume up
signals: there are many entries along the lines

Dec 11 07:57:53 xyz root: ACPI action volumeup is not defined

in my syslog, and I can indeed notice that the volume of my sound device
keeps getting increased because of this. I know this is related to this
combo because it only started happening when I replaced my old USB
keyboard and mouse - which were connected to my system with cables - and
it disappears when I revert to this old setup.

While getting rid of the syslog entries is easy enough, I am at a
loss concerning why those signals keep being sent. I had a look into the
output from lsmod, and removed two modules - joydev and usbtouchscreen -
on the grounds that I have no such devices, and were of course not being
used by anybody. However, the random volume up signals keep coming.

While not a deal breaker, this is irritating. Anybody got any
suggestions how to eliminate this issue?

[Marco Moock]

Post by Doug Weiman
While not a deal breaker, this is irritating. Anybody got any
suggestions how to eliminate this issue?

Maybe the keyboard is broken. Maybe the key is chattering/stuck. Check
the mechanics of the key.

[Jim Diamond]

Post by Doug Weiman
I have an IOGear USB wireless keyboard/mouse combo which,
although both devices work well, they seem to be sending random volume up
signals: there are many entries along the lines
Dec 11 07:57:53 xyz root: ACPI action volumeup is not defined
in my syslog, and I can indeed notice that the volume of my sound device
keeps getting increased because of this. I know this is related to this
combo because it only started happening when I replaced my old USB
keyboard and mouse - which were connected to my system with cables - and
it disappears when I revert to this old setup.
While getting rid of the syslog entries is easy enough, I am at a
loss concerning why those signals keep being sent. I had a look into the
output from lsmod, and removed two modules - joydev and usbtouchscreen -
on the grounds that I have no such devices, and were of course not being
used by anybody. However, the random volume up signals keep coming.
While not a deal breaker, this is irritating. Anybody got any
suggestions how to eliminate this issue?

Have you tried doing something like

tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep 'ACPI action volumeup'

in one terminal window while pressing all the keys on the USB keyboard
to see if you can find the key which is sending a VolumeUp? (Does
your keyboard have an "obvious" volume up button which you might be
hitting accidentally?)

[[ By the way, you said "syslog" so I used that file above, but on my
system I would want "tail -f /var/log/messages | grep ..." . ]]

Keep in mind that you might have to try all of the keys without any
modifier keys, and then all of them with shift, all with control, all
with alt, all with super, and, if you are unlucky, with various
combinations.

Or you could leave the terminal window with the tail command running
in a visible spot on your screen, and if you are lucky you might be
able to correlate what you were doing when you notice that ACPI
complaint.

Good luck.

Jim