[Linux] Keyboard input is extremely buggy, causes auto-walk and makes the game completely unplayable

alexhultman · December 2013

I recently bought the game for like 2 euros and I'm already regretting it. The game has, by far, the worst programmed keyboard input I have ever seen in my entire life. The player is moving by itself and sometimes refusing to move and when I press Esc it starts to move and yeah you get the point -> worst keyboard input ever seen in the history of Man kind.

I'm on a low end system and I'm pretty sure this contributes to and triggers the issue. It feels like you miss to catch the KEY_UP event by some frame drop and then think that the key is actually still down and therefore is auto-walking. Something like that, I don't know what you are doing but I know that it's wrong and need to be fixed. I actually found this bug months ago when you first released NS2 for Linux and I didn't buy it because it was unplayable. Now - with the 90% sale I was forced to buy it but it's still completely useless.

I'm on Fedora 19 so you are probably just going to ignore this major bug because "I'm on an unsported distribution" but come on - we both know that a well written executable runs the same on any Linux distribution. The graphics and all runs well - it's just the keyboard input that need attention (it needs to be thrown away and rewritten).

Thanks

DerRidda · December 2013

This is the first time I've ever heard of this issue in NS2 on Linux. I'll freely admit that it still has a boatload of problems, more than it should have for a game that is sold as a stable release on that platform but keyboard input issues have never been among them. The problem could be exclusively on your setup, exclusively on NS2's side but also anywhere in between. Have you tried it with different keyboards? USB vs PS/2?

alexhultman · December 2013

There is nothing wrong with my computer and everything else works perfectly. Other games work as they should (Dota 2, Metro: Last Light, Left 4 Dead 2, etc..). None of them have any issues regarding keyboard input (or any other issues for me). It's just NS2 that goes bananas.

Confused · December 2013

First I have heard of it too.

I know that it was/is possible to create a similar issue by alt tabbing. but it should be a matter of pressing the key again.

You are the first person that I know of using fedora so there could be some issues with the way the input is handled. Generally, ns2 uses libsdl2 to do input so at a low level it should be ok.

Does it do the same during text input?
Anything in your log?
Any other details about your system?

AurOn2 · December 2013

Could mean somehow the files related to keyboard input have been if not entirely corrupted, partially? Have you tried doing a full nuke and reinstalling Ns2?

SamusDroid · December 2013

Never fix ghost shift tabbing, I happen to like building a hive and having the overlay open and having it stick the keys on.

alexhultman · December 2013

Confused wrote: »

First I have heard of it too.

I know that it was/is possible to create a similar issue by alt tabbing. but it should be a matter of pressing the key again.

You are the first person that I know of using fedora so there could be some issues with the way the input is handled. Generally, ns2 uses libsdl2 to do input so at a low level it should be ok.

Does it do the same during text input?
Anything in your log?
Any other details about your system?

Yeah similar bugs are often solved by just clicking the key again but in NS2 I cannot do that. It's completely messed up once it happens. Haven't been able to finish the first training mission because I can't walk to the aliens and kill them. I just end up in a corner and clicking keys doesn't solve it. I actually was forced to Alt + F2, login in to console and enter top and force kill NS2 because Esc didn't work and I was mentally ready to fetch a hammer and just beat my computer to pieces. NS2 is the most buggy game I have ever tried in my entire life.

How do I see my log? How do I enter text?

I'm on Fedora 19, NVIDIA proprietary 331.20 and all other games behave like first class citizens.

alexhultman · December 2013

I tried the game again now and I found antoher major issue. All keys seems to send pairs of DOWN and UP all the time. If I hold W to move forward, or hold E to build, the game behaves as if I was clicking the key repeatedly instead of holding it down. If I hold down E to build the welder comes up and down and up and down all the time. Walking is the same -> I run I stop I run I stop I run I stop I begin auto-walking and now the game is busted. Totally messed up, had to force kill the game this time again because I got stuck in some menu and Esc didn't work.

alexhultman · December 2013

removed

alexhultman · December 2013

removed

Svenstaro · December 2013

Likely because you behave like an entitled asshole. Why not be nice to the developers and assume they want to help you?
You are giving the rest of us a bad name.

You say there is nothing wrong with your computer because all the other games work. What if I tell you there is nothing wrong with NS2 because it works on my computer? Either post about a bug and be prepared to do some work to help them fix it or don't bother posting. You didn't even post the kernel you are using.

alexhultman · December 2013

removed

murray · December 2013

Calm down! I had similar problems under Arch Linux. I think its a problem with Gnome 3.x. For me it has helped to run the game under another desktop environment like XFCE, KDE or window manager like fluxbox.

IronHorse · December 2013

First off - stop being so unpleasant over a video game you bought for pennies.

Secondly - you will only receive volunteer support in here, so be extra friendly to all of us.

Thirdly, "That's an assumption based on one sample"
Then what the hell do you consider one user out of hundreds of thousands?? You're the first Linux user with this issue buddy - accept it and move on by helping us help you diagnose the issue... Denial and a defensive attitudes will not help.

Lastly, have you tried the suggestions given so far in here yet? We still don't have your system info or an answer of whether your keys repeat when you attempt to chat in game.
Ns2 uses the same exact input system as source /L4D btw, SDL

alexhultman · December 2013

Thank you for hinting about using something other than gnome shell. Will try when I have some some time. This sounds like a plausible fix.

IronHorse · December 2013

You don't know the percentage of tech support threads that end up being on the user's end. (i do :-\")
If i made a bug report for every tech support thread before ruling out the user's end as the cause, we'd be swamped in false positives..
Surely you can see why the process is done this way and why we don't ever take the user's adamant word alone..

(case in point the only report similar to yours was from a windows user who had software in the background running that interfered with his input... We arrived at this result after the inevitable "but it's not my computer - it runs everything else just fine!" argument)

Try that suggestion, and get back to us.
Still would be nice if you provided more system info and answered that chat question, again..

alexhultman · December 2013

I run vanilla Fedora 19 updated. Nvidia proprietary drivers as stated above (dont know thr version number off my head). Steam client on Gnome shell 3.8 (all that is vanilla for a Fedora user). I think I'm on kernel 3.11, again vanilla for a Fedora user. The game crashes when I shoot and or hangs input etc. It seems non deterministic, indicating undefined behavior in some of the code. I'm not running anything other than gnome and steam client and ns2. Not using fraps like software or nothing. I'm not able to complete the first training map because it either crashes or bugs away with the input. Thanl you for responding.

alexhultman · December 2013

If you have a super computer you could try debugging using Valgrind. I use Valgrind myself and it can be very useful for finding non deterministic bugs that depends on eg uninitialized memory. Hint hint.

alexhultman · December 2013

Also - I'm using non US keyboard layout. I'm using Swedish keyboard layout.

IronHorse · December 2013

Two things, just in case :
Are you using any keyboard software? This includes emulation of US keyboards.
Secondly, have you attempted using a US keyboard layout? Just to rule out more things since ns2 has a history of issues with non us layouts

alexhultman · December 2013

I don't have any keyboard emulation software. Can't try US layout since I'm not at the computer now and won't be for a while.

alexhultman · December 2013

I get the same "auto walking" / messed up keyboard input bugs on my brand new Intel i7 high end system with clean reinstall of Fedora 20 and latest proprietary NVIDIA drivers. So there you have it - I have now reproduced this set of bugs on two completely different systems (one low end, and one high end). The bugs tend to happen more often on the low end system, FYI. There you go gamers, it's not a hardware fault, as I have said since post 1.

This is a completely separate computer getting the exact same bugs: auto-walking, repeatedly running/stopping/running/stopping etc..

Fedora 20, Kernel 3.11. Clean install with nothing more than Fedora + Steam + NS2. Game is not playable.

alexhultman · December 2013

I have missed the question on chatting, will test it soon. Sorry for missing that, I think you have edited you message and I have missed it. Here is my system information from Steam:

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x3a
CPU Stepping: 0x9
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 3400 Mhz
8 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
"Fedora release 20 (Heisenbug)" (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64
X Server Vendor: Fedora Project
X Server Release: 11404000
X Window Manager: GNOME Shell
Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime-release_2013-10-23

Video Card:
Driver: Intel Open Source Technology Center Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile

Driver Version: 3.0 Mesa 9.2.4
OpenGL Version: 3.0
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0xfd1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 2
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.64" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.4cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary VRAM Not Detected

Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek ALC663

Memory:
RAM: 7871 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Microphone: Not set
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 645133 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 574508 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:
Fri Dec 20 17:14:53 2013 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20131220181413_22.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-59a89568-33cb-4b59-a9ac-0cffe2131220''

alexhultman · December 2013

Typing in the chat doesn't give duplicated letters but some letter are not registered. If I type the alphabet some letters are missing. It seems very random. If I hit W with regular interval it registers 6 hits, one miss, 9 hits one miss, 3 hits one miss, etc.. So it's very hard to describe since it hapens randomly. Even if you are using SDL2 like any other game (it's part of the Steam API) you can still use it wrong. What functions are you using? If you post how you read keyboard here I can check it up and correct if I see any obvious errors. Maybe I can trigger the same bug in a sample program and then find the solution...

alexhultman · December 2013

The fact that some hits are not registered explains why I'm getting this stuttering when building / running. The game misses that I'm still holding the Shift key down so I stop to run only to start running again when the next key is registered. Every missed key equals a stutter, and since every 9th (or so) key is missed it's stuttering a lot. Don't know why i'm auto-walking though. This computer also crashes when I shoot, so that's one more reason I can't play the game.

rkfg · December 2013

alexhultman wrote: »

Video Card:
Driver: Intel Open Source Technology Center Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile

Am I missing something here or you have an Intel "video card" instead of NVIDIA? You haven't mentioned what hardware you have except in that post. Also check your Xorg.0.log for mieq overflows or other errors/warnings, it seems like your Xorg misses keypresses because of overload.

alexhultman · December 2013

I have an Intel i7 with Ivy Bridge graphics and NVIDIA GT 650M through Optimus (the game runs through primusrun). Since my other computer doesn't have Optimus but just a regular NVIDIA discrete card the bugs are not dependant on having Optimus. But you are correct.

Here is my Steam info when running Steam through primusrun:

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x3a
CPU Stepping: 0x9
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 3400 Mhz
8 logical processors
4 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
"Fedora release 20 (Heisenbug)" (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64
X Server Vendor: Fedora Project
X Server Release: 11404000
X Window Manager: GNOME Shell
Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime-release_2013-10-23

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GT 650M/PCIe/SSE2

Driver Version: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 331.20
OpenGL Version: 4.4
Desktop Color Depth: 24 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0xfd1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 2
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.64" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.4cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary VRAM: 2048 MB

Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek ALC663

Memory:
RAM: 7871 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
LANG: en_US.UTF-8
Microphone: Not set
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 645133 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 567092 Mb

Installed software:

Recent Failure Reports:
Fri Dec 20 17:14:53 2013 GMT: file ''/tmp/dumps/crash_20131220181413_22.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-59a89568-33cb-4b59-a9ac-0cffe2131220''

alexhultman · December 2013

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep mieq
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep overflow
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep warning
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

Here is the warning hit:

[ 36.744] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

So it's not a warning, just a legend definition.

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep WW
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 36.746] (WW) "xwayland" is not to be loaded by default. Skipping.
[ 36.746] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module glamoregl
[ 36.748] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[ 36.748] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[ 36.748] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 36.746] Initializing built-in extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 36.746] (EE) Failed to load module "glamoregl" (module does not exist, 0)

murray · December 2013

Your are still using the gnome shell. Please try another desktop environment or window manager. I still think its a bug with Gnome 3.

I had the same issue, which was gone after switching to fluxbox. But at the moment I can't reproduce the error because of broken AMD drivers.

alexhultman · December 2013

Yep but I don't have any other environment and I can't switch to metacity since it's deprecated since gnome 3.6.

Also - it won't be a "solution" since I'm not going to use fluxbox. All other games works and all other software works. Other games use SDL2 like NS2 but it's only NS2 that bugs away.

murray · December 2013

No, this bug doesnt only appear in NS2. I also noticed this bug in Killing Floor. And it seems only appear in Gnome 3. I also tried the games in KDE and Xfce.

[Linux] Keyboard input is extremely buggy, causes auto-walk and makes the game completely unplayable

Comments