Medion Signium 14 S1 OLED Linux Keyboard Driver

A custom Linux serio kernel driver module to fix the unresponsive internal keyboard on Medion Signium 14 S1 OLED laptops (and other models utilizing the INTC816 or similar Intel HID framework) when running Linux distributions such as Fedora, Debian, or Ubuntu.

Observations and Issues

On this laptop model, the internal keyboard is completely unresponsive under standard Linux kernels. During investigation, the following behavior was noted, although it is unclear whether it stems from a kernel limitation, a driver issue, or a hardware/firmware quirk:

1. Scancode Misinterpretation: The keyboard outputs signals that standard Linux drivers (atkbd) misinterpret, leading to scrambled key layouts (for instance, pressing A registers as 2).
2. Inverted Inputs: The Up, Down, and Right arrow keys, along with Right Alt (AltGr), send keycodes that behave as if their press and release states are inverted.
3. Port Inactivity: Under default ACPI initialization, the keyboard controller port (serio0) often becomes inactive or is disabled shortly after kernel load.

The Solution

This driver (medion_kbd.ko) binds directly to the KBD serio port, intercepts the raw Set 1 scancodes, addresses the inverted states/custom modifiers, and reports correct keypresses to the input subsystem.

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Installation Instructions

1. Configure Kernel Boot Parameters

To prevent the motherboard ACPI from disabling the keyboard port and to ensure we receive raw scancodes, you must add the following parameters to your GRUB configuration:

i8042.nopnp=1 i8042.direct=1

On Fedora, you can set this permanently with:

sudo grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args="i8042.nopnp=1 i8042.direct=1" --remove-args="i8042.unlock=1"

2. Install Kernel Headers & Build

Ensure you have the development tools and kernel headers installed for your running kernel:

• Fedora: sudo dnf install kernel-devel
• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Clone this repository and compile the driver module:

make

3. Enroll the MOK Key (For Secure Boot)

If UEFI Secure Boot is active on your laptop, you must sign the driver using a Machine Owner Key (MOK):

1. Run the helper signing script:

   sudo ./sign_module.sh

2. The script will generate a MOK key pair, sign medion_kbd.ko, and ask you to enter a temporary password (e.g., 123456) to register the MOK.
3. Reboot your system.
4. On startup, a blue screen titled Shim UEFI Key Management will appear.
5. Select Enroll MOK -> Continue -> Yes, enter the password you set, and select Reboot.

4. Install & Automate

After enrolling the key (or if Secure Boot is disabled), copy the module to the standard kernel modules directory, register it, and copy the loader scripts:

# Copy module and update dependencies
sudo mkdir -p /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/
sudo cp medion_kbd.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/extra/
sudo depmod -a

# Install loader script
sudo cp load_kbd_module.sh /usr/local/bin/load_kbd_module.sh
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/load_kbd_module.sh

# Install and enable the boot service
sudo cp medion_kbd.service /etc/systemd/system/medion_kbd.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable medion_kbd.service

Upon your next boot, the custom driver will automatically load and translate your internal keyboard keys natively!

License

GPL v2