I recently installed Linux Mint on an HP laptop. While the system continues running normally, the built-in keyboard and trackpad suddenly stop responding. Closing the lid and opening it again restores both devices, so suspend/resume appears to reset them. The system logs also show ACPI/BIOS-related messages, including an ACPI error and a message saying SGX is disabled or unsupported by the BIOS. What could be causing this, and how can I troubleshoot or fix it?
2 Answers
A normal reboot is difficult when both built-in input devices are frozen, so closing and reopening the lid is a useful temporary recovery method. You can also connect a USB keyboard or mouse and reboot from there. If the laptop supports it, switching to another virtual console with Ctrl+Alt+F3 may work; otherwise holding the power button should be a last resort because it can risk filesystem corruption. The more useful long-term fix is to identify the suspend/resume or input-driver error in the kernel log rather than repeatedly forcing shutdowns.
The ACPI messages may be related to the laptop’s firmware and power-management handling, but the SGX message is usually harmless and probably isn’t causing the input devices to stop. When the problem happens, run `sudo dmesg -w` in a terminal, then reproduce the issue or close and reopen the lid. Look for messages mentioning `i2c_hid`, `hid`, `serio`, `atkbd`, `psmouse`, or suspend/resume failures. Also check whether the issue happens with a newly created user or from a Linux live USB; that helps separate a Mint configuration problem from a hardware or firmware issue.
If it also happens from a live USB, check HP’s support page for a BIOS update and test with a different kernel. If it only happens in the installed system, compare the power-management settings and kernel versions.