Fix: Portronics F1–F12 Keys Not Working Over Bluetooth on Linux

If you’re using a Portronics Bubble / Bubble+ keyboard and notice that:

• F1–F12 work fine on Windows
• F1–F12 work fine with the USB dongle
• But over Bluetooth on Linux they trigger brightness/media keys instead

This is not a hardware issue. It’s a driver behavior issue.

🔍 The Problem

When connected via Bluetooth, the keyboard identifies itself with Apple’s vendor ID (05ac).

Because of that, Linux loads the hid_apple driver and defaults to:

fnmode = 3

This makes media keys primary and requires Fn for F1–F12 — which is why Linux sends brightness events instead of normal function key presses.

✅ Temporary Fix

Run:

echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/fnmode

This forces F1–F12 to be primary.

🔒 Permanent Fix

Create a config file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf

Add this line:

options hid_apple fnmode=0

Then update initramfs:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot.

🧠 Why This Works

The keyboard is treated as an Apple-style keyboard in Bluetooth mode, so Linux applies Apple-specific function key behavior. Changing fnmode forces Linux to prioritize standard F1–F12 keys instead of media keys.

🚀 Result

After this fix:

• F1–F12 work normally in Bluetooth mode
• No need to use the dongle
• Works in both X11 and Wayland

If this saved you time, you’re welcome 😄