Keyboard problem on HP Envy 17 3D

I have a keyboard problem that I figure *must* be a keyboard hardware problem, but it doesn't really look like it. When I bring up either Ubuntu 12.04 (installed) or Fedora 17 (from Live CD) and use either the "Terminal" program or xterm, I can type some small number of characters (~10-20) without a problem. As I type more, though, other characters start getting inserted. This will typically start with a newline, but then I get short strings, starting with an ESC character, then I'll get multiple copies of things I've typed many lines before. The extraneous text may be inserted while I am typing, but there may be a short (~0.5 sec) delay before it appears. The ESC strings will be things like cursor up or down. It quickly becomes possible to do much of anything.

I see the same problems when entering text on other programs, as well, such as Thunderbird or Firefox. Note that I don't see any keyboard problems when using PuTTY or any other program on (yech) Windows.

This probably began when I switched my installation from Fedora 16 to Ubuntu 12.04 or shortly thereafter (clean install of *everything*, including Windows).

My system is an HP Envy 17" 3D (2090nr).

I can't believe this is software because other people would see it; I think pretty much anyone would be ready to pitch their system off a cliff in frustration. Yet, the problem only happens when running Linux, appears to have started with a kernel upgrade (as part of the Ubuntu install), and there isn't any hardware buffer I know that would keep things I typed hundreds of characters before.

I'm a little desperate here--I bought the system for kernel development but I work on embedded systems without keyboards; any suggestions, or even just confirmation that other people see the same thing, appreciated! --
David VL

...

So, I did what I should have done before but the results were what I expected--I hooked up a spare USB keyboard and there is no problem. Which narrows the problem down to the keyboard decoding. I would appreciate any help I can get with hints I can use to determine that this is hardware or fix the driver.

Thanks!
--
David VL

If you enable debug option of i8042:

	echo 1 > /sys/module/i8042/parameters/debug

you can save a raw stream of keyboard contorller data and analyze it.

However it could be something simpler - could your palm be brushing against the touchpad and cause pasting of random garbage?

Thanks.

Dmitry