Repeat key functionality doesn't work

On logging into Oneiric, my repeat key functionality doesn't work. Holding in a key will not repeat. I can work around this by going into System Settings>>Keyboard and slightly adjusting the delay and/or speed and then the repeat keys will work for that session only.

Shutting down and restarting again breaks the repeat keys.

What can I do to fix this?

Go to system settings >> keyboard and make sure that repeat and speed are set correctly.

when this doesn't work, it sometimes helps to disable repeat keys and enable it again.

The xset utility can be used to enable keyboard repeat. It works on the X.org level, so should override whatever the distribution is doing wrong.

To enable keyboard repeat, execute:

xset r on

For details, see man xset.