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Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

My Sun 7 keyboard went south, the second one this year.
Nice but not so trusty after all.

So I pulled an old Lenovo backup from the closet: KU-0225 / P/N: 41A5312
It's a standard 105-key Latin American layout keyboard.

But something is not right and I cannot figure out what it is.

I have set the layout with dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration and my /etc/default/keyboard file reads accordingly.

# KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION FILE
# Consult the keyboard(5) manual page.

XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="latam"
XKBVARIANT="nodeadkeys"
XKBOPTIONS="lv3:ralt_switch,compose:menu,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"

BACKSPACE="guess"

It seems that the keyboard configuration setting is being ignored and the keyboard is working as if it were a Spanish layout (like if it had a ç / Ç at the end of the third row).

eg: The key that should give me an accent ` or two types of brackets { or } and [ or ] gives me a ç or a Ç.

Rather annoying.

Any idea what might be happening here?

Thanks in advance,

A.

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2019-03-24

Posts: 3,125  

Website

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Is this with Xfce? Perhaps the desktop is overriding your configuration.

---

Brianna Ghey — Rest In Power

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

... Xfce?

Yes.

... desktop is overriding your configuration.

Thought that could be the case, so tried Applications -> Settings -> Keyboard -> Layout, un-checked Use system defaults and chose Generic 105-key PC (intl.) with Spanish (Latin American) layout and Spanish (Latin American, no dead keys) variant.

But no, no cigar.

Thanks for your input.

A.

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

maybe try to configure the keyboard with setxbmap ?

http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_xkb_tutorial.html

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

... configure the keyboard with setxbmap ?

Hmm ...
What I want is to be able to configure it via the desktop settings like it should be done.
ie: Applications -> Settings -> Keyboard -> Layout

rant
This is the type of thing that gets on Linux users' nerves: a straightforward configuration glitch in something that (at this stage in Linux time) should not be happening.
After all, how long has Xfce been a desktop option?
/rant

So if it wants to use the system defaults (the previous setting), I guess I'll have to try setting the system defaults to what I want.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for your input.

Cheers,

A.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

rant
This is the type of thing that gets on Linux users' nerves: a straightforward configuration glitch in something that (at this stage in Linux time) should not be happening.
After all, how long has Xfce been a desktop option?
/rant

The issue I am having with the keyboard settings in Xfce seems to be related to a well known bug from back in 2010.
Nine (9) years ago and counting ....

https://askubuntu.com/questions/66096/h … er-reboots

Like someone else posted on that thread:

... u understand now why linux share in desktops is ~1%
A simple stupid language switcher applet is bugged for years...

I'll see if I can make one of the workarounds (evidently considered a permanent fix by the developers) work for me.

Cheers,

A.

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

have you tried setxbmap as a workaround to see if it fixes the issue? Not with the plugin, just your keyboard layout.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

... tried setxbmap as a workaround ...

Yes, it works.
I can set the layout with setxkbmap.

But it does not survive a reboot.
Where can I set it to make it permanent?

Thanks for your input

Cheers,

A.

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

you need to put the command in your autostart file, for xfce i think it is .xprofile if you are not using a login manager. I dont use desktop managers or desktop environments so im just guessing here.

Last edited by HevyDevy (2019-12-28 13:02:28)

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

... put the command in your autostart file ...

Done.

Applications -> Settings -> Session and Startup -> Application Autostart -> Add

Name: keyboardmap (or whatever)
Description: sets kb layout (or whatever)
setxkbmap latam

Thank you very much for your help.

That this issue is still a problem after so many years is not a good omen, not for Xfce and certainly not for the Linux ecosystem.

Cheers,

A.

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

xfce does many things well but fails in some areas that have been accomplished by simpler means, i used it awhile ago but it never lasted long on my disks. Xfce has the multi monitor display working well i believe, or so i have read.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,592  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

Hello:

... does many things well ...

Like all the other mainsream desktops out there these days.

... fails in some areas ...

I'd say far too many, but as I suffer its shortcomings I cannot be objective enough.

... has the multi monitor display working well ...

Just like Mate or Cinnamon or Gnome (which I have not tried).
But that is probably because X is working reasonably well and when it does not, some *.orx/layouts get it fixed quick enough.

For example: I've been waiting years for Xfce to be able to line up/organise/keep the desktop icons where I bloody put them.
It's the one thing I miss from XP.

I have been seriously thinking about getting rid of Xfce once and for all but never get around to doing so, probably for fear of breaking my Devuan ASCI .

Cheers,

A.

HevyDevy

Member

Registered: 2019-09-06

Posts: 358  

Re: Keyboard configuration issue

hey altoid, if it is working with a few failures on some trivial plugins then i would keep it around if you are familiar with it. linux/unix does not do everything i would like it to, but it is a lot better than some alternatives out there, i also come from an XP background, started out in win98 and had no idea how to use it, wish i had of been exposed to unix and or linux back then in the mid 90's but we were mostly playing around with nintendos and playstations, the personal computer was a really expensive item i was only able to purchase in 1998 when i came into some money. Pretty much boom time back around the late 90's for computing, the focus was on multimedia.

fast forward... I like to be able to configure my systems minimally where i know what programs do what instead of having a suite handle all the tasks. For example i run openbox and dwm as window managers for X. So i know how to configure window management to work with the X display software. It has its limits but to me those limits are worthwhile.