Keyboard issues with Gnome.

xyn · 10-04-2004, 10:21 PM

I have a minor gripe with my Gnome configuration, in which my 'Home', 'End', 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keys do not work at all.

They work fine in XFCE4 and at the console.

Running 'setxkbmap' fixes it, so I could put that line into a file that is executed after Gnome starts up, but I'd prefer to find a true fix.

I am not running a 'special' keyboard, it's some Compaq 102-key keyboard, and, as I said, it works fine in everything else.

Suggestions welcome.

DaneM · 10-05-2004, 03:43 AM

Hy, xyn.

Here's the keyboard section for my xorg.conf file. I might be wrong, but this problem sounds like this section on your computer needs to be tweaked. The stuff below works well for a Microsoft Natural keyboard.

Code:

# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"Keyboard"
# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").
# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),
# uncomment the following line.

#    Option "Protocol"   "Xqueue"

    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
#    Option "Xleds"      "1 2 3"

#    Option "LeftAlt"    "Meta"
#    Option "RightAlt"   "ModeShift"

# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#    Option "XkbModel"   "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#    Option "XkbModel"   "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"
# or:
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"
#    Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#    Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"

# These are the default XKB settings for XFree86
#    Option "XkbRules"   "xfree86"
#    Option "XkbModel"   "pc101"
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "us"
#    Option "XkbVariant" ""
#    Option "XkbOptions" ""

#    Option "XkbDisable"

    Option "XkbRules"	"xfree86"
    Option "XkbModel"	"microsoft"
    Option "XkbLayout"	"us"

EndSection

Let me know if this helps.

--Dane

xyn · 10-06-2004, 04:08 AM

Hi Dane,

As I mentioned before, I don't think X is the problem. Every other WM/DE works fine, except Gnome...

I have tried a number of different settings for the keyboard in my xorg.conf, with no change.

Cheers.

DaneM · 10-07-2004, 03:47 AM

That makes sense

It seems to me like the solution lies with xkeyboardmap. Since most configuration tools are basically glorified frontends for BASH, sed and AWK, I suspect that all xkeyboardmap is doing is writing to a configuration file somewhere that's being overwritten everytime you log out or in. Assuming that's the case, all you need to do is figure out what file(s) that program is editing and write a script that will put things back to the way you want them when you log in again. It's also pretty likely that if the configuration file's being overwritten a lot that there's a note in that file saying what script is doing it. Also, you could try some of the other keyboard tools in Gnome. (I'd be more specific but my internet connection is on the fritz in Linux so I'm currently booted into Windows XP.)

If you can't figure it out using some more conventional methods, you can try this:

1) Load up Gnome and WITHOUT running xkeyboardmap and type into a console:

Code:

cd /
su -c "ls -lR > /tmp/sysdir.txt"
<type your root password>

2) Run xkeyboardmap and set everything to how you like it. Play with the buttons a bit to make sure that they work. Now type:

Code:

cd /
su -c "ls -lR > /tmp/newsysdir.txt"
<type your root password>
diff /tmp/sysdir.txt /tmp/newsysdir.txt

3) Compare the "diff" results. Anything with a "<" at the beginning of the line is a line from your system directory before you ran xkeyboardmap. Anything with a ">" at the beginning of the line is a line from your system directory after you ran xkeyboardmap. Look for differences in filesizes and/or any new files that were created presumably by xkeyboardmap. Check the files for things relating to your keyboard and chances are you'll find a winner! You can delete the files you just created in /tmp when you're done with them.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help (hopefully I'll get my modem working right in Linux soon...). Good luck!

--Dane