key shortcut to start terminal?
 

hi there:

just a quick question. is there a way to make a keyboard shortcut keys to start up the terminal? i am running Fedora Core 2 with GNOME. i had a look at Menu->Preferences->Keyboard Shortcuts, but i don't know how to add my own "Action" the define a shortcut to it.

many thanks

yours

CHUN

This is the exact problem I've been searching for the solution to. If you find a way, would you post it here? I'll do the same...

I think I found it. Late for work now, so no time to test!


Ctrl-Shift-t --> aterm:

gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/run_command_4 "<Ctrl%gt;%lt;Shift>t"
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/command_4 "aterm"

hi there:

after doing a bit of searching on the net, i found the solution which i think is the same as you described but using the Configuration Editor (gconf-editor) instead.

in addition, the place i found the info also got quite a few gnome tips and tricks, which are quite fun to check out. its at:

http://gnome-hacks.jodrell.net/all.html

thanks

CHUN

I'm trying to launch a terminal window using the keyboard too. I'm not sure I understand what you meant from the above but I tried to hold down the ctrl and shft keys while pressing the letter t and that didn't work.

If anyone has ideas please share. Thanks.

hi, you can use the gconf-editor.

see the below link, it tells you exactly how.

http://gnome-hacks.jodrell.net/hacks.html?id=14

Thanks for taking the time to respond...

The link contains interesting information but I can't make use of it. In order to act on the suggestions it contains I would need to be able to use my touchpad. I can't use my touchpad. I can only use the keyboard and my OS automatically runs X at start up.

So I need to edit a config file to try to set up my touchpad but I need to get to a terminal to do that...Only using the keyboard. While the link says ..

"* Go to "Apps->Metacity->Keybinding Commands"

I can't do that. I need to be able to type something and either get out of x altogether or open a terminal.

ah, i see your problem. Since you can't use your touchpad, you need some way to get to the terminal, right? Well, it seems the only way to set up a key to open a terminal is to edit your metacity configuration (metacity is the window manager running over gnome). Unless you can get to your shell. If booting with GRUB, it's easy to boot directly into your command-line shell. Just stop it from automatically booting up by hitting an arrow key before it chooses your Linux OS. Then you can hit 'e' to edit the GRUB commands. Once in there, you can scroll to the middle line and hit 'e' again to edit that line. Add one word: 'single' at the end of that line and grub will boot to the shell. Don't worry about making mistakes while editing, GRUB will not save any changes next time it boots up.

Once you get into your shell, use those two commands I listed above:

gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/run_command_4 "<Ctrl%gt;%lt;Shift>t"
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/command_4 "xterm"

Notice I changed 'gterm' to 'xterm' just because my system uses the xterm terminal program.

Test it by hitting Ctrl-Shift-t. It should work immediately with no resetting or anything.

These directions relate directly to my system (Fedora Core 2 with Gnome and Metacity) but Fedora is very similar to RedHat. If you get stuck anywhere, I can send more detailed instructions. At the moment, I'm leaving for work though.

Good luck!

how about the Ctrl+Alt+F1->F7 short cuts?

on my systems, this switchs between a series of single user mode without X and F7 being the X+gnome.

Thank you for your response.

When GRUB is entered, I see that I can use the arrow keys to select the OS. Right now there is only one option - Red Hat 9 and only one kernel option. Other than that I don't see a way to avoid making the selection and entering X.. I tried pressing e but nothing happens. It says I can enter p then a password. I tried that and I got into a command line in GRUB but what then? And I don't want to modify the kernel here.

Thanks anyway. I'll do a bit of reading on GRUB.

I got it...

I can accomplish what I need to do by pressing "ctrl-alt-F2" simultaneously after I've logged into X. This allows me to login in again but this time in text mode.

great! actaully, the ctrl+alt+F2 text mode saved my life a few times when i got stuck with X

have fun

Thanks for your suggestion chunlee

wow. I've never used that Ctr-Alt-F2 thing before. Whenever X got buggered with me, I would restart and use grub to enter single-user text mode to fix it. Good tip.

(and by the way, changing anything in the Grub startup screen is safe. You CAN add and subtract kernel options there, but if you do, it will automatically go back to normal on the next reboot. I usually just use it to change it's bootup mode, though. To change the grub options permanently, you would have to edit /etc/grub/grub.conf. )

great! glad i can help. can't remember where i read it first though.

peace

CHUN