Re: [STUMP] Xmodmap keys

[Sébastien Vauban]

Hi all,

>>>> I am using VirtualBox quite often.
>>>
>>> I had this issue in the past but it was not caused by Stumpwm but by
>>> Vmware Workstation.
>>
>> That's interesting. I used to run VMware Server on the workstation
>> where I experienced this issue. Seems we have our scapegoat :-)

In fact, for a couple of days, now, I almost always have troubles when I'm
starting VirtualBox. Though this can make the problem appear (a lot) quicker,
it also happens without any virtualization software running.

So, there is really a problem occurring faster with VMware or VirtualBox
running. Bad interaction. What's the good solution?


>>> I don't know the solution, just a workaround. Use the command 'setxkbmap'
>>> to remap the keys, at least with that you avoid to kill the Xorg process.

I've often switched to the F6 terminal (I don't know how we call these) and
typed:

    xmodmap -e 'keycode 133 = F20' -e 'clear Lock' -e 'keycode 66 = F19'

Success was sometimes there, sometimes not...

I will try next time prefixing the command with `setxkbmap gb &&':

    setxkbmap gb && xmodmap -e 'keycode 133 = F20' \
                            -e 'clear Lock' -e 'keycode 66 = F19'


>> I used to have a similar issue on my workstation. All of a sudden, the
>> Ctrl, Alt and some other modifier keys would stop working. I can't
>> blame it on Stumpwm though since the same happened under Metacity.

In my case, I never had keyboard problems under Gnome, while I daily used
VirtualBox as well, exactly as I now do under StumpWM. So, I do blame the
"StumpWM + VirtualBox" couple. Blaming is a big word, as I can't work anymore
without StumpWM... but, yes, the story described in this thread is really
hurting...


>> A workaround (rather: an ugly hack) that worked for me was to start a
>> subshell from ~/.Xsession that would stay in the background and reset
>> the keymap every 2 minutes:
>>
>> (while true; do sleep 120; setxkbmap dvorak && xmodmap ~/.xmodmaprc) &

If adding `setxkbmap' works for reinitializing properly my keyboard, I'll use
your hack...


> Hello guys, I'll ask just for the sake of it:  By any chance, is this
> happening when Caps Lock is ON?

I don't have detailed info about what's the trigger for the problem to occur.
I'd love it, as it's always difficult to understand and debug something that's
not repeatable.

Though, regarding your question, my case is a bit special, as I'm hijacking
the Caps Lock to be my toggle key between the two defined keyboards (French
and British). When it works, that's a fantastic way to change the keyboard:
easy to use, and luminous feedback (via the Caps Lock led). Don't need to
search for a string on the modeline to know which keyboard you're in...

Having said this, since I reinstalled StumpWM (one month ago, when moving to
Ubuntu 9.04), I have a weird behavior that never occurred before: the Caps
Lock led sometimes goes off while I did not press on the Caps Lock key to go
back to the default keyboard layout... Don't understand this neither...

Simple hack would be to add a `FR' or `UK' string in the StumpWM modeline.
But, yes, a hack. Source of problem not identified neither...

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sébastien Vauban