Slacko 5.6 cannot set up multiple keyboard layouts

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abuian
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri 13 Sep 2013, 13:11

Slacko 5.6 cannot set up multiple keyboard layouts

#1 Post by abuian »

I don't know if this is a bug or not. I recently switched from Precise 5.7 to Slacko 5.6. When I tried to set up multiple keyboard layouts according to the same procedures I successfully used before, it didn't work. Here's my input device section from xorg.conf:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104" #xkbmodel0
Option "XkbLayout" "us,gr,il" #xkeymap0
Option "XkbVariant" ",polytonic,phonetic" #xkbvariant0
Option "XkbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle,lv3:win_switch"
EndSection

The keyboard configuration tool shows that I have the correct desired settings, but I can't get it to use any layout but US. I also tried installing fbxkb. I can manipulate settings, and I can add the icon to the tray, but it doesn't seem to do anything except show that I'm using US.

I can't think of a way to test whether the problem is with recognizing the presence of multiple keyboard layouts or with switching between them. Any idea what the problem might be?

Trevor

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Karl Godt
Posts: 4199
Joined: Sun 20 Jun 2010, 13:52
Location: Kiel,Germany

#2 Post by Karl Godt »

commandline :

Code: Select all

setxkbmap -v 10 -rules xorg -model pc104 -layout us,gr,il -variant ,polytonic,phonetic -option grp:alt_shift_toggle,lv3:win_switch
I have no problems with Puppy 4.3 but recently got problems installing debian squeeze Xorg-config,
that placed a lot of files over the existing ones in /etc/X11/xkb plus a lot more files and folders there .
US was working, but DE not anymore .

abuian
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri 13 Sep 2013, 13:11

#3 Post by abuian »

Karl,

I tried from the commandline (not sure if I should have done anything to xorg.conf first). Here's the output:

Code: Select all

Setting verbose level to 10
locale is C
Warning! Multiple definitions of rules file
         Using command line, ignoring X server
Warning! Multiple definitions of keyboard model
         Using command line, ignoring X server
Warning! Multiple definitions of keyboard layout
         Using command line, ignoring X server
Warning! Multiple definitions of layout variant
         Using command line, ignoring X server
Trying to load rules file ./rules/xorg...
Trying to load rules file /etc/X11/xkb/rules/xorg...
Success.
Applied rules from xorg:
rules:      xorg
model:      pc104
layout:     us,gr,il
variant:    ,polytonic,phonetic
options:    grp:alt_shift_toggle,lv3:win_switch,grp:alt_shift_toggle,lv3:win_switch
Trying to build keymap using the following components:
keycodes:   xfree86+aliases(qwerty)
types:      complete
compat:     complete
symbols:    pc/pc(pc104)+pc/us+pc/gr(polytonic):2+pc/il(phonetic):3+group(alt_shift_toggle)+level3(win_switch)+group(alt_shift_toggle)+level3(win_switch)
geometry:   pc(pc104)
Error loading new keyboard description
And it still seems to give the same results as before. The error message doesn't seem very informative.

Trevor

User avatar
Karl Godt
Posts: 4199
Joined: Sun 20 Jun 2010, 13:52
Location: Kiel,Germany

#4 Post by Karl Godt »

abuian wrote:Karl,

I tried from the commandline (not sure if I should have done anything to xorg.conf first). Here's the output:

Code: Select all

/il(phonetic):3+group(alt_shift_toggle)+level3(win_switch)+group(alt_shift_toggle)+level3(win_switch)
geometry:   pc(pc104)
Error loading new keyboard description
And it still seems to give the same results as before. The error message doesn't seem very informative.
Trevor
The setxkbmap line is that what is used when you hit the "Apply Now" button in xkbconfigmanager .
The xorg.conf file gets overwritten always when the hardware changes if no previous /etc/X11/xorg.conf-${PROFILECHIP}${PROFILEMONITOR} file exists .
So altering xorg.conf is a bit "obsolete" for me - instead I sed the setxkbmap line into /root/.xinitrc
- Macpup550 does so - based on Precise-550 but due to the enlightenment windowmanager non-US keyboard "bug" .

What I would do is to
diff -rup
the /etc/X11/xkb directories of Precise and Slacko to look for differences .
I don't have Precise 5.7.1 and Slacko 5.6 on my current machine , so cannot check .

It might be worth to try to delete the /etc/X11/xkb directory in Slacko-5.6 and replace it by the one of Precise .

Φο

abuian
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri 13 Sep 2013, 13:11

#5 Post by abuian »

Karl Godt wrote:What I would do is to
diff -rup
the /etc/X11/xkb directories of Precise and Slacko to look for differences .
I don't have Precise 5.7.1 and Slacko 5.6 on my current machine , so cannot check .
OK, I ran it on the clean versions from the distro disks (I have some modified keymaps, but I've already ruled out that being the cause of the problem). I'm honestly skeptical of my own ability to do much with the information, but here it is if anyone else can spot something.

diff -rup precise_xkb/symbols/pc/fr slacko_xkb/symbols/pc/fr
--- precise_xkb/symbols/pc/fr 2013-01-13 19:09:15.000000000 -0500
+++ slacko_xkb/symbols/pc/fr 2011-05-08 07:45:21.000000000 -0400
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
-// $XdotOrg$
// based on a keyboard map from an 'xkb/symbols/fr' file
-//
-// $XFree86: xc/programs/xkbcomp/symbols/pc/fr,v 1.2 2002/11/22 04:03:28 dawes Exp $

partial default alphanumeric_keys
xkb_symbols "basic" {
@@ -45,22 +42,37 @@ xkb_symbols "basic" {
};

partial alphanumeric_keys
+xkb_symbols "olpc" {
+ // Contact: Sayamindu Dasgupta <sayamindu@laptop.org>
+ include "pc/fr(basic)"
+
+ name[Group1]="France";
+
+ key <AD02> { [ z, Z, VoidSymbol, guillemotleft ] };
+
+ key <AC02> { [ s, S, VoidSymbol, ssharp ] };
+
+ key <AB02> { [ x, X, VoidSymbol, guillemotright ] };
+
+ key <I219> { [ less, greater ] };
+};
+
+partial alphanumeric_keys
xkb_symbols "Sundeadkeys" {

// Modifies the basic French layout to use the Sun dead keys

include "pc/fr(basic)"

- name[Group1]="France - Sun dead keys";
-
- key <AD11> { [SunFA_Circum, SunFA_Diaeresis ] };
- key <AB07> { [comma, question, SunFA_Acute, dead_doubleacute ] };
+ key <AD11> { [dead_circumflex, dead_diaeresis ] };
+ key <AB07> { [comma, question, dead_acute, dead_doubleacute ] };
};

partial alphanumeric_keys
xkb_symbols "sundeadkeys" {
include "pc/fr(Sundeadkeys)"

+ name[Group1]="France - Sun dead keys";
};

partial alphanumeric_keys
@@ -81,14 +93,191 @@ xkb_symbols "nodeadkeys" {
key <AB10> { [ exclam, section, dead_belowdot, abovedot ] };
};

+
+// Unicode French derivative
+// Loose refactoring of the historic Linux French keyboard layout
+//
+// Copyright © 2006-2008 Nicolas Mailhot <nicolas.mailhot @ laposte.net>
+//
+// Credits (fr-latin1, fr-latin0, fr-latin9)
+// © 199x-1996 René Cougnenc âœ

abuian
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri 13 Sep 2013, 13:11

#6 Post by abuian »

Hold on--maybe I didnt rule out that the alternate keymaps were the problem. At one point I tested that possibility by deselecting Greek and Hebrew and selecting Arabic (standard keymap) instead. It still wouldnt switch keyboards when I tried it that way, and I dont know why.

But this time, I tried swapping in the clean /etc/X11/xkb from Precise, and it worked out of the box. It only stopped working when I tried copying back in the modified keymaps (which worked when I was using them under Precise originally). When I switched back to the original Greek and Israeli keymaps, it started working again.

So I guess now the question is why the modified keymaps worked under Precise but not Slacko, but that seems easier to work with than not being able to switch keyboards at all.

Trevor

abuian
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri 13 Sep 2013, 13:11

#7 Post by abuian »

Turns out the problem was one of the modified keymaps (gr). It's been around a while--I didn't create it but downloaded it from someone else. As I say, it worked on Precise Puppy, and maybe also in Gentoo (can't recall if I tried it there, but I think I did).

Comparing it with the standard keymap, there were several variations beyond those obviously intended, but the standard had a comment about someone having moved a group up to the top of the file so it could be included by another group further down. I saw that the modified keymap had a few groups that were out of sequence in that regard, and tried moving them around. It seems to have solved the problem, and now I can use the modified keymaps with switching according to the settings.

I still don't know why it worked in Precise, but I suppose that's irrelevant at this point--the problem is solved. Thanks for your help. In one sense, it was a wild goose chase; in another, I don't know that I would have discovered the real problem without following your suggestions.

Trevor

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