Alt+Shift doesn't work to switch languages.

nikos.ontheroad · posted: 2013-09-30 00:57

Hello! Ijust started using antiX on a samsung nc10 netbook, coming from windows xp. I really like it so far!
Problem is that while for the first days i was using alt+shift to switch from english to greek, now it doesn't work. Any ideas what might have happened and how can i make it work?

BitJam · posted: 2013-09-30 02:08

These settings are stored in the /@etc/default/keyboard file (note: remove the @ between"/" and"etc". The @ is needed to work around a bug in the forum software).

The file is explained
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://wiki.debian.org/Keyboard"
linktext was:"here"
====================================
:

Code: Select all

# KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION FILE

# Consult the keyboard(5) manual page.

XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="us,de,fr,ua,ru"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS="grp:alt_shift_toggle"

BACKSPACE="guess"

Make sure XKBOPTIONS includes"grp:alt_shift_toggle" and that XKBLAYOUT has the list of languages you want supported. If you change this file you will have to log out of X and log in again to have the changes take effect.

You can also make changes immediately from the command line with the"setxkbmap" program but these changes won't be saved.

Use"setxkbmap -query" to see the current settings.

Use"setxkbmap us,el" to set the layout choice to US English and Greek (I think).

use"setxkbmap -option grp:alt_shift_toggle" to enable Alt-Shift to toggle through the layouts.

use"setxkbmap -option" to clear all existing options.

use"man setxkbmap" to get descriptions of all of its tricks.

HTH

nikos.ontheroad · posted: 2013-09-30 09:55

Hi and thanks for the reply!

I am completely new at this and do not know where i can find the /@etc/default/keyboard file .
I used ROXTerm and got this:

$ setxkbmap -query
rules: evdev
model: pc105
layout: gr,gr-utf8,us
options: grp:alt_shift_toggle,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,grp_led:scroll

If I understand this correctly, it means that alt+shift toggle is enabled, right?
It still won't work though. Any ideas?

anticapitalista · posted: 2013-09-30 11:45

Are you using antiX live or installed?

If using live, you will need to edit the startup files in /home/demo/.icewm to something like this.

setxkbmap -layout"us,gr" -option"grp:alt_shift_toggle,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,grp_led:scroll"

You may need to logout/login for it to change

nikos.ontheroad · posted: 2013-09-30 20:19

I am using the installed version... I tried a few things and nothing worked. I installed antiX 13 again and now its ok... If it happens ag'vain i'll post here.

By the way, I've never used anything other than msdos, when i was a kid, and windows.
However, it took me 10 minutes to install antiX 13 and do everything i used to do on windows xp, minus the hang ups.
So consider me converted!

Thanks a lot for the help.

BitJam · posted: 2013-10-01 00:09

Do you remember if you installed any packages or changed settings between when it was working and when it broke? Did you have an unexpected shutdown due to a power failure?

nikos.ontheroad · posted: 2013-10-01 12:41

Yes and yes. I installed Geogebra and had an unexpected shutdown due to battery failure.
Also i had fiddled with the language settings and now i think that that was the reason for my problem.
Now everything is allright.
Well almost everything... I made conky show how much battery i have left, but it only does so, after i turn it off and then on again. So every time i boot. i have to turn conky off and then on again to make it display any changes i made to it. I'll be making a separate thread about this.