keyboard error (the strangest thing...)

[Grant McDorman]

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The problem is that the xmodmap -e 'keycode 22 =3D Backspace' is setting key
#22 to be a Backspace key. If key #22, whatever that is, is not backspace
things break rather badly - as you saw. Obviously, the standard RH X server
(XFree86) happens to have key #22 be the backspace key, and the VNC X server
has it as the '5' key. Other servers will differ: on my Sun Solaris system,
key #22 is a blank (unlabeled) key in the top row.

Apparently, this is done because the default assignment for key #22 is not
backspace; I'd guess it's Del. (For historical reasons, Unix systems often
swap Backspace and Del). If that's the case, and you want to exchange
Backspace and Del, a safe (X server independant) way of doing this is
discussed in the xmodmap manual page.

A good tool for looking at keymaps is xkeycaps; it's available from
ftp.x.org as source (and probably various Linux archives in various
flavours; check freshmeat.net).

According to Brett Jones:
> FIXED!
>=20
> Thanks for the help!  Deep in the bowels of the system X init files I fou=
nd an
> .Xmodmap with only that line in it.  Renaming the file and starting VNC a=
gain
> brought back a working version.
>=20
> RedHat must have but that in there for some reason in 6.0.  So this fix
> probably breaks something else (like your WABI problem), but I'll cross t=
hat
> bridge..
>=20
> Thanks for the help!
>=20
> Brett
>=20
> WJCarpenter wrote:
>=20
> > bj> Any time I hit the '5' key (on the NT keyboard), I get a backspace
> > bj> inside VNC.  The 5 key is the only key this happens with.  I
> > bj> cannot get a percent sign now, as pressing 5 with either shift key
> > bj> still remains a backspace.  I'm assuming it's backspace, because
> > bj> pressing ^V and then 5 yields the same control code on the screen
> > bj> as ^V Backspace.  (Normally it just erases text.)
> > bj> - Pressing the 5 key on the linux console (while in X) works correc=
tly.
> >
> > Heh.  "Me, too!"  I'm not fluent enough in X server lore to
> > economically figure out the fundamental reason for this, but I at
> > least know how to cure the symptoms.  I was lucky enough to start
> > having this problem and notice it right away after I added this line
> > to my startup script:
> >
> >         xmodmap -e "keycode 22 =3D BackSpace"
> >
> > I added this line because it's needed to get Backspace to behave
> > itself under Caldera's Linux WABI.  I just blindly did what the WABI
> > README or FAQ or something said to do to cure the problem.  When I
> > read the man page for xmodmap and looked at its outputs, the line above
> > made no sense to me, but it did fix the Backspace problem in WABI.
> >
> > So, the cure for you is to find such a line in your X start-up scripts
> > and get rid of it!  :-) If you don't have such a line (or can't find
> > it or whatever), you may be able to restore sanity to your life via
> > this command:
> >
> >         xmodmap -e "keycode 22 =3D 5 percent"
> >
> > As they say in department of labor, "Works for me."  If anyone has any
> > real info about this quirk, I'd be curious to hear it.
> > --
> > bill "at" carpenter.ORG   (WJCarpenter)           PGP
> > bill "at" bubblegum.net                    0x91865119
> > 38 95 1B 69 C9 C6 3D 25  73 46 32 04 69 D6 ED F3
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > The VNC mailing list - see http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/intouch.h=
tml
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>=20
>=20
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> The VNC mailing list - see http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/intouch.html
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>=20

--=20

Grant McDorman <grant "at" isgtec.com>, Senior Software Developer
ISG Technologies, Inc.  <URL:http://www.isgtec.com>
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada


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