[ILUG] [Q] weird keyboard mode - how to exit? (and what is it?)

[Andrew Court]

My theory had to do with screen, as you said anything you type is pre-ceded
with ctrl. I know screen uses ctrl+key to navigate the windows, Though I
don't use it at the moment. Having said that i plan to install it on the
servers I manage in the ext few days.

If this theory makes sense, would you think about connecting to a screen
session when trying to troubleshoot the problem?

If only a cold boot reset's it then it is unlikely to be a software problem.
Its sounds to me like, and please excuse the crude level of this diagnosis,
but it sounds like a capacitor somewhere gets charged when you press the
combination of keys. The charging of the capacitor changes a state in the
leyboard and the only way to get out of the state is to discharge the
capacitor. When doing a warm boot electricity is still going to the board
and the capacitor is continually being recharged. When cold booting, the
cap's energy is dissipated. What happens if you unplug the keyboard? Is
there any change?





On 8/13/07, Brian Foster <blf at utvinternet.ie> wrote:
>
>   | Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:14:02 +0100
>   | From: "Andrew Court" <syklops at gmail.com>
>   | To: steev <mcconville.steve at gmail.com>
>   | Subject: Re: [ILUG] [Q] weird keyboard mode - how to exit? (and what
> is it?)
>   |
>   | I had a theory but Im not going to mention it just yet.
>   | Check out this link, specifically the text beneath Section
>   | "18.3.6.1. Keyboard"
>   |
> http://www.grandicki.net/o_reilly___cd_bookshelf/weblinux2/lian/ch18_03.htm
>   |
>   | It talks about setting the ISO 9995 alternative group
>   | keyboard layout, and the key used to enter it.  If this is
>   | what you are entering, you can use the Kde Control Centre
>   | to find the key combination to enter the mode, and
>   | hopefully the combination to exit it.
>
> interesting.  yea, it does 'smell' like something
> like that.  however, there is at least one glitch
> with that theory:  KDE-CC indicates I don't have
> alternative layouts enabled.  (enabling them as
> an experiment got me into a real mess, albeit I
> suspect that was my fault.)   I'm not quite sure
> how much I believe KDE-CC here, since it doesn't
> seem to agree with xkbprint(1) or xkeycaps(1),
> both of which:
>
>   • _look_ plausible; and
>
>   • imply that, under some circumstance unclear
>      (to me), an 'ISO_Level3_Shift' happens.
>
> some new info — I _just_ discovered this the hard
> way(!) — reseting the keyboard seems to require a
> cold boot (power toggle).  a warm reboot does not
> change(/fix/reset) things.  I don't know if that
> means SUSE/Linux is restoring something, or if
> there's a state-change in the keyboard itself
> (I could test this, if I can ever figure out how
> to reproduce the weird mode!  ;-\  ).
>
> ( I also note the xkeycaps(1) man page has some
>   nasty things to say about an unspecified SuSE
>   version/configuration.  at least one of the
>   alleged SuSE bugs seems to involve |AltGr|, the
>   known part of the unknown sequence.  hum.... )
>
>   | Info on ISO9995 can be found here:
>   |  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_9995
>   |
>   | Also, can you tell us the make of the Keyboard?
>
> yes, it's an "Logitech Internet Navigator" (USB),
> a qwerty+€ unit which I've been using for about a
> year without apparent problem.  exact vintage and
> other details are unclear/unknown, since it is
> second-hand without a manual.  the layout appears
> to be a generic PC 105-key UK keyboard, albeit with
> four LEDs (not three), and lots of extra (useless)
> buttons.  the extra LED is somehow involved in this
> mystery, but not the extra buttons (i.e., I know I'm
> not pressing any of them!).
>
> it's not a Big Deal — it's very very rare and I can
> restore a working X11 session — but it's nonetheless
> highly annoying since the other virtual consoles all
> "stop" working (as in I cannot type anything useful).
>
> cheers!
>         -blf-
> --
> ▶ ▶  I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR A JOB!  ◀ ◀ | Brian Foster
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