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When I press the left shift key on Dell Multimedia keyboard it behaves like I have pressed the alt key instead.

Operating system: Ubuntu 18.04.3

Output from running xev -event keyboard :

Outer window is 0x3400001, inner window is 0x3400002

KeymapNotify event, serial 24, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  32  0   0   0   16  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

KeyRelease event, serial 25, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x4cc, subw 0x0, time 1438677, (310,475), root:(377,532),
    state 0x10, keycode 36 (keysym 0xff0d, Return), same_screen YES,
"   XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (0d) "
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x4cc, subw 0x0, time 1441909, (310,475), root:(377,532),
    state 0x10, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x4cc, subw 0x0, time 1441909, (310,475), root:(377,532),
    state 0x11, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe7, Meta_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x4cc, subw 0x0, time 1441941, (310,475), root:(377,532),
    state 0x19, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x4cc, subw 0x0, time 1441941, (310,475), root:(377,532),
    state 0x18, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

I have tried numerous things to reset the keyboard such as:

dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

And resetting the keyboard configuration in Settings -> Devices -> Keyboard

However, nothing has cured this so far.

Tejas Lotlikar
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B Cooper
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  • Looks like a hardware error. The system receives both the signals for the shift and the alt key. Repeatable with other keyboards? – vanadium Jan 15 '20 at 14:16
  • Switching keyboards does seem to make the issue go away. I found a Dell L100 and I don't experience the issue with this one. Thank you very much for you help! – B Cooper Jan 15 '20 at 14:32
  • What's the output of this command: gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Jan 15 '20 at 16:01
  • GLib-GIO-Message: 16:36:33.898: Using the 'memory' GSettings backend. Your settings will not be saved or shared with other applications. @as [] – B Cooper Jan 15 '20 at 16:39

0 Answers0