OK so I've dug some more and out of curiosity exported my gsettings using this tuto:
Bash one-liner to display ALL `gsettings` in GUI dialog window
I copy-pasted the results into a txt file and CTRL+f for numlock and found:
org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard numlock-state false
org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard remember-numlock-state true
So I tried to adapt the command:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard remember-numlock-state true
to
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard numlock-state true
rebooted,
and...
123456789/*-+
.0
:)
Now the numlock is still not working (ie numlock is now stuck on) which is no big deal, but out of curiosity anyone knows how to fix it?
(i'm new to posting here so happy to create a new post if it's the way to do it, just let me know please)
Note, i'm not sure it's not a physical problem with the key - as laptop is hand-down and second-hand refurbished. I've been looking for a way to test the key but no luck yet, if anyone can advise on this?
Thanks again !