alt + shift not work

Question

I use Alt + Shift to change the language. It is so normal and I have worked with that for a long time. But some days some thing have happen for me. That is Alt + Shift not work all times. For example I can use it on libreOffice to change the language and also on browses. But on some application it does not work. I do not know why.

For example on Taskque software, when I want to add my own task and change the language, Alt+Shift doesn't work.

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 20 '18 at 03:51

10

This bug made using emacs and IntelliJ Idea a nuisance under Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I found a simple workaround.

You can verify how Alt and Shift are not being detected simultaneously by running
```
$ xkbwatch
```
Notice how the blinky lights change for ALT and for SHIFT individually but not for both at the same time.

The output of setxkbmap -query:

rules: evdev
model: pc105
layout: us,us,us
variant: ,intl,
options: grp:alt_shift_toggle,grp_led:scroll
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
         THIS IS THE PROBLEM

We will now unset ALTSHIFT toggle, so that it is not prematurely captured.
```
$ setxkbmap -option -option grp_led:scroll
            ^^^^^^^
            DELIBERATELY EMPTY
```
The first empty -option erases all options, the second one just carries over an option we want to keep. Additional -option clauses can preserve other preexisting options.

You can still change to next/previous input source with whatever is configured in Ubuntu Settings/Keyboard/Typing. In my case it is Super+Space (Super=Windows key in PCs).
Repeat step number 2 again and notice how ALT and SHIFT now play together simultaneously.

I am now a happy Emacs and IntelliJ user.
This is a single command workaround.

edited Nov 20 '18 at 03:51

zx485

2,426

answered Nov 19 '18 at 15:34

C. Daniel Mojoli B.

101

1

Worked for me. Nice and easy without need to restart. – h.nodehi Jul 25 '19 at 20:58
1

Is there any way to make this persistent? I'm only ElementaryOS 6 and I have to redo that on every restart – adaba Aug 20 '21 at 18:46
Back when I was using 18.04, I tried modifying Xsession. It worked, but if you have a laptop, every suspend/resume cycle it would reset to the incorrect behavior. (There likely is a hook for scripting resumes but I did not pursue that route.)
In the end I upgraded Ubuntu and did not see this problem since 20.04.
– C. Daniel Mojoli B. Aug 26 '21 at 22:08
This is a problem in Ubuntu 22.04. I used this workaround but have to do this each time I restart/plug in my keyboard. It's very annoying. – karjedavpalaa Nov 21 '22 at 13:56

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 04 '14 at 12:29

Perhaps this will help...

Open a terminal and run:

gksu gedit /etc/default/keyboard

(or use some other text editor)

Do following changes in the file:

XKBLAYOUT="de,us"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS="grp:alt_shift_toggle"

(Replace de,us with your languages)

Restart and try again.

More Info http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/input/XKB-Config.html#id2521334

alt + shift not work

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