Score:0

Ubuntu

Can't get Compose key in Lubuntu to work

user1149499

10/27/23, 4:21 PM

I have tried to set up my Compose key in Lubuntu 20.04LTS and am having no luck.

I've gotten to where I see

org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options ['compose:ralt']

But am unable to get any combinations to work. Nothing happens. For example, if I want to make a "ñ" character, I press the "Alt Right" key (then unpress it). Then I press Shift and ` to get the tilde (and unpress). Then "n" for the n. And it simply shows me "~n" as if I'd typed those two characters in the first place.

Am I doing something wrong in the key presses? Do I need to hold Alt-Rt down for instance and see a prompt the way the Cntl-Shift-U underlines the "u" and signals it's waiting for a Unicode?

Or do I hold down the Alt-Rt key the whole time I'm pressing? If so, this seems very awkward for typing.

Really confused and frustrated with the difficulty of getting these simple accented characters to appear.

175

2 + 0

keyboard

keyboard-layout

shortcut-keys

lubuntu

Score:2

Ubuntu

user1149499

10/28/23, 1:15 PM

Well, in further sleuthing, I found that in Lubuntu, apparently, the gnome-tweaks settings don't have any effect. I used

setxkbmap -query

And it showed nothing for the compose variable.

So I then typed

setxkbmap -option "compose:ralt"

And lo and behold, it now works as it is supposed to. I have a feeling that I'll need to figure out how to make this setting sticky so I don't have to run it each time I log in, but at least it's working. What a relief!

+ 3

Gunnar Hjalmarsson

10/28/23, 1:50 PM

It looks like you found the gsettings command for Ubuntu somewhere, while it apparently does not apply in the LXQt environment. I suspect that there is a GUI option for defining a compose key persistently. Optionally you may want to figure out the gsettings command which applies to LXQt.

guiverc

10/28/23, 9:53 PM

I have no real idea what a "Compose" key is, thus didn't provide reponse; Lubuntu uses LXQt & and the Qt5 stack below that; GNOME uses GTK3 so expecting gnome changes/tweaks to take effect when it's not being used was hopeful (*some will as some tweaks will impacts parts that are common in both so maybe that's what you were hoping*). I'll provide a manual link https://manual.lubuntu.me/lts/F/keyboard_shortcuts.html (Note: Since release of 22.10; the LTS manual is now 22.04, so 20.04's manual was dropped this month). More detail exists on Lubuntu's phab too

guiverc

10/28/23, 9:54 PM

If you want something to autostart when you login to LXQt; refer https://manual.lubuntu.me/lts/3/3.2/3.2.13/session_settings.html (*Note: that's the 22.04 manual as of a little over a week ago, we only have the 20.04 manual now in unpublished form*) though you could run the command in other ways too. Well done for working it out though, and thanks for sharing your result(s).

Score:1

Ubuntu

Gunnar Hjalmarsson

10/27/23, 5:06 PM

Probably you use a keyboard layout which enables Right Alt as the third level modifier. In that case, in order to use that particular key as compose key, you can run this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options "['compose:ralt', 'lv3:ralt_alt']"

OTOH, in that case — to access 3rd and 4th level symbols — you need to pick some other key as the third level modifier.

A simpler solution is to choose some other key but Right Alt as the compose key.

+ 1

user1149499

10/28/23, 2:12 AM

Thank you, I appreciate the suggestion. I have tried with several different keys. Scroll-lock, the right-windows key, and the right-alt. None work, and yes, that could mean that they're ALL 3rd modifiers, perhaps? But seems unlikely.

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