Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS on Xorg crashing when changing keyboard language

fawaz.d

6/1/24, 1:03 AM

This started after I ran some updates today, basically calling

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

The problem is that when I'm on Xorg, once I try to change the language, either by keyboard shortcut (With my keyboard it is the window key and space), or from the top right corner with my mouse, the system crashes (the mouse keeps moving and apparently is clicking on things because I was able to pause and play a YouTube video, but other than that, it's pretty unresponsive), and I noticed that the scroll lock light starts flashing (For me it used to light up when I change to any language other than English). However, the caps lock key does not flash and is responsive during the crash (so maybe not Kernel panic). It feels like it's stuck on a loop trying to change languages or something.

Wayland doesn't have this problem, but has other problems with languages, for example even when I change the language to a non-Latin one, it still types in the Latin alphabet on certain apps (e.g. Chrome).

I am not sure how to debug this further, and every time it crashes, I have to restart into Wayland first, then restart again into Xorg, if I restart and go to Xorg again I just get a black screen and flashing scroll lock light.

I am using Fcitx4 input method system because it was the only one working with Japanese properly on Xorg. I have English, Arabic, German, and Japanese as keyboard languages.

I am on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS 64 bit and GNOME version 42 and Fcitx4 version 4.2.9.8

165

0 + 7

xorg

keyboard-layout

shortcut-keys

waltinator

6/1/24, 1:21 AM

You can see the system log leading up to the crash with the terminal command `sudo journalctl -b -1 -ex`. Also see `sudo journalctl --list-boots` to find other choices for the `-b #`. Read `man journalctl`.

Gunnar Hjalmarsson

6/1/24, 1:35 AM

fcitx4 is known to not work well together with GNOME (that improved with fcitx5). `ibus-mozc` is the default input method for Japanese on Ubuntu, and it works on both Wayland and Xorg. So why not try to switch back to IBus?

fawaz.d

6/1/24, 3:41 PM

Thank you both for commenting. So far it's not crashing anymore but not sure what "fixed" it, I have changed two things, first, I turned off the scroll light using [this guide](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1035383/on-input-source-change-the-scroll-lock-toggles). Second, I changed the input method to IBus instead of Fcitx4 and so far it's not crashing when switching languages.

Sadaharu Wakisaka

6/1/24, 9:12 PM

@GunnarHjalmarsson, Japanese people generally do not favor ibus-mozc. I also experiment with ibus on each new release, but my enthusiasm usually fades within an hour.. 1) fcitx4/5 is more sophisticated 2) ibus slows down the efficiency of typing. Especially, people are shocked when they switch between language by shortcut key, [the icon appears for selection](https://imgur.com/jv5GsNe), Hiragana input returns to Alphabet when system reboot, etc. # Japanese keyboard users probably accept ibus. Non-Japanese keyboard users have to set them or spend an extra work each time.

Gunnar Hjalmarsson

6/1/24, 10:11 PM

@SadaharuWakisaka: Well, Ubuntu comes with GNOME and GNOME favors IBus. So the default has to be some IBus IM, and Mozc is the choice by several Japanese speaking Ubuntu and Debian users. The icon is a GNOME thing, and nowadays you can tell it to default to Hiragana.

Sadaharu Wakisaka

6/1/24, 10:21 PM

@GunnarHjalmarsson, thanks for all dedicated to develop ibus. I prefer ibus for security and dependencies. On 24.04 LTS, I am going to be back on ibus!

Gunnar Hjalmarsson

6/1/24, 10:25 PM

@SadaharuWakisaka: Don't thank me for the development. I'm just helping out with packaging and support.

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