Re: [PLUG] Linux Mint 17/Cinnamon remapped Del key

[JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>]

Thanks Gavin.  I actually got my problem fixed, though I do not
understand it.

My "fix" was:
* Create a new user in a Linux Mint 17 VM
* Copy a backup ~/.config/dconf/user file into the new user
* Log in as that new user
* dconf dump / > dconf.user.dump
* scp dconf.user.dump to affected machine
* dconf load / > dconf.user.dump

A simpler fix would probably have been to log out of the broken user,
restore the backup ~/.config/dconf/user file, and log back in.  But I'm
in the middle of a bunch of stuff so I didn't want to do that.

I don't see a way to dump an arbitrary dconf 'user' file, and I don't
see a way to replace that binary file and then reload settings from it
(without reboot/re-login), hence the gyrations in my "fix" at top.

This is, of course, insane, and a great argument as to why binary config
files in general, and byzantine "registry" systems in particular (I'm
looking at you dconf and gconf!) are an abomination upon the world.

The interesting part is that I can reproduce the problem in the VM 100%
of the time, but this FAILS to fix it:
* 'dconf dump / > before'
* break it
* 'dconf dump / > after'   # to later diff [1]
* 'dconf load / < before'  # FAILS to fix it!

Yet 'dconf load / > dconf.user.dump' DOES fix it.  However the 'before'
and 'dconf.user.dump' files are so different I can't tell why it
'dconf.user.dump' fixes it but 'before' does not.  And 'diff before
after' is useless [1].

Dumping 'gsettings list-recursively' and 'setxkbmap -query -v 10' before
and after breaking also does not help, the files are identical.

So I've hacked around my problem, but I do not understand why my
restore-the-file-sort-of fix works when the cleaner
before/break/restore-before attempt fails.  There is *something* in
'~/.config/dconf/user' that affects this, but I can't figure out what
and I've lost too much time on this already.

Sigh...  Thanks for thinking about it.

_____________________________
[1] diff before after
7a8,10
>
> [org/cinnamon/muffin/keybindings]
> toggle-on-all-workspaces=@as []

On 02/04/2015 02:23 PM, Gavin W. Burris wrote:
> Hi, JP.
> 
> Give this command a try, to reset keyboard options:
> $ setxkbmap -layout us -option
> 
> I was recently on a mission to remap my caps lock to control and figured
> this one out.  Here's that command:
> $ setxkbmap -layout us -option ctrl:nocaps
> 
> Note that you have to run the above commands per session.  I discovered
> that there is great disagreement about where keyboard options should be
> set, at the system with xorg vs per user with gnome / cinnamon schema.
> 
> So, I also had to run these commands once to set it permanently:
> $ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.input-sources xkb-options "['ctrl:nocaps']"
> $ gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.input-sources xkb-options "['ctrl:nocaps']"
> 
> I'm not sure what the equivalent things are for delete, but I hope
> these point you in the right direction.
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> On 12:51PM Wed 02/04/15 -0500, JP Vossen wrote:
>> I was messing around in "Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard shortcuts" and
>> accidentally remapped my Del key to something.  I removed that mapping,
>> but the damage was already done in that it stole the map and now my Del
>> key doesn't work anywhere.
>>
>> I've Googled around for a while now, and can NOT figure out how to fix
>> that.  I can't find a way to map Del in the GUI at all.  I have chosen
>> the English keyboard in "Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard layouts" and hit
>> "reset to default" but that didn't help.  I can't find a relevant
>> setting in either gconf or dconf or in some file someplace.
>>
>> There are many Google hits, but as far as I can tell all are obsolete,
>> irrelevant to how this actually works in Linux Mint 17 and Cinnamon or both.
>>
>> Can anyone tell me how to fix this or where those settings are in Linux
>> Mint 17/Cinnamon?

Later,
JP
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|      http://bashcookbook.com/
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