[SOLVED] Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

[iX]

Hi!
My keyboard shortcuts dont work with Right Alt key.
Any shortcuts - Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Alt-Del, .... work only with Left Alt.
What can be wrong with R-Alt?

[GreyGeek]

Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

Check Settings --> Shortcuts and Gestures --> Standard Keyboard shortcuts.

If you see settngs using "Right" then perhaps you have the wrong keyboard selected?
Settings --> Input Devices --> Keyboard

[oshunluvr]

Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

open a terminal, run xev (you may have to install it), press the right-at key, the keycode should be 108

KeyPress event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
  root 0x15a, subw 0x0, time 219561435, (-495,539), root:(1640,562),
  state 0x0, keycode 108 (keysym 0xffea, Alt_R), same_screen YES,
  XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
  XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
  XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
  root 0x15a, subw 0x0, time 219561547, (-495,539), root:(1640,562),
  state 0x8, keycode 108 (keysym 0xffea, Alt_R), same_screen YES,
  XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
  XFilterEvent returns: False

[kubicle]

Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

In many (international) keyboard layouts, right alt is not set up to act as an alt key, but is used as the 3rd level shift key, also known as Alt Gr (this is used to type currency symbols, rare letters and special characters that do not fit into the first 2 levels, that is "normal" and "shift" keys).

If this is the case, the "xev" program mentioned by oshunluvr, will not report a keypress as "Alt_R" but as something else, like "ISO_Level3_Shift"

You should check whether the right alt key is set up this way in your keyboard layout:
1. SystemSettings>InputDevices>Layouts>3rd level Shortcut
2. Also check the XKBOPTIONS value in /etc/default/keyboard

[iX]

Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

Ou, its really Alt Gr :

KeyPress event, serial 32, synthetic NO, window 0x7200001,
root 0xb5, subw 0x0, time 6178121, (-214,833), root461,886),
state 0x10, keycode 108 (keysym 0xfe03, ISO_Level3_Shift), same_screen YES,
XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 92
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 35, synthetic NO, window 0x7200001,
root 0xb5, subw 0x0, time 6178265, (-214,833), root461,886),
state 0x90, keycode 108 (keysym 0xfe03, ISO_Level3_Shift), same_screen YES,
XKeysymToKeycode returns keycode: 92
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

Strange is, this key cant be selected in Settings --> Shortcuts and Gestures --> Standard Keyboard shortcuts or elsewhere. When shortcut selecting, pressing Alt Gr does nothing - dont display "ISO_Level3_Shift" or something.

[kubicle]

Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

Ou, its really Alt Gr :

Strange is, this key cant be selected in Settings --> Shortcuts and Gestures --> Standard Keyboard shortcuts or elsewhere. When shortcut selecting, pressing Alt Gr does nothing - dont display "ISO_Level3_Shift" or something.

Yes, it doesn't quite work that way.

If you want it to act like a regular alt key (that is, you don't need 3rd level chars), you can check the things I mentioned:

You should check whether the right alt key is set up this way in your keyboard layout:
1. SystemSettings>InputDevices>Layouts>3rd level Shortcut
2. Also check the XKBOPTIONS value in /etc/default/keyboard

Some additional notes:
1. You can also disable Alt Gr behavior in SystemSettings>InputDevices>Keyboard>Advanced-tab. Expand "3rd level chooser" from the list and uncheck "Right Alt" and apply
2. As mentioned, you should verify that your keyboard layout is correctly set in /etc/default/keyboard file. The XKBOPTION for AltGr is "lv3:ralt_switch", you should remove that if you want a regular alt (you should also check that other layout settings are correct).

[iX]

SOLVED! Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

Thanks! Solved!

You can also disable Alt Gr behavior in SystemSettings>InputDevices>Keyboard>Advanced-tab. Expand "3rd level chooser" from the list and uncheck "Right Alt" and apply

In SystemSettings>InputDevices>Keyboard>Advanced-tab I had nothing selected. Right Alt was unchecked too. But right below I found "Right Alt never allows 3rd. layer selection". When I check this, my righ Alt work as the same as left.

Thank you, kubicle

[kubicle]

Re: SOLVED! Re: Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

In SystemSettings>InputDevices>Keyboard>Advanced-tab I had nothing selected. Right Alt was unchecked too. But right below I found "Right Alt never allows 3rd. layer selection". When I check this, my righ Alt work as the same as left.

That should do it as well, good catch.

I'd still check /etc/default/keyboard, though (if the 3rd level chooser wasn't set in SystemSettings, it must have been set elsewhere...and /etc/default/keyboard is the prime candidate. If it is set in /etc/default/keyboard, the option you selected in SystemSettings likely overrides the default setting)

[iX]

Re: [SOLVED] Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

This is my /etc/default/keyboard :

# If you change any of the following variables and X is configured to
# use this file, then the changes will become visible to X only if udev
# is restarted. You may need to reboot the system.

# The following variables describe your keyboard and can have the same
# values as the XkbModel, XkbLayout, XkbVariant and XkbOptions options
# in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="cz"
XKBVARIANT="qwerty_bksl"
XKBOPTIONS=""

# If you don't want to use the XKB layout on the console, you can
# specify an alternative keymap. Make sure it will be accessible
# before /usr is mounted.
# KMAP=/etc/console-setup/defkeymap.kmap.gz

[kubicle]

Re: [SOLVED] Shortcuts with "Right Alt" dont work.

XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="cz"
XKBVARIANT="qwerty_bksl"
XKBOPTIONS=""

You have the Czech (cz) keyboard layout set as the system default, and that layout sets up right alt to function as a 3rd level shift, so that's probably where you got it from.