[SOLVED] Turning Numlock on Automatically At Startup

[Avidan2006]

Hey folks, as of version 21.10, Kubuntu no longer uses a gddm config file so, when the "turn on" option in the system settings doesn't work, the old method of turning numlock on automatically by changing its state in the gddm config file to "on" is no longer possible. Is there another way to turn numlock on automatically?

I've already turned it on via the control panel GUI, but that doesn't do anything, it's ignored. Your help would be appreciated!

[claydoh]

Do you mean SDDM?
Did you look at files in /etc/sddm.conf.d?That is where the config file(s) will be

Check out the kde_settings.conf file, and edit it to enable the numlock:

[General]
HaltCommand=
Numlock=on
RebootCommand=

You might need to file a bug report on Launchpad, though my 21.10 system has this option set (it has been upgraded from previous releases, and also has an older set of configs, so my setup already has this setting set previously.

I have no issue with this on my Neon systems, with the same Plasma version as my 21.10 box.

[Avidan2006]

Oops! Sorry, yes, SDDM. I was tired and it was getting late, my apologies. There comes a point when all the letters start blending together.

Anyway, I followed your instructions and was able to make that work! I didn't even know I had a KDE settings configuration file, as everything I'd found online referred to a sddm configuration file that no longer existed in Kubuntu as of version 21.10. I sincerely appreciate your help.

[claydoh]

The settings file is not needed, and will just use whatever SDDM uses for defaults if not present, so one can just create an sddm.conf with only specific changes added. Or, better for customizing and fail-safe purposes, using the foo.conf.d/ directory to add configs that don't touch any main configs files, if present, but can supersede things.

A pro tip on searching for things of this nature is to use multiple sources, and if at all possible ones that are a year or less old.

[Avidan2006]

Thank you, yes, that was a problem I was having. There were posts asking about numlock, but the ones I found were over a year old, and the change for Kubuntu happened in the 21.10 version, so it was still fairly new. For most people it's a tiny little annoyance, but it just kept sticking with me. I hate not knowing, as I'm still fairly new to Linux, so I appreciate your giving me tips, too, to help me get a better handle on the system as I learn it.