VNCSERVER SSH Keymap Keyboard jumbled

[Linuxonlinehelp_de]

Binary package hint: vncserver

After upgrade to ubuntu 7.04 from dapper,

the vncserver do not recognize the right keymap (US or GERMAN)of the keyboard

during a ssh server connection, the ssh console runs without

problems.

The keymap is jumbled to a unknown layout...

no remote possible...

[Jeremy Impson (jdimpson)]

I'm seeing the same thing on ubuntu 7.10 with vncserver 3.3.7-14ubuntu1 AND tightvncserver 1.2.9-21 on a fresh install. (I notice they both depend on vnc-common.) vnc4server (with vnc4-common) works fine.

When typing in a terminal, instead of "qerty" i get "c.gvn" (the 'y' doesn't translate to a printable character). Through patient copy & paste, I was able to run xev, which concurs that "qwerty" is "c.gvn" and reveals that 'y' is Shift_R. With Caps lock turned on, "QWERTY" becomes "1C1>1G1V1N" (each letter press generated two characters, the first always '1'). With Shift held down, "QWERTY" becomes "1C>GVN", with the '1' occuring when Shift is depressed (and held down), and again 'Y' not printable. If I press & release shift with every letter press, I get the '1' before or after each letter. And with NumLock on, the number pad keys, including the operators, period, and Enter key, work correctly!

In short, this doesn't smell like a KBD map problem. VNC doesn't seem to support that extension, anyway.

In summary, I see this problem in a gutsy fresh install; vnc4server does NOT have this problem. I'm willing to help diagnose.

Jeremy

Background info:

Note another bug report ("[vnc] can't find fixed font" https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/18593) that may or may not be related.

I start vncserver like this:

vncserver -geometry 1000x660 -depth 24 -alwaysshared -deferupdate 100 :1

...which turns into this (output of ps):

Xrealvnc :1 -desktop X -auth /home/jdimpson/.Xauthority -geometry 1000x660 -depth 24 -rfbwait 120000 -rfbauth /home/jdimpson/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5901 -fp /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1/,/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/ -co /etc/X11/rgb -alwaysshared -deferupdate 100 :1

Similar for tightvncserver.

Other reports of this problem, but no solutions:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/vnc-keymap-problem-172010/
https://wwwx.cs.unc.edu/~adball/blog/?p=5
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-540839.html

[plugment (rob-kinetic)]

I can confirm this on a fresh Gutsy installation after following the instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VNC using the xfce instructions.

[Dave (dfluff)]

I also confirm this problem on vncserver package 3.3.7-14ubuntu1.

The broken mapping is a=a, b=s, c=d, such that typing "ABCDE" results in "ASDFG" ....or in other words, the middle row of the keyboard. Very confusing, and completely unusable.

[Adam Jiang (jiang-adam)]

I also confirm this problem on tightvnc in Hardy. And I found when I run 'gnome-appearence-properties %F', the keyboard just messed up. I got the nomral keymap without gnome-appearence-properties running. The result is I lost my wallpaper.
When I return to physical machine, an warning was reported by gnome, it seems like "the configuration of keyborad in gnome is different with X, which would you like to use?" I choose "gnome" it will be ok, but the X choice is not ok.
I used jp106 keyboard. As the same above Dave has reported, the broken mapping is a=a, b=s, s=b.

[s4nt (s4nt)]

I also confirm this problem on a fresh Hardy 8.04.1 install using tightvnc server.
im having the exact same problem as Jeremy.
This error was not happening to me when using 7.04 on the same machine, and im using the exact same command to start the vnc server:

vncserver :64 -geometry 1430x760 -depth 16 -name dlhsvr

keyboard layout on server is US, on the client, US intl.

Command as seen by PS:
Xtightvnc :64 -desktop dlhsvr -auth /home/dl/.Xauthority -geometry 1432x760 -depth 16 -rfbwait 120000 -rfbauth /home/dl/.vnc/passwd -rfbport 5964 -fp /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/ -co /etc/X11/rgb

Package versions:
dl@dlhserver:~$ Xtightvnc -version
Xvnc version 3.3.tight1.2.9
dl@dlhserver:~$ dpkg -l | grep -i vnc
ii libgtk-vnc-1.0-0 0.3.4-0ubuntu2 A VNC viewer widget for GTK+ (runtime librar
ii tightvncserver 1.2.9-22 virtual network computing server software
ii vinagre 0.5.1-0ubuntu1 VNC client for the GNOME Desktop
ii vino 2.22.2-0ubuntu1 VNC server for GNOME

the client machine is running mandriva 2008.1 tested with both TightVNC Viewer version 1.3.9 and KRDC 3.5.9 which worked fine when the server was running ubuntu 7.04

[s4nt (s4nt)]

Also, as suggested by this posts:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vino/+bug/112955/comments/3

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=382441

this might be related to executing gnome-session to start the gnome environment on vnc.

when using the workaround posted on bug #112955:
<quote>
Workaround: I modified my ~/.vnc/xstartup to be:

#!/bin/sh

xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
gnome-wm &
gnome-panel &
nautilus --no-default-window &
gnome-cups-icon &
gnome-volume-manager &
</quote>

I could type normally into the vnc session.
I think that gnome-session is doing something that jumbles the keyb input.
I was not affected by this bug on 7.04 because I was running a KDE desktop.

[Daniel T Chen (crimsun)]

Is this symptom still reproducible in 8.10 beta?

[s4nt (s4nt)]

Actually I switched back to a KDE3 desktop on the VNC since that
"solves" the problem, and I'm running 8.04 with no plans to upgrade
for the time being.
Perhaps someone else can help?

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:34 AM, Daniel T Chen <email address hidden> wrote:
> Is this symptom still reproducible in 8.10 beta?
>
> ** Changed in: vnc (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> VNCSERVER SSH Keymap Keyboard jumbled
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/112309
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[Zoide (andresodio)]

I'm having exactly the same problem, running the brand-new Ubuntu 9.04 with tightvncserver. qwerty = c.gvn

[Zoide (andresodio)]

This workaround is working for me:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/control-center/+bug/108928/comments/13

[qedqed (david-qednet)]

I can confirm the fix mentioned by Zoide also worked for me, same bug on 8.10 and gnome.

[Rafael Laufer (rlaufer)]

The problem was solved for me with this tip:

http://www.tips5.com/how-to-fix-keyboard-mapping-issue-of-gnome-vnc-in-ubuntu

The workaround is to include the line "export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1" in ~/.vnc/xstartup as in

    #!/bin/sh

    xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
    xsetroot -solid grey
    #x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80×24+10+10 -ls -title “$VNCDESKTOP Desktop” &
    #x-window-manager &
    export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1
    /etc/X11/Xsession

apparently it has to be before the "/etc/X11/Xsession" line

[Nick F (nick-forrington)]

+1 for export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1 workaround. (on Jaunty, connecting from a windows machine using RealVNC)

[David Lee Lambert (davidl)]

I have this problem on Jaunty, connecting from UltraVNC on Windows. Typing "qwerty" gives me "c.gvn" on the screen. Creating a ~/.vnc/xstartup file with the contents as described in comment 12 does not help.

$ apt-cache policy vncserver
vncserver:
  Instalados: 3.3.7-14ubuntu1
  Candidato: 3.3.7-14ubuntu1
  Tabla de versión:
 *** 3.3.7-14ubuntu1 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[David Lee Lambert (davidl)]

Same problem when accessed from a viewer (TightVNC 1.3.9) running on Ubuntu Intrepid.

[David Lee Lambert (davidl)]

I've almost worked out a keymap that fixes the keyboard for VNC. To use it, type e.g.

xmodmap -display :46 vnc-keymap.txt

in an SSH session to the same host (replace 46 by your VNC display number). The "Z" and ":;" keys are still broken, and I worked it out from a laptop so I don't have any of the keypad keys.

[Brett Sheffield (brett-gladserv)]

Same problem on Karmic 9.10 (server) with ubuntu-desktop installed. Connecting from Kubuntu 9.10 desktop.

[upandacross (bren-upandacross)]

+1 for comment #12 on Karmic 2.6.31-20-generic. Don't forget to vncserver -kill :1 afterwards.

[Daniel (dorsai3d)]

I also ran into this problem, server is running Ubuntu 9.10, tightvncserver; was connecting from an HTC Dream using android-vnc-viewer.

export XKL_XMODMAP_DISABLE=1 workaround worked for me as well.

[David Lee Lambert (davidl)]

Just ran into this problem on Lucid (10.04 LTS). Client is TightVNC on Windows ME. Yes, gnome-session is installed and managing the session by default...

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for vnc (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]