Alt-F11 and Alt-F12 keybindings no longer work

[Mark Glines]

The problem appeared immediately upon upgrading to natty. This may be another symptom of Bug #772242, it's not clear. It's not clear which software package is at fault. I do not have the "tomboy" package installed, which is referenced in that ticket. Please forgive me if this is a duplicate.

The Alt-F11 and Alt-F12 keybindings do not have the desired effect. I run with 12 workspaces, with Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 to switch to the specified workspace. Alt-F1 through Alt-F10 work; Alt-F11 and Alt-F12 apparently do nothing.

Here are the steps I took to reproduce the problem:

1. Install Ubuntu 10.10 with the default (now "classic") gnome desktop.
2. Configure (with the window switcher applet) 12 workspaces, in a configuration of 6 columns and 2 rows.
3. Configure (with the Keyboard Shortcuts tool) Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 to switch to the given workspace number. Confirm that all 12 key bindings are working as expected.
4. Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, accepting default options (I don't recall being asked anything related to UI or key bindings) and reboot.
5. Log in using the new default "unity" desktop, and log out. (I don't know if this step is required, but this is what I did.)
6. Log in using the "classic" desktop.
7. The number of workspaces was reset back to 4. Change the number of columns from 2 to 6.
8. Double check the key bindings to see that Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 are still configured to switch workspaces. Confirm that nothing else is bound to those keys.
9. Confirm that Alt-F1 through Alt-F10 work, and Alt-F11 and Alt-F12 do nothing.

The workspaces work normally, I can click on the workspace switcher applet to select them, I can move to them normally with ctrl-alt-arrowkeys, and I can drag windows to them with ctrl-shift-alt-arrowkeys. It appears to be a problem specific to Alt-F11 and Alt-F12.

I will attach screenshots to show my key bindings.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: compiz-gnome 1:0.9.4+bzr20110415-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: openafs
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,move,compiztoolbox,snap,regex,place,imgpng,vpswitch,grid,gnomecompat,resize,animation,wall,session,expo,fade,workarounds,ezoom,scale,switcher]
CompositorRunning: compiz
DRM.card0.DVI.D.1:
 status: connected
 enabled: enabled
 dpms: On
 modes: 1920x1080 1680x1050 1280x1024 1440x900 1280x800 1152x864 1024x768 1024x768 800x600 800x600 640x480 640x480 720x400
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DRM.card0.LVDS.1:
 status: connected
 enabled: enabled
 dpms: On
 modes: 1280x800 1280x800 1024x768 800x600 640x480
 edid-base64: AP///////wAwrjFAAAAAAAAPAQOAHhN46s11kVVPiyYhUFQhCAABAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBxxsAoFAgFzAwIDYAL74QAAAZJhcAoFAgFzAwIDYAL74QAAAZAAAADwCBCjKBCigSAQBMo1cxAAAA/gBMVE4xNDFXMS1MMDUKAGs=
DRM.card0.VGA.1:
 status: disconnected
 enabled: disabled
 dpms: Off
 modes:
 edid-base64:
Date: Sun May 1 08:54:47 2011
DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-04-28 18:35:29.851969
DistroCodename: natty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 openafs, 1.6.0pre4, 2.6.35-28-generic, x86_64: installed
 openafs, 1.6.0pre4, 2.6.38-8-generic, x86_64: installed
DpkgLog:

EcryptfsInUse: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) [8086:2a02] (rev 0c) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo T61 [17aa:20b5]
   Subsystem: Lenovo T61 [17aa:20b5]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100816.1)
InstallationMedia_: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100816.1)
MachineType: LENOVO 7658CTO
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/zsh
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=d32e713f-804c-47c1-92f2-3521b69e2945 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature_: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Renderer: Unknown
SourcePackage: compiz
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-04-29 (2 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 11/14/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 7LETC5WW (2.25 )
dmi.board.name: 7658CTO
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr7LETC5WW(2.25):bd11/14/2008:svnLENOVO:pn7658CTO:pvrThinkPadT61:rvnLENOVO:rn7658CTO:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 7658CTO
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T61
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110415-0ubuntu2
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu13
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.23-1ubuntu6
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.0-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110107+b795ca6e-0ubuntu7

[abi (abi-dracos)]

I'm experiencing exactly the same problem with Shift-F11 and Shift-F12.

I also have 12 workspaces, and used Shift-F1 through Shift-F12 to switch to the specified workspace. Shift-F1 through Shift-F10 work; Shift-F11 and Shift-F12 apparently do nothing.

They stopped working immediately on upgrade to 11.04. It seems likely it is the same bug.

For now, I've cut myself down to 10 workspaces, but it's proving really hard to break the "Shift-F12 takes me to the workspace where I check my email" habit. :-)

[Mark Glines (infinoid)]

I am able to duplicate abi's experience. When I bind workspaces 10, 11 and 12 to shift-F10, shift-F11, shift-F12, as abi has done, shift-F10 works but the other two do not. The same thing happens when I bind the workspaces to F10, F11 and F12 (without modifier); F10 works and the other two do not.

However, I don't think it's a problem with the key combinations. Other applications (including the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog and xev) are reading the keystrokes fine, so the hardware is working and the data is getting through the X input layer.

Next I tried binding the last 3 workspaces out of order, like this:

Workspace 10: Alt-F11
Workspace 11: Alt-F12
Workspace 12: Alt-F10

When I do that, Alt-F11 works, and Alt-F10 and Alt-F12 do nothing. So it seems to be a problem with binding keys to select the 11th and 12th workspaces, rather than any specific problem with the F11 or F12 key.

[David Conner (dlbike76)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 772242, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.

[Mark Glines (infinoid)]

I've done a little more research, and I think the duplicate status is wrong for this ticket. Bug 772242 appears to be a problem with Tomboy and the use of the F11 and F12 keys. This bug is an inability to use keybindings to switch to workspaces 11 and 12.

The root cause of this bug is a failure of compiz's "vpswitch" plugin to handle keybindings related to workspaces 11 and 12. This causes a mismatch between the number of workspaces exposed in the keybinding config (vpswitch.xml), and the number of workspaces actually handled by the plugin. (The interaction between the gnome keybindings page and the compiz vpswitch key-binding settings is not completely clear to me, but one passes through to the other and they both list 12 workspaces; the plugin only handles 10 of those.) The fix is to make the plugin handle the key-bindings advertised in the plugin config.

The attached patch fixes the issue for me.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Kobus (haplowtf)]

I believe the bug is correctly summarized in comment #7 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/774870/comments/7) with a patch to fix it.

I'm using Ubuntu 12.10 and can't configure keyboard shortcuts to switch to workspace 11 or 12. If I configure my shortcuts that I normally use for workspace 11 or 12 (Ctrl+F11 or Ctrl+F12) to workspace 10 then they work as expected. If I configure my shortcut key for workspace 10 (Ctrl+F10) to workspace 11 or 12 then it doesn't work.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "774870-compiz-plugins-main-0.9.4-bzr.patch" of this bug report has been identified as being a patch. The ubuntu-reviewers team has been subscribed to the bug report so that they can review the patch. In the event that this is in fact not a patch you can resolve this situation by removing the tag 'patch' from the bug report and editing the attachment so that it is not flagged as a patch. Additionally, if you are member of the ubuntu-reviewers team please also unsubscribe the team from this bug report.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by Brian Murray. Please contact him regarding any issues with the action taken in this bug report.]