Selection using Multiply (*) key not working under Wayland session

[Unxed]

[ Impact ]

User can not use *, + and - keys of numeric keypad for selection operations as most of Linux terminals send char * on both star key and multiply key presses.

Under X11 session far2l uses X11-specific technique to distinguish such keys. It is called ttyxi mode (xi for XInput it uses). But under Wayland this technique is not working due to Wayland security model, and disabled by default (see bug 2063919).

[ Test plan ]

1. Install far2l in Ubuntu 24.04:
apt install far2l

2. Run far2l:
far2l

3. Press Multiply (*) key of numeric keypad. Char * will appear in command line and no selection operations will be performed.

[ Where problems could occur ]

The fix is already in master branch of upstream far2l, it is also presents in far2l ppa and no problems were found during testing by enthusiasts

This patch (from upstream) fixes an issue (also attached as a file below):
https://patch-diff.githubusercontent.com/raw/elfmz/far2l/pull/2312.diff

[ Other info ]

n/a

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: far2l 2.6.0~beta+ds-1build2
ProcVersionSignature: User Name 6.8.0-31.31-generic 6.8.1
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-31-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckMismatches: ./boot/grub/grub.cfg
CasperMD5CheckResult: fail
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Wed Aug 14 04:21:54 2024
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-04-29 (107 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240424)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 TERM=xterm-256color
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
SourcePackage: far2l
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package far2l - 2.6.3~beta+ds-1ubuntu1

---------------
far2l (2.6.3~beta+ds-1ubuntu1) oracular; urgency=medium

  * Backport upstream patch to fix file selection from keyboard on Wayland
    (LP: #2076972).
  * Backport upstream patch to enable esc expiration in kernel console
    (LP: #2077270).
  * Backport upstream patch to fix build on armhf with 64-bit time_t.

 -- Dmitry Shachnev <email address hidden> Tue, 20 Aug 2024 23:28:50 +0300

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Unxed, or anyone else affected,

Accepted far2l into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/far2l/2.6.0~beta+ds-1ubuntu0.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Unxed (unxed)]

Tested 2.6.0~beta+ds-1ubuntu0.2, fix confirmed.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package far2l - 2.6.0~beta+ds-1ubuntu0.2

---------------
far2l (2.6.0~beta+ds-1ubuntu0.2) noble; urgency=medium

  * Backport upstream patch to fix file selection from keyboard on Wayland
    (LP: #2076972).
  * Backport upstream patch to enable esc expiration in kernel console
    (LP: #2077270).
  * Backport upstream patch to fix broken osc52 in VT (LP: #2078844).

 -- Dmitry Shachnev <email address hidden> Sun, 08 Sep 2024 20:02:37 +0300

[Andreas Hasenack (ahasenack)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for far2l has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.