need to click shortcut twice to switch input method on Firefox

[Yen-Yung Chang]

After recent update, now I need to click my input-method-switching shortcut twice "fast", basically press Ctrl and hit space twice fast, so I can switch input method in Firefox. I am using gcin. Also now I can't switch input method in LibreOffice.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: firefox 68.0.1+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1
Uname: Linux 5.2.5-050205-generic x86_64
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.7
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: yenyung_chang 1797 F.... pulseaudio
BuildID: 20190718161435
Channel: Unavailable
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Tue Aug 13 10:29:04 2019
Extensions: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
ForcedLayersAccel: False
IfupdownConfig:
 # interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
IncompatibleExtensions: Unavailable (corrupt or non-existant compatibility.ini or extensions.sqlite)
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-03-26 (140 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20190210)
IpRoute:
 default via 131.215.195.254 dev enx00e04c680c21 proto dhcp metric 100
 default via 10.6.41.254 dev wlp2s0 proto dhcp metric 600
 10.6.40.0/23 dev wlp2s0 proto kernel scope link src 10.6.41.210 metric 600
 131.215.195.0/24 dev enx00e04c680c21 proto kernel scope link src 131.215.195.209 metric 100
 169.254.0.0/16 dev enx00e04c680c21 scope link metric 1000
Locales: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
PrefErrors: Unexpected character ',' before close parenthesis @ /usr/lib/firefox/omni.ja:greprefs.js:1141
PrefSources: prefs.js
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
Profiles: Profile0 (Default) - LastVersion=68.0.1/20190718161435 (In use)
RunningIncompatibleAddons: False
SourcePackage: firefox
Themes: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/03/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1.5.0
dmi.board.name: 0KTW76
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvr1.5.0:bd06/03/2019:svnDellInc.:pnXPS139380:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0KTW76:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct10:cvr:
dmi.product.family: XPS
dmi.product.name: XPS 13 9380
dmi.product.sku: 08AF
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson)]

Removing LibreOffice from here as it has been reported separately as: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libreoffice/+bug/1840693

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

Are you using the firefox snap, or the deb package?
Are other applications similarly affected (for example gedit)?

[Yen-Yung Chang (gix-d)]

Hi Olivier,

I got these lines from apt list --installed|grep fire:

firefox/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 68.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 [installed]
firefox-locale-en/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 68.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 [installed]
firefox-locale-zh-hant/bionic-updates,bionic-security,now 68.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 [installed]

Didn't see firefox from snap list. Just checked and gedit isn't affected. Thank you!

[Olivier Tilloy (osomon)]

Thanks for the feedback. I installed gcin in a bionic VM but I wasn't able to actually use it to input text. As I can't read Chinese, I'm not sure how to operate it. Could you explain how to configure gcin to input text in Chinese in Ubuntu, so I can try and reproduce the problem? Thanks!

[Yen-Yung Chang (gix-d)]

You would need to go to "Language Support" and change "Keyboard input method system" to gcin and also change to gcin in "Input Method." I think after that you should be able to switch input method by Ctrl+Space. When you type, little characters should pop out besides your cursor, and that should be sufficient as a check if gcin works.

Also I just found out clicking Ctrl+Space once to switch to gcin works in url bar and search bar. The needs to click twice quickly thing only only applies to webpage part. Thanks!