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Jonathan Tullett
Jonathan Tullett

Reputation: 393

When using VNC, how can I get mod+shift+2 or mod+shift+3 to the remote session; mod+shift+any-other-number works?

I use i3wm locally and on my remote desktop, and have the move-to-workspace shortcut configured as Shift+Mod4+$number (so Shift+Windows key+[0-9]).

When using my local i3, Shift+Mod4+2 and Shift+Mod4+3 moves the active window to the second or third remote desktop respectively.

When connecting to my remote i3 over VNC (TigerVNC and RealVNC - full keyboard capturing enabled), Shift+Mod4+2 or Shift+Mod4+3 results in " or £ appearing (if it's a terminal window). Shift+Mod4+any-other-number moves the active window to the respective desktop.

Looking at the output of xev locally when pressing Shift, then adding Mod4, finally the 3 key, I see:

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    root 0x1a3, subw 0x0, time 607474486, (335,52), root:(2899,957),
    state 0x0, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    root 0x1a3, subw 0x0, time 607476496, (335,52), root:(2899,957),
    state 0x1, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

FocusOut event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x3a00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

However when doing the same over VNC:

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0x3b5, subw 0x0, time 76399307, (103,837), root:(2027,857),
    state 0x0, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0x3b5, subw 0x0, time 76399901, (103,837), root:(2027,857),
    state 0x40, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0x3b5, subw 0x0, time 76401497, (103,837), root:(2027,857),
    state 0x41, keycode 253 (keysym 0xa3, sterling), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c2 a3) "£"
    XmbLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c2 a3) "£"
    XFilterEvent returns: False

So once '3' is pressed, it looks like Mod4 is no longer active.

However, when doing Shift+Mod4+1, xev shows the right events:

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0x3b5, subw 0x0, time 77709803, (-892,894), root:(1032,914),
    state 0x0, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0x3b5, subw 0x0, time 77710675, (-892,894), root:(1032,914),
    state 0x40, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

FocusOut event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

I'm at a loss as to what could be wrong. Any suggestions are gratefully received.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 586

Answers (1)

Jonathan Tullett
Jonathan Tullett

Reputation: 393

After discussing with RealVNC's support team, the solution is to include:

setxkbmap -symbols "pc+gb"

within /etc/vnc/xstartup (or /etc/vnc/xstartup.custom, if you're using that)

This will be included in their online documentation soon but for now there's no reference for it.

Upvotes: 2

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