Trisquel 7 Keyboard indicator.

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fbit

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Hi,

I've been enjoying Trisquel 7 for a few days and today installed it on someone elses computer. Most things are going smoothly, but there is one issue that is persistent on both computers:

The keyboard indicator is not showing on the task bar. Usually the indicator appears automatically when more than one keyboard is added, but this seems not to be the case in Trisquel 7. indicator-keyboard is installed. Has anyone else faced this problem? In addition, I cannot switch keyboards with the keyboard shortcut.

Am I missing something? Maybe there's a checkbox somewhere that I haven't seen. I really tried to look everywhere for a solution.

Thanks!

Sachin
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Joined: 06/02/2012

Do you mean two keyboards or two keyboard layouts?

fbit

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I mean two or more keyboard layouts. In trisquel 6, the keyboard indicator would appear automatically on the panel when adding more than one keyboard layout (next to the clock, volume, battery indicator), It would show the initials of the language currently active and could be used to switch the language by left clicking on the indicator and selecting from the available choices.

Sachin
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Joined: 06/02/2012

I was testing Trisquel 7 noticed ibus daemon
check whether ibus-daemon and ibus-setup are available

fbit

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In synaptic package manager I searched for ibus and one package is installed:

ibus version 1.5.5-1ubuntu3

The following other packages are available but not installed:

ibus-input-pad
ibus-libpinyin
ibus-pinyin
ibus-anthy
mosc-utils-gui

Does this answer the question? Otherwise, can you tell me what to check?

Thank you!

fbit

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I've searched for problems with the keyboard-indicator and shortcut and found several threads and bug reports from late 2013. Does this mean it is still a bug? Is it upstream? How do I report it? It's difficult to believe that I'm the only user affected by this. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

quiliro@congresolibre.org
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El 14/08/14 a las 11:19, name at domain escibió:
> I've searched for problems with the keyboard-indicator and shortcut
> and found several threads and bug reports from late 2013. Does this
> mean it is still a bug? Is it upstream? How do I report it? It's
> difficult to believe that I'm the only user affected by this. Has
> anyone else experienced this problem?

More info:
LXDE or Gnome
Alt+Super(Windows)+right click options
What have you investigated and tryed

It is nice when someone gives enough information. Try reading a manual
called "inteligent questions". Don't be offended by the title. It is a
really good manual in order to get answers from forums.

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Quiliro Ordóñez
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fbit

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Thank you for the answer Quiliro!

I found a manual titled "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric Steven Raymond. Is this the one you mentioned? I tried for "intelligent questions manual," but I didn't find one with that name. Well, if that's the one, I will read it. Thank you for the recommendation. I don't post much on forums, and I'm not such a technically competent person. Thank you for the guidance.

As to your questions:

Gnome 3.8.4

I have installed Trisquel 7 in two computers and can confirm that neither of them have a keyboard layout indicator and I cannot switch keyboards with shortcuts (tried setting several different shortcuts):

1) Macbook Pro 2011.
2) emachines e720.

- The keyboard layout indicator used to appear automatically when adding more than one layout on Trisquel 6. This is not the case with Trisquel 7 (tested on two different installs with new accounts created).

- I have tried adding the "indicator applet" and the "indicator applet complete". Neither of them include the keyboard layout indicator.

- I tried adding a "notification area" applet. This (visibly) does absolutely nothing. Perhaps the problem is here?

- I have looked through all other applet options (in the task bar "add to panel + option) but there are no others related to the keyboard as far as I can tell. Available options are:

* Invest
* Keyboard Accessibility Status
* Lock Screen
* Log Out
* Main Menu
* Menu Bar
* Notification Area
* Null applet
* Power Off
* Run Application
* Search for Files...
* Separator
* Show Desktop
* Sticky Notes
* System Monitor
* Trash
* User menu
* Window List
* Window Selector
* Workspace Switcher

- I tried installing a package named xkb thinking it would provide a different indicator, but it did not.

- I have checked in Synaptic Package Manager, and the following packages related to keyboard indicator are installed:

1) indicator-keyboard version 0.0.0+14.04.20140410.1-0ubuntu1
2) gkrellm-xkb version 1.05-5

- I have looked at system settings > keyboard and there is no option for the indicator.

- I have looked at system settings > Region and Lanugage > Input Sources, but there is no option to turn the keyboard indicator on. Looking through forums I have seen a screencap of ubuntu Input Sources settings. It looks very similar to the one in Trisquel, but it has an option to tick for showing the keyboard indicator (at the bottom of the screen).

- I have looked through the System Settings > Tweak Tool. The only option I found that could be related was in the "Keyboard and Mouse" section. I enabled the option called "Show all Input Sources." Nothing visibly changed.

- For the shortcuts I tried several different ones in: All Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts. None switched the keyboard layout. I have also tried setting a shortcut through the Tweak Tool > Typing > "Switching to Another Layout" option. This didn't work either.

- I have found several threads in other forums talking about a bug in Gnome 3.8.x wherein the keyboard indicator is absent. These all range between May and Dec. 2013. This is one such thread https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1184564. None of the threads had any clear solutions. The one I pasted mentions adding a Gnome 3 Staging PPA, but the launchpad link states:

----------------------------------------------
=== *WARNING* ===
The packages here have been deemed not ready for general use, they have known bugs and/or regressions, sometimes of a critical nature. Mostly things should run smoothly but be prepared to use ppa-purge, when you encounter issues!

If they break your system, you get to keep both halves.
----------------------------------------------

So I have not tested this solution.

I hope this is more complete. Regardless I will read the manual (please confirm that it is the one I mentioned).

Thank you again!

Saludos libres,
fbit

quiliro@congresolibre.org
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El 14/08/14 a las 13:22, name at domain escibió:
> Thank you for the answer Quiliro!
>
> I found a manual titled "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric
> Steven Raymond. Is this the one you mentioned? I tried for
> "intelligent questions manual," but I didn't find one with that name.
> Well, if that's the one, I will read it. Thank you for the
> recommendation. I don't post much on forums, and I'm not such a
> technically competent person. Thank you for the guidance.

You are a very good student! It is a pleasure to help you.

In Spanish I remembered "Como hacer preguntas inteligentes". So I messed
up the name. The one you found is exactly the one you found.
Congratulations. You have applied some of the principles in that article
already. :-)

> As to your questions:
>
> Gnome 3.8.4
>
> I have installed Trisquel 7 in two computers and can confirm that
> neither of them have a keyboard layout indicator and I cannot switch
> keyboards with shortcuts (tried setting several different shortcuts):
>
> 1) Macbook Pro 2011.
> 2) emachines e720.
>
> - The keyboard layout indicator used to appear automatically when
> adding more than one layout on Trisquel 6. This is not the case with
> Trisquel 7 (tested on two different installs with new accounts created).
>
> - I have tried adding the "indicator applet" and the "indicator applet
> complete". Neither of them include the keyboard layout indicator.
>
> - I tried adding a "notification area" applet. This (visibly) does
> absolutely nothing. Perhaps the problem is here?
>
> - I have looked through all other applet options (in the task bar "add
> to panel + option) but there are no others related to the keyboard as
> far as I can tell. Available options are:
>
> * Invest
> * Keyboard Accessibility Status
> * Lock Screen
> * Log Out
> * Main Menu
> * Menu Bar
> * Notification Area
> * Null applet
> * Power Off
> * Run Application
> * Search for Files...
> * Separator
> * Show Desktop
> * Sticky Notes
> * System Monitor
> * Trash
> * User menu
> * Window List
> * Window Selector
> * Workspace Switcher
>
> - I tried installing a package named xkb thinking it would provide a
> different indicator, but it did not.
>
> - I have checked in Synaptic Package Manager, and the following
> packages related to keyboard indicator are installed:
>
> 1) indicator-keyboard version 0.0.0+14.04.20140410.1-0ubuntu1
> 2) gkrellm-xkb version 1.05-5
>
> - I have looked at system settings > keyboard and there is no option
> for the indicator.
>
> - I have looked at system settings > Region and Lanugage > Input
> Sources, but there is no option to turn the keyboard indicator on.
> Looking through forums I have seen a screencap of ubuntu Input Sources
> settings. It looks very similar to the one in Trisquel, but it has an
> option to tick for showing the keyboard indicator (at the bottom of
> the screen).
>
> - I have looked through the System Settings > Tweak Tool. The only
> option I found that could be related was in the "Keyboard and Mouse"
> section. I enabled the option called "Show all Input Sources." Nothing
> visibly changed.
>
> - For the shortcuts I tried several different ones in: All Settings >
> Keyboard Shortcuts. None switched the keyboard layout. I have also
> tried setting a shortcut through the Tweak Tool > Typing > "Switching
> to Another Layout" option. This didn't work either.
>
> - I have found several threads in other forums talking about a bug in
> Gnome 3.8.x wherein the keyboard indicator is absent. These all range
> between May and Dec. 2013. This is one such thread
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1184564.
> None of the threads had any clear solutions. The one I pasted mentions
> adding a Gnome 3 Staging PPA, but the launchpad link states:
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> === *WARNING* ===
> The packages here have been deemed not ready for general use, they
> have known bugs and/or regressions, sometimes of a critical nature.
> Mostly things should run smoothly but be prepared to use ppa-purge,
> when you encounter issues!
>
> If they break your system, you get to keep both halves.
> ----------------------------------------------
>
> So I have not tested this solution.

It is risky for your freedom to use repositories that do not test for
your freedom. If you are just playing and will reinstall the OS or know
how to remove everything, then go ahead and test.

Did you try this?
Open System Settings and click Region & Language
Switch to the Layout tab.
Click the + button to add additional keyboard layouts
(from
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1045914/comments/49
)

Does this problem happen in the live CD? Take not of the exact steps you
take to reproduce the problem. They should be so exact that anyone will
get the same result if they follow them.

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Saludos libres,
Quiliro Ordóñez
600 8579

fbit

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Joined: 07/07/2013

Thank you for your guidance and encouragement Quiliro! I will start reading the book tonight. In the meantime:

Steps taken to reproduce the problem:

1) Boot Trisquel 7 live CD.
2) Go to System Settings > Region & Language > Input Sources tab.
3) Click on + button on lower left side of screen and add a keyboard layout.
4) Add another keyboard layout (i.e. Must have at least two keyboard layouts).
5) Nothing happens; the keyboard indicator does not appear on the task bar.

Also:

6) In Input Sources tab, click on "Shortcut Settings" link. Set a shortcut or use existing one.
7) Open LibreOffice Writer test keyboard layout. Use assigned shortcut for next or previous source (from shortcut settings). Keyboard layout does not change.

If the same steps are taken on a Trisquel 6 Live CD (add new keyboard through System Settings > Keyboard > Layout tab), the keyboard indicator automatically appears on task bar after adding a second keyboard.
---------------

a) Re. PPA:
I would rather not add any PPA that might contain non-free software. Even if only temporarily.

b) I tried adding keyboard layouts as explained above, but it did not work.

Thank you again. I hope my question asking will improve soon :)

Saludos libres,
fbit

quiliro@congresolibre.org
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Joined: 10/28/2010

El 14/08/14 a las 18:14, name at domain escibió:
> Thank you for your guidance and encouragement Quiliro! I will start
> reading the book tonight. In the meantime:
>
> Steps taken to reproduce the problem:
>
> 1) Boot Trisquel 7 live CD.

I am downloading
http://devel.trisquel.info/makeiso/iso/trisquel_7.0-20140807-i18n_amd64.iso
Isi that it?

> Thank you again. I hope my question asking will improve soon :)

They are already great!

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Quiliro Ordóñez
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fbit

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Hi Quiliro,

What do you think? Should I report this as a bug? I've never done it but I think I can figure it out. Without multiple keyboard support, it becomes very difficult to continue testing Trisquel 7.

Thank you!
fbit

quiliro@congresolibre.org
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El 16/08/14 a las 11:24, name at domain escibió:
> Hi Quiliro,
>
> What do you think? Should I report this as a bug? I've never done it
> but I think I can figure it out. Without multiple keyboard support, it
> becomes very difficult to continue testing Trisquel 7.

Today I tested Trisquel 7. Have the same problem. Could change the
keybord layout with Super+Space.

--
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Quiliro Ordóñez
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fbit

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I installed with an earlier image from July. However, I have downloaded the image in your link and tested with a live CD and can confirm the issue persists.

>They are already great!

Thank you!

Mampir
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Joined: 12/16/2009

Hi!

I also had problems with the keyboard layouts.

When I installed, I was't able to see which layout I'm using and wasn't able set a key shortcut for switching between layouts.

After experimenting, I was able to use "ibus-setup" to fix both issue - partly. You can start ibus-setup from a terminal.

With ibus-setup you can put a layout switcher on the desktop panel, but it doesn't show the current layout.

In "System Settings -> Region & Language -> Input Source" it redirects to "Keyboard Shortcuts" for setting a shortcut for switch layouts. But setting a shortcut like this doesn't actually work.

From ibus-setup you can set a shortcut for switching between layouts, although the interface is awkward.

On my side, I fixed both issues by installing GNOME Shell. It seems that GNOME Shell is just better maintained. It has an layout switcher button which shows the current layout and you can set shortcuts for switching layouts from the Keyboard Shortcuts settings.

I installed GNOME Shell with:
sudo aptitude -R install gnome-shell

You can start GNOME Shell by setting a session from the login screen.

I also installed GDM, although it probably wasn't necessary:
sudo aptitude install gnome-shell

At first I had problems with login into the GNOME session, so that's why I tried installing GDM. The GNOME session only loads a blank desktop and a lone mouse cursor. I found out that I had to use the "System Defaults" session.

Lastly, I removed all ibus packages, because I don't think I really need them.

Sachin
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Joined: 06/02/2012

I noticed that Trisquel 7 uses some software from Gnome 3.6 to keep the
classic layout

fbit

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Hi Mampir,

Sorry for the late response. The fix you described worked well, thank you so much! As you mention, the keyboard indicator icon is now a huge keyboard with no indication of current language. I will experiment with the "flags" option to see if I can get it to show the actual layout.

The ability to switch languages is also now present on the password screen at login. The language shown there does not always correspond to the actual keyboard language that is active, but the layout can be changed. This is especially useful for users who use very different keyboard layouts (eg. non-western), as there was some risk without the keyboard switcher for a user to become permanently locked out from their account.

I will report back if the "flags" option can be used to fix the current non-indicator icon.

Finally, I followed your instructions and istalled GNOME shell and GDM as well.