Cinnamon: Xorg bug ctrl+shift hotkeys

[SkyMaverick]

```

• Cinnamon version (3.8.4)
• Distribution - (Mint 19 beta)
• 64 bit
  ```
  Ctrl+Shift+* hotkeys - they are not working if keyboard layout switching binded to Ctrl+Shift.
  I know this longtime Xorg bug, but 18.3 worked correctly.

[eladhen]

Same here. I've got layout switching set to Alt+Shift and all the key combinations that uses Alt+Shift+* (which are many) don't work. This is quite a regression that hurts usability for me.

System:

inxi -Fz
System: Host: X201 Kernel: 4.15.0-23-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.4 Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: laptop System: LENOVO product: 2985G3G v: ThinkPad X201 Tablet serial: N/A
Mobo: LENOVO model: 2985G3G serial: N/A
BIOS: LENOVO v: 6QET62WW (1.32 ) date: 12/17/2010
Battery BAT0: charge: 9.9 Wh 96.1% condition: 10.3/28.8 Wh (36%)
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i7 L 640 (-MT-MCP-) cache: 4096 KB
clock speeds: max: 2134 MHz 1: 1300 MHz 2: 1416 MHz 3: 1363 MHz
4: 1374 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: [email protected]
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ironlake Mobile
version: 2.1 Mesa 18.0.0-rc5
Audio: Card Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Def. Audio
driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-23-generic
Network: Card-1: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
IF: enp0s25 state: down mac:
Card-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac:
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (16.1% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: HITACHI_HTS72505 size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 28G used: 12G (47%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-2: /home size: 422G used: 55G (14%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-3: swap-1 size: 10.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0C mobo: 0.0C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 1994
Info: Processes: 222 Uptime: 4:45 Memory: 2735.6/7773.1MB
Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.56

[eladhen]

The patch for this bug exists and can be found here: ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys

The bug report on Xorg is here: https://bugzilla.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=865

[kalnik-a-a]

@eladhen Thank you, it works

[drklauss]

Had the same problem. Patch works for me too. Many thanks!

[frost13it]

Is there any plans for fixing this (integrate patch into the distro or something else)?
Also can someone give an explanation why that Xorg bug does not affect Mint 18?

[mtwebster]

It's been discussed but no plans at the moment to patch, as it would involve a lot of other unrelated packages that share the same source, and would shift the burden of maintenance of some pretty core systems to us. The bug didn't exist in Mint 18 because the upstream package had the patch in it. It no longer has this patch (due to ubuntu dropping Unity, and using Gnome Shell instead, which isn't affected by this problem.)

You can complain here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/1683383

https://github.com/linuxmint/Cinnamon/issues/7886

[frost13it]

@mtwebster Thank you for the clarification!
It's incredible that the people affected by that Xorg bug are complaining for over 14 years with no success :(

[eladhen]

(due to ubuntu dropping Unity, and using Gnome Shell instead, which isn't affected by this problem.)

Ubuntu 18.04 certainly has this problem. Perhaps it can be avoided if you're using Wayland. Haven't tried it.

[eladhen]

(due to ubuntu dropping Unity, and using Gnome Shell instead, which isn't affected by this problem.)

Ubuntu 18.04 certainly has this problem. Perhaps it can be avoided if you're using Wayland. Haven't tried it.

To be clear: as I see it, Ubuntu stopped caring about usability for "simple users". This means Mint needs to catch the slack. Needing a third party PPA for a core feature looks bad...

[alexvechirko]

The patch for this bug exists and can be found here: ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys

The bug report on Xorg is here: https://bugzilla.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=865

If someone like me doesn't know how to install the patch, here is the instruction:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
*for me it works, but if someone can prove or add something - welcome =)

[khokm]

(due to ubuntu dropping Unity, and using Gnome Shell instead, which isn't affected by this problem.)

Ubuntu 18.04 certainly has this problem. Perhaps it can be avoided if you're using Wayland. Haven't tried it.

Actually, Wayland's Weston has the same problem. I set keymap_options=grp:lctrl_lshift_toggle in weston.ini, and now I can't ctrl-shift-tab in firefox.

[TyVik]

Seriously? Is a single way - to install XOrg from the unofficial repository?

[maxkoryukov]

And here is just a copy-paste from that repository with a lot of useful comments:

You are about to add the following PPA:
 This PPA contain Xorg packages with patch from from ArchLinux AUR (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/xorg-server-bug865/) for

* Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with xserver-xorg-hwe-16.04
* Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
* Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with xserver-xorg-hwe-18.04
* Ubuntu 18.10
* Ubuntu 19.04

They fix the corresponding bugs:
* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/36812
* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1245473
* https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1683383

Warranty disclaimer: packages were tested in
* 16.04 LTS with HWE (Unity, MATE, Xfce)
* 18.04 LTS (Cinnamon, KDE, MATE, Xfce)
* 18.10 (Cinnamon, KDE, MATE, Xfce)
* 19.04 (Cinnamon, KDE, MATE, Unity, Xfce). 
However other desktops may have issues even after applying the patch.
These packages do not fix problems for GNOME Shell (18.04 LTS, 18.10 and 19.04) and Unity (in 18.04 LTS and 18.10).

---

Install with the following command:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

---

Optionally pin (lock/hold) related packages to prevent their upgrade with:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-xorg-hotkeys
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-nrbrtx-xorg-hotkeys
Pin-Priority: 1337
EOF

---

Remove with commands:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-xorg-hotkeys

------------------------------------
 More info: https://launchpad.net/~nrbrtx/+archive/ubuntu/xorg-hotkeys

[sevar83]

The patch for this bug exists and can be found here: ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
The bug report on Xorg is here: https://bugzilla.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=865

If someone like me doesn't know how to install the patch, here is the instruction:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
*for me it works, but if someone can prove or add something - welcome =)

It doesn't work on my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. :(

[burtsevyg]

It doesn't work on Linux Mint 19.2 Tina Cinnamon

[stas2z]

it's really aweful to use a third party repo to get normal state of base features
now xorg-server hwe updated and replaced package from the repo

to bring it back you need to pin old package and downgrade

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-xorg-hotkeys
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-nrbrtx-xorg-hotkeys
Pin-Priority: 1337
EOF

[shooterbot]

it's really aweful to use a third party repo to get normal state of base features
now xorg-server hwe updated and replaced package from the repo

to bring it back you need to pin old package and downgrade

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-xorg-hotkeys
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-nrbrtx-xorg-hotkeys
Pin-Priority: 1337
EOF

I know how to upgrade but how do I downgrade?
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade did no good even after

 cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/pin-xorg-hotkeys
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-nrbrtx-xorg-hotkeys
Pin-Priority: 1337
EOF

[Wohlstand]

This still appears at Linux Mint 20 too... Even I use XFCE.

[Panda-ref]

The patch for this bug exists and can be found here: ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
The bug report on Xorg is here: https://bugzilla.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=865

If someone like me doesn't know how to install the patch, here is the instruction:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
*for me it works, but if someone can prove or add something - welcome =)

In my case, sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nrbrtx/xorg-hotkeys was failing with gpg Invalid URI error.
I had to add gpg key manually with sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv E756285F30DB2B2BB35012E219BFCAF5168D33A9. And then just:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
// restart xorg (I'm on Linux Mint 20)
sudo systemctl restart display-manager