Bug 251777 - gnome-settings-daemon & vnc & emacs cause permanent <control> key
Summary: gnome-settings-daemon & vnc & emacs cause permanent <control> key
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: control-center
Version: 7
Hardware: i386
OS: Linux
low
high
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Control Center Maintainer
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2007-08-11 02:11 UTC by Erwin J. Prinz
Modified: 2008-06-17 02:08 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2008-06-17 02:08:32 UTC
Type: ---
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)
First emacs dribble file. (803 bytes, application/octet-stream)
2007-08-15 03:55 UTC, Erwin J. Prinz
no flags Details
Second emacs "dribble" file (338 bytes, application/octet-stream)
2007-08-15 03:56 UTC, Erwin J. Prinz
no flags Details
Third emacs "dribble" file (638 bytes, application/octet-stream)
2007-08-15 03:57 UTC, Erwin J. Prinz
no flags Details

Description Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-11 02:11:23 UTC
Description of problem:

This bug occurs when running a fully updated Fedora 7, with the GNOME desktop,
vnc, and emacs. When certain emacs "chords" are used, the <control> key appears
to be always pressed. <control> <left mouse key> now acts like <left mouse key>.
Each key results in the action usually expected for "<control> key". But,
"<control> key" doesn't result in the action for "key".

To isolate the GNOME component causing the problem, I installed "fluxbox". With
that window manager (but gnome-settings-daemon NOT running), the bug does not
occur. But, after running "gnome-control-center" which starts the
gnome-settings-daemon, using emacs for a while causes the bug to occur. The only
way to get out of the session is to do a "vncserver -kill" and restart the VNC
server.

It looks like the key handling of "gnome-settings-daemon" interferes with the
VNC key handling such that a state is reached with no way out.

This could be related to bugs #24460 and #188169.


Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

control-center-2.18.0-18.fc7

vnc-server-4.1.2-18.fc7

vnc-4.1.2-18.fc7 (for client), or Windows "tightvnc" client, or Windows
"realvnc" client.


How reproducible:
Always, but need to use emacs a few minutes with different key chords including
<Alt><control><Shift>


Steps to Reproduce:

1. Start VNC server on a computer DIFFERENT from the computer the vnc viewer is
run on.

2. Start VNC viewer. Play with emacs. Everything should be OK.

3. Run "gnome-control-center" to start the "gnome-settings-daemon". Play with
emacs, use chords.

4. Hit "<control>g" every once in a while. At some point, it is displayed as
<Alt><control>g or a chord different from "<control>g". 

Actual results:

vnc server has to be restarted from a different terminal. 


Expected results:

Should be able to use GNOME, VNC, and emacs with no problem. This issue has
never occurred to the best of my knowledge.


Additional info:

Under the same conditions, I see another probably related bug. When using
OpenOffice or Thunderbird and typing text, every once in a while a keystroke
initiates an endless loop of typing the same key over and over. I haven't
checked whether this behavior occurs with "fluxbox" and no gnome-settings-daemon.

Comment 1 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-11 02:17:41 UTC
The related bug is 244600, not 24460.
Also, in step 3., after starting "gnome-control-center", I changed the GNOME
font. I don't know for sure whether this is needed to start the daemon or not.

Comment 2 Ray Strode [halfline] 2007-08-14 15:46:11 UTC
if you run gnome-accessibility-keyboard-properties do you have mouse keys enabled?

Comment 3 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-15 03:55:55 UTC
Created attachment 161328 [details]
First emacs dribble file.

Comment 4 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-15 03:56:28 UTC
Created attachment 161329 [details]
Second emacs "dribble" file

Comment 5 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-15 03:57:13 UTC
Created attachment 161330 [details]
Third emacs "dribble" file

Comment 6 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-15 04:02:15 UTC
The above emacs "dribble" files show the effect of switching in the <meta> key
inadvertently. I found out that this most often happens after
<ctl><alt><shift>^, then the <ctl>g which should terminate the command becomes
<ctl><meta>g. I also found that I can switch back to the normal state with
<ctl><alt><shift>% followed by <ctl>g. Note that in
Preferences->Hardware->Keyboard, under Alt/Win key behavior, I set "<Alt> and
<Meta> are on the <Alt> keys (default)". I don't know whether this is related to
the bug.

Comment 7 Erwin J. Prinz 2007-08-15 04:03:10 UTC
To your question: No, I don't have any gnome-accessibility-keyboard-properties
set, mouse or otherwise.

Comment 8 Erwin J. Prinz 2008-01-31 04:04:17 UTC
I am now running Fedora 8 and the bug still exists. I basically can't run GNOME
in VNC and use Emacs. So, I am now using "fluxbox" in VNC which has no issues -
I am using this combination daily. If I switch to GNOME, the Emacs bug occurs
within a few minutes of use, especially when using "chords" like <ALT><CNTL><SHIFT>%
which is query-replace-regexp.
Does it make sense to replace vncserver with, e.g., tightvnc and see whether
this works?

Comment 9 Bug Zapper 2008-05-14 13:56:53 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 7 is nearing the end of life. Approximately 30 (thirty) days from now Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 7. It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as WONTFIX if it remains open with a Fedora 'version' of '7'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 7's end of life.

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Comment 10 Bug Zapper 2008-06-17 02:08:30 UTC
Fedora 7 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on June 13, 2008. 
Fedora 7 is no longer maintained, which means that it will not 
receive any further security or bug fix updates. As a result we 
are closing this bug. 

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version 
of Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.


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