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How do I select UK keyboard on Gemini PDA

Tracked by Jolla (In release)

asked 2019-03-04 12:12:08 +0200

mgfm99 gravatar image

I have installed the new Sailfish X release for the Planet Gemini PDA. The device I have has a UK keyboard. When one selects locale as English, there is no further option to select between en_GB and en_US. Sailfish assumes that I am using a US keyboard - Fn+J provides ";" where it should provide "@" and Sh + 2 provides "@" when it should provide """.

The Planet keyboard definitions in /usr/share/X11 do distinguish between the two layouts, but I don't know which file to alter to direct to the relevant definition.

Setting locale LANG to en_GB doesn't seem to affect anything - I just get an error message on the CLI when I log in that the env variable is ignored.

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answered 2019-03-04 17:28:57 +0200

mgfm99 gravatar image

Ok, I worked out an obvious kludge - but it gets the right result.

Key mappings are controlled by /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/planet_vndr/gemini Make a backup of gemini and then edit with text editor

The basic mappings are defined initially for the gb keyboard and then modified for other languages, including us - that is, for all of the other languages it starts by including the gb definitions and then specifies modifications. If you simply comment out the key mappings for the us definition in this file, it will default to the uk keyboard.

This is a simple glitch which either Jolla or Planet should have solved before now.

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answered 2019-03-04 19:28:21 +0200

mgfm99 gravatar image

I just commented out the lines beginning key <ae01> ... until key <ab07>... lines 110 - 118 in my gemini file.</ab07></ae01>

The other lines are clearly needed - since the system needs to see the definition for the us keyboard, since EN for Sailfish is defined in effect as en_US.

If you simply remove the lines specifying the key modifications for us variant, then it will take the us keyboard to the gb one.

I reverted from this briefly trying to deal with the keyboard in Xwayland (which didn't help) and reinstated the changes. I have had no problems with it.

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answered 2019-03-18 17:26:53 +0200

Andy Branson gravatar image

updated 2019-03-19 13:48:53 +0200

Sorry the UK layout isn't an option in the UI just yet. Do this instead:

 dconf write /desktop/lipstick-jolla-home/layout "'gb'"

Edit: UK, Swiss and Icelandic layouts have been added to the Text input>Hardware keyboards list for the next version.

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answered 2019-03-04 13:22:56 +0200

andrewl gravatar image

I've asked a similar question, seems there is a bug that ignores the mapping file.

https://together.jolla.com/question/200950/documentation-for-keyboard-mapping/

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answered 2019-03-04 19:22:26 +0200

andrewl gravatar image

updated 2019-03-04 19:23:30 +0200

Hi mgfm99,

Can you tell me which lines you commented out?

I commented out all lines from and including:

default partial alphanumeric_keys
xkb_symbols "us" {
    include "planet_vndr/gemini(gb)"

    name[Group]="Gemini English (US)";

    key <AE01> { .....
    ......
    ......
};

The result of doing this meant I had to use linux kb shortcuts to get myself back to copy the backup back over.

thanks.

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answered 2019-03-04 19:41:59 +0200

andrewl gravatar image

That's fixed perfectly thank you @mgfm99 using // on each line, I didn't chance using /* */ around the block.

Thanks so much for doing the work on this one.

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answered 2019-03-21 11:11:27 +0200

andrewl gravatar image

Following upgrade to 3.0.2.8 I can report that the UK layout reverts back to US, but Andy Branson's DCONF command fixes it back.

The layouts have not yet been added to the hardware keyboard options in oulanka.

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Asked: 2019-03-04 12:12:08 +0200

Seen: 585 times

Last updated: Mar 21 '19