Losing keyboard shortcut 'Application Launcher' in KDE4.1

[silentstone]

I installed KDE4.1 last week, made keyboard shortcuts for some programs, changed the default for Application Launcher (the green lizard/start button) from Alt+F1 to Ctrl+Esc, and have lost any keyboard shortcut for Application Launcher since then. Neither reassigning it, to default or otherwise, nor changing it manually in the text file /home/<me-myself-i>/.kde4/share/config/plasma-appletsrc while in init 3 have worked.

What I would really like is 1-key access to that menu button; it seems impossible so far, as the configuration through Personal Settings while in KDE doesn't accept Meta (the Windows key) alone as a shortcut. But lacking that, how can I get a keyboard combination to stay?

[freedguy]

I've never been able to get a keyboard shortcut for Application Launcher on KDE 4

Found this unsolved Kubuntu bug.

[silentstone]

Thanks, freedguy. In that bug report, some reported regaining keyboard access only after deleting /home/$USER/.kde/share/config/ folder. This would be /home/$USER/.kde4/share/config/ on Suse 11.1, I suppose. I'll logout to console and try it. I notice that several files in that folder have modify times of the time I booted/logged in to KDE4:

-rw-r--r-- 1 <me-myself-i> users 371 2009-02-04 18:16 startupconfigkeys
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 26605 2009-02-04 18:16 kglobalshortcutsrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 2665 2009-02-04 18:17 phonondevicesrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 126 2009-02-04 18:17 kupdateappletrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 354 2009-02-04 18:17 plasmarc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 2948 2009-02-04 18:17 plasma-appletsrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 1337 2009-02-04 18:20 krunnerrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 39 2009-02-04 18:21 knotifyrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 1243 2009-02-04 18:21 dolphinrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 438 2009-02-04 18:21 systemsettingsrc
-rw------- 1 <me-myself-i> users 73 2009-02-04 18:21 kcmdisplayrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 <me-myself-i> users 1508 2009-02-04 18:21 gtkrc-2.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 <me-myself-i> users 1474 2009-02-04 18:21 gtkrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 <me-myself-i> users 5473 2009-02-04 18:22 kdeglobals

Why would they get modified everytime KDE4 starts? And why just the application launcher, because modifications to the panel remain, and other created keyboard shortcuts work fine?

[silentstone]

Yeah, deleting the entire config folder restored all defaults. I'm not looking forward to reconfiguring everything, only to reset it again when a keyboard shortcut goes wandering.

[mistershyguy]

I'm having a similar problem with application shortcuts. I look for keyboard shortcuts and found the "Keyboard Shortcuts / KDE3" app. I configured the Command Shortcuts assigned Window key combinations for some of my most used applications. It works great within the same session, but as soon as I reboot, it's gone.

I have to go back to the Command Shortcut section, change an assignment of one application and just press APPLY to re-enable th rest of the shortcuts I customized in my last session.

How do I load them up automatically on startup? I can't find anything other than possibly khotkeys, but that didn't help either.

[zak89]

Would you mind telling us if you are using KDE 3.5 or KDE 4?

In KDE 4.2 the keyboard shortcuts issue seems solved