ctrl+alt+backspace

The keyboard combination ctrl+alt+backspace does nothing when I press it twice. As this combination is the only way I have of getting back to my desktop after my favourite game freezes, I kind of need to get it fixed.

Any ideas?

chyrania wrote:
> The keyboard combination ctrl+alt+backspace does nothing when I press it
> twice. As this combination is the only way I have of getting back to my
> desktop after my favourite game freezes, I kind of need to get it
> fixed.

There’s no guarantee that a crashed X session will leave you with
an available keyboard that isn’t grabbed by an errant application
or left in a locked up state. My guess is that the keyboard is
completely unusable in your case.

If you have a different machine, you can attempt to ssh into
your locked up machine and manually kill processes and see if
things turn to normal again.

I don’t have another machine. What are my options?

Is the CAPS Lock light still working when you press the key? Thats just a quick test to see if the keyboard (and PC) is still functional.

Have you also tried to switch with <ALT><F1> - <ALT><F7>?

The keyboard still functions. For instance, ctrl+esc bring up the process dialog. Other keyboard combinations also work.

is this openSUSE 11.0 you are on?

You could try adding;


Option "ZapWarning" "False"

to your xorg.conf.

That should instantly back out of X without the warning beep feature.

ps. the option goes in the ’ Section “ServerFlags”

Also could it be possible your game or another app has the <ALT><Ctrl><Backspace> combination mapped?