I have a wonderful Unicomp 104 keyboard that is similar to the old IBM model M’s. Yes it has a bucky springs and a usb interface, it is a clicky keyboard, if you used a model M you would understand. Well I did a fresh install of Suse 11.1, and every time I go to use Ctrl W, such as in emacs, or other emacs like programs the keys don’t work. I can type w, and the Ctrl works but not together.
I even changed the keyboard layout and logged back in with ctrl+alt+bks but has the same problem. Even in the console Ctrl w does not work I booted into another distro and everything works. Even in OpenSolaris the keyboard works great. I have ruled out a hardware problem, and think it is a OpenSuse problem, but am at a lost of what to change as the console should work most times regardless of the desktop I use. I am using KDE 4.2, but the problem also shows up in other XFCE and in the console which should not have this problem.
Have you tried to change the keyboard type in YaST > Hardware > Keyborad Layout?
It’s also possible that the combination Ctrl + W assigned for hotkey in another program - or for a global hotkey.
Double checked things and turned off desktop effects, as well as changed anything that mentioned W or CTRL in the KDE files but still does not work. Under emacs I can call the function directly so I have some limited use but it still bugs me as I have no clue as to what is causing the problem.
Well it seems that this was a kde 4.2~3/local problem I just did an update and now have Ctrl W working in emacs and in the console like it should. I will keep an eye on it to make sure it continues to work, if not I might file a bug report against KDE if I get any regressions.
I am a big fan of Model M keyboards and most ergonomics keyboards don’t have the quality that are present in the model M style boards. Also you almost have to retrain yourself to use them as they just don’t feel like a proper keyboard. I like my Unicomp board and would by another one if and when this one wears out.