Problems: Keyboard layout, screen resolution and flash player

Hi, I’ve been dealing with these problems forever and finally decided to ask for some help, so I’ll just leave these here. I’m not sure if this is the right section though. I’m on Opensuse 11.3(i586) using kde 4.5.3. Any help with any of my problems would be very much appreciated :slight_smile:

Ok, first about the keyboard layout. I want to be able to write Spanish characters like (á é ñ), but I find very annoying having to type ^~" twice (i don’t even use these characters ĺ ḿ üêã). So, I want to turn of the dead keys for those characters, and for the ñ use the MetaKey. I tried touching settings in /etc/share/X11/locale, but this apparently hasn’t helped at all. At the bottom of the post I’ll leave the output of setxkbmap -print. This alone would help me a lot.

Does anyone have experience with logitech keyboards such as G15? I have a G110 keyboard, every time (3 times) I manage to make the keyboard work (with the g15 daemon), my whole system crashes after a while and I get a USB problem (seriously, the first time it took me a while realizing why it happened). So I stopped trying (all I really wanted was to map the G keys to some functions), I don’t even require it. Anyway, if anyone succeeded without problems, let me know.

Another problem I have is with my screen resolution. I’ve read a lot of people having the same problem, but I can’t manage to fix it. I mean, I don’t even get why it’s that hard. I got a 1440x900 screen. Every time I reboot my system starts with 1400x1050 , I have to go to System settings to fix it, options don’t get saved as one would expect. Well, I think my problem is cause of nvidia drivers, so I go to nvidia settings to get this fixed. But, these settings are all fine, it says 1440x900. When I try pressing Save to X (to make sure it gets saved), i get a failed to parse message. Oh well, screw this, I go to the xorg.conf file. But over here everything says 1440x900. How come my resolution keeps changing each time I reboot?

Last I got a problem with flash player. Atm I’m using chrome. So, my problem is that after a long while of having the browser open, flash player stops working properly (it’s hard to describe but in youtube for example, the image and sound freeze for 5 seconds, in the next second everything happens at once, freezes 5 seconds again, shows all that frozen time in fast forward again, etc), I restart flash with the chrome task manager, reload the page, and it works properly again. I tried using firefox but I have the same problem (except I cant restart the flash plugin without restarting the browser). I thought it might be a problem with the player, but I reinstalled it like 4 times already, and there’s still something faulty. Does this happen to anyone else or is it a known problem?

Thanks for reading, much longer than I thought it would be

setxkbmap -print
xkb_keymap {
        xkb_keycodes  { include "evdev+aliases(qwerty)" };
        xkb_types     { include "complete"      };
        xkb_compat    { include "complete"      };
        xkb_symbols   { include "pc+us(alt-intl)+inet(evdev)+terminate(ctrl_alt_bksp)"  };
        xkb_geometry  { include "pc(pc104)"     };
};

it would be better to spread your question into several separate threads,
so that people who know something about one of your problems can reply to
that; keeps things better organized.


phani. [intentional top post]

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:36:02 +0530, bcurcio
<bcurcio@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:

>
> Hi, I’ve been dealing with these problems forever and finally decided to
> ask for some help, so I’ll just leave these here. I’m not sure if this
> is the right section though. I’m on Opensuse 11.3(i586) using kde 4.5.3.
> Any help with any of my problems would be very much appreciated :slight_smile:
>
> Ok, first about the keyboard layout. I want to be able to write Spanish
> characters like (á é ñ), but I find very annoying having to type^~"
> twice (i don’t even use these characters ĺ ḿ üêã). So, I want
> to turn of the dead keys for those characters, and for the ñ use the
> MetaKey. I tried touching settings in /etc/share/X11/locale, but this
> apparently hasn’t helped at all. At the bottom of the post I’ll leave
> the output of -setxkbmap -print-. This alone would help me a lot.
>
> Does anyone have experience with logitech keyboards such as G15? I have
> a G110 keyboard, every time (3 times) I manage to make the keyboard work
> (with the g15 daemon), my whole system crashes after a while and I geta
> USB problem (seriously, the first time it took me a while realizing why
> it happened). So I stopped trying (all I really wanted was to map the G
> keys to some functions), I don’t even require it. Anyway, if anyone
> succeeded without problems, let me know.
>
> Another problem I have is with my screen resolution. I’ve read a lot of
> people having the same problem, but I can’t manage to fix it. I mean, I
> don’t even get why it’s that hard. I got a 1440x900 screen. Every timeI
> reboot my system starts with 1400x1050 , I have to go to System settings
> to fix it, options don’t get saved as one would expect. Well, I think my
> problem is cause of nvidia drivers, so I go to nvidia settings to get
> this fixed. But, these settings are all fine, it says 1440x900. When I
> try pressing Save to X (to make sure it gets saved), i get a -failed to
> parse- message. Oh well, screw this, I go to the xorg.conf file. But
> over here everything says 1440x900. How come my resolution keeps
> changing each time I reboot?
>
> Last I got a problem with flash player. Atm I’m using chrome. So, my
> problem is that after a long while of having the browser open, flash
> player stops working properly (it’s hard to describe but in youtube for
> example, the image and sound freeze for 5 seconds, in the next second
> everything happens at once, freezes 5 seconds again, shows all that
> frozen time in fast forward again, etc), I restart flash with the chrome
> task manager, reload the page, and it works properly again. I tried
> using firefox but I have the same problem (except I cant restart the
> flash plugin without restarting the browser). I thought it might be a
> problem with the player, but I reinstalled it like 4 times already, and
> there’s still something faulty. Does this happen to anyone else or is it
> a known problem?
>
> Thanks for reading, much longer than I thought it would be
>
>
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> setxkbmap -print
> xkb_keymap {
> xkb_keycodes { include “evdev+aliases(qwerty)” };
> xkb_types { include “complete” };
> xkb_compat { include “complete” };
> xkb_symbols { include
> “pc+us(alt-intl)+inet(evdev)+terminate(ctrl_alt_bksp)” };
> xkb_geometry { include “pc(pc104)” };
> };
> --------------------
>

On 2010-12-15 15:06, bcurcio wrote:

> Ok, first about the keyboard layout. I want to be able to write Spanish
> characters like (á é ñ), but I find very annoying having to type ^~"
> twice (i don’t even use these characters ĺ ḿ üêã). So, I want
> to turn of the dead keys for those characters, and for the ñ use the
> MetaKey. I tried touching settings in /etc/share/X11/locale, but this
> apparently hasn’t helped at all. At the bottom of the post I’ll leave
> the output of -setxkbmap -print-. This alone would help me a lot.

You don’t say what keyboard layout you have. So, I’ll assume you have a
Spanish keyboard; then, just tell yast during install that you have a
Spanish keyboard. Or later, in Yast.

HTH.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:08:05 +0530, Carlos E. R.
<robin_listas@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:

> You don’t say what keyboard layout you have. So, I’ll assume you have a
> Spanish keyboard; then, just tell yast during install that you have a
> Spanish keyboard. Or later, in Yast.

i prefer to set keyboard layout in KDE systemsettings (hardware -> input
devices). don’t remember exactly, but setting it in yast led to problems a
long while ago, one setting overriding the other or something.

of course, if spanish is the only language you’re using, you can set that
as your primary language and be done with it. i use mostly en_US, but
sometimes german as well. in KDE systemsettings i can conveniently assign
keyboard shortcuts to switch the layout, which (in KDE programs) always
works.


phani.

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:36:02 +0530, bcurcio
<bcurcio@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:

> Another problem I have is with my screen resolution. I’ve read a lot of
> people having the same problem, but I can’t manage to fix it. I mean, I
> don’t even get why it’s that hard. I got a 1440x900 screen. Every time I
> reboot my system starts with 1400x1050 , I have to go to System settings
> to fix it, options don’t get saved as one would expect. Well, I think my
> problem is cause of nvidia drivers, so I go to nvidia settings to get
> this fixed. But, these settings are all fine, it says 1440x900. When I
> try pressing Save to X (to make sure it gets saved), i get a -failed to
> parse- message. Oh well, screw this, I go to the xorg.conf file. But
> over here everything says 1440x900. How come my resolution keeps
> changing each time I reboot?

did you run nvidia-settings as your normal user, or root? unless you start
it as root (kdesu nvidia-settings), it won’t be able to create or modify
the xorg.conf file.

i’ve never seen a “failed to parse” message though. if that really is the
error you’re seeing, are you sure you have the nvidia driver running,
i.e., what does nvidia-settings show on the start screen? the correct
nvidia driver & version, or something else?


phani.

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:36:02 +0530, bcurcio
<bcurcio@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:

> Last I got a problem with flash player. Atm I’m using chrome. So, my
> problem is that after a long while of having the browser open, flash
> player stops working properly (it’s hard to describe but in youtube for
> example, the image and sound freeze for 5 seconds, in the next second
> everything happens at once, freezes 5 seconds again, shows all that
> frozen time in fast forward again, etc), I restart flash with the chrome
> task manager, reload the page, and it works properly again. I tried
> using firefox but I have the same problem (except I cant restart the
> flash plugin without restarting the browser). I thought it might be a
> problem with the player, but I reinstalled it like 4 times already, and
> there’s still something faulty. Does this happen to anyone else or is it
> a known problem?

which version of chrome are you using, and where did you install it from?

which version of flash player are you using, where from installed, and
where to installed?


phani.

I am with phani her. The three things you ask shoul most probably have gone to different sub-forums. This is all n you own intrest. In the correct sub-forumss there is much more change that people who are (more or less) experts in thh subject see your thread.

And this one will be a real meess for almost everybody to understand.

Ok, I’ll do that. I’m going to answer the people that posted here though. (thanks everyone for the responses)

You don’t say what keyboard layout you have. So, I’ll assume you have a
Spanish keyboard; then, just tell yast during install that you have a
Spanish keyboard. Or later, in Yast.

I’ve got an English keyboard and I happen to do most of my typing in English, which is why I’m try to find where to configure deadkeys properly. (ie: i want the english symbols with the dead acute on aeiou, and try setting the ñ somewhere that doesn’t bother the ~ key )

did you run nvidia-settings as your normal user, or root? unless you start
it as root (kdesu nvidia-settings), it won’t be able to create or modify
the xorg.conf file.
i’ve never seen a “failed to parse” message though. if that really is the
error you’re seeing, are you sure you have the nvidia driver running,
i.e., what does nvidia-settings show on the start screen? the correct
nvidia driver & version, or something else?

Ok, first, yes, I run nvidia-settings with kdesu.
I have driver version 256.53. nvidia-settings works fine apart from saving to X so I think it’s correct.
The failed to parse message says: “Failed to parse existing X config file ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf’!”. It then asks if I want to completely replace it, not sure I do.
My xorg.conf starts with a commented SaX header, then a lot of font files, and then what one would expect the xorg.conf to look like.

which version of chrome are you using, and where did you install it from?
which version of flash player are you using, where from installed, and
where to installed?

Chrome 6.0.472, almost sure I installed it from google’s rep.
Flash 10.1.102, don’t remember where I got it, not sure if Yast, some link in internet or maybe even it came with this Chrome.

On Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:36:03 +0530, bcurcio
<bcurcio@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:

>
> hcvv;2266324 Wrote:
>> I am with phani her. The three things you ask shoul most probably have
>> gone to different sub-forums. This is all n you own intrest. In the
>> correct sub-forumss there is much more change that people who are (more
>> or less) experts in thh subject see your thread.
>>
>> And this one will be a real meess for almost everybody to understand.
>
> Ok, I’ll do that. I’m going to answer the people that posted here
> though. (thanks everyone for the responses)

ok, let’s carry on with this as far as far as it’s started already:

>> You don’t say what keyboard layout you have. So, I’ll assume you havea
>> Spanish keyboard; then, just tell yast during install that you have a
>> Spanish keyboard. Or later, in Yast.
>
> I’ve got an English keyboard and I happen to do most of my typing in
> English, which is why I’m try to find where to configure deadkeys
> properly. (ie: i want the english symbols with the dead acute on aeiou,
> and try setting the ñ somewhere that doesn’t bother the ~ key )

why not use some keyboard shortcut to switch between keyboard layouts?
that seems much simpler to me than having to remember certain key
combinations for special characters.

>> did you run nvidia-settings as your normal user, or root? unless you
>> start
>> it as root (kdesu nvidia-settings), it won’t be able to create or
>> modify
>> the xorg.conf file.
>> i’ve never seen a “failed to parse” message though. if that really is
>> the
>> error you’re seeing, are you sure you have the nvidia driver running,
>> i.e., what does nvidia-settings show on the start screen? the correct
>> nvidia driver & version, or something else?
>>
> Ok, first, yes, I run nvidia-settings with kdesu.
> I have driver version 256.53. nvidia-settings works fine apart from
> saving to X so I think it’s correct.
> The failed to parse message says: “Failed to parse existing X config
> file ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf’!”. It then asks if I want to completely
> replace it, not sure I do.
> My xorg.conf starts with a commented SaX header, then a lot of font
> files, and then what one would expect the xorg.conf to look like.

looks to me as if your existing xorg.conf has errors that prevent
nvidia-settings from understanding it. why don’t you rename it, then tell
nvidia-settings to replace it? quite likely that would work as desired.

>> which version of chrome are you using, and where did you install it
>> from?
>> which version of flash player are you using, where from installed, and
>> where to installed?
> Chrome 6.0.472, almost sure I installed it from google’s rep.
> Flash 10.1.102, don’t remember where I got it, not sure if Yast, some
> link in internet or maybe even it came with this Chrome.

as i understand it, you don’t have the google repo enabled anymore. if you
don’t want to switch to chromium (open source version of chrome, in
openSUSE repos), you should leave the google repo enabled. in the last
couple weeks i’ve had 2 or 3 updates for my chromium version from google;
this might well be the reason your’s doesn’t work properly. (but i don’t
use much video, never watched any for a long time recently, so can’t say
if the google repo works in that regard; otherwise it’s fine.)


phani.

On 2010-12-15 21:06, bcurcio wrote:

> I’ve got an English keyboard and I happen to do most of my typing in
> English, which is why I’m try to find where to configure deadkeys
> properly. (ie: i want the english symbols with the dead acute on aeiou,
> and try setting the ñ somewhere that doesn’t bother the ~ key )

Ah, ok.

I have a machine like that, and what I do is use what they called
“international keyboard”. The apostrophe duplicates as the accent (you type
“'a” in order to get “á”, and to get the “ñ” you type “~n”. They are not
real “dead” keys, in order to get the apostrophe you have to type it twice
to get it once.

It is very similar to a real Spanish keyboard, but using keys in different
places. And easier than reconfiguring keys.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

I managed to get the screen resolution fixed (here)

Thanks phani, I did disable google’s repo some time ago. Now I have everything up to date. If I have any problems I’ll get back.

About the keyboard layouts what you mention works, the problem is that in the spanish layout, a lot of the symbol keys actually change location (]{<>,.}). That was the reason I was looking for an english layout with only some characters available.

Ah, ok.

I have a machine like that, and what I do is use what they called
“international keyboard”. The apostrophe duplicates as the accent (you type
“'a” in order to get “á”, and to get the “ñ” you type “~n”. They are not
real “dead” keys, in order to get the apostrophe you have to type it twice
to get it once.

It is very similar to a real Spanish keyboard, but using keys in different
places. And easier than reconfiguring keys.

The problem I have with that layout is that some characters (like "~^) are actually harder to do, and I use them very often.

I didn’t think reconfiguring keys was hard, I think I’m just going to use 2 layouts, 1 english and 1 international (en-utf8), that way I can sort of “control” when I want to turn on special characters and all the symbol characters stay in their correct keys.

Thanks for the answers

On 2010-12-15 22:36, bcurcio wrote:

> The problem I have with that layout is that some characters (like "~^)
> are actually harder to do, and I use them very often.

Well, you have to type them twice. They are also difficult in a real
Spanish keyboard: To get “^” I have to press a [shift]^]^], for example.
To get “~” I have to press [AltGr]~] (the “~” is the third symbol in the
number 4), using both hands. Or the backslash, “”, which is at the
left-upper corner, with alt-gr on the right bottom side.

The setup I suggest I have used for years. I’m Spanish, and I had a machine
with an US keyboard - so I suggest it because I used it for a longish time :wink:

(and as a pascal programmer, I used ^, ’ and " a lot)

> I didn’t think reconfiguring keys was hard, I think I’m just going to
> use 2 layouts, 1 english and 1 international (en-utf8), that way I can
> sort of “control” when I want to turn on special characters and all the
> symbol characters stay in their correct keys.

It is not very difficult, once you do it… but the documentation is not
that easy, few examples… I tried, years ago.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)