Error activating XKB configuration

[spoo333]

 * Cinnamon version (cinnamon --version)
Cinnamon 4.4.8

   - Please specify if you are using the daily builds PPA
     (https://launchpad.net/~linuxmint-daily-build-team/+archive/ubuntu/daily-builds).
No
 * Distribution - (Mint 17.2, Arch, Fedora 25, etc...)
Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix 20.04
 * Graphics hardware *and* driver used
GeForce GTX 1650
Nvidia 440.100
 * 32 or 64 bit
64 bit
 * Attach /home/<username>/.xsession-errors, or /var/log/syslog
[xsession-errors.zip](https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/files/5133368/xsession-errors.zip)

Issue On login or when trying to add an additional keyboard layout, the error message "error activating XKB configuration. There can be various reasons for that. If you report this situation as a bug, include the results of xprop -root | grep XKB

Output of xprop: ~$ xprop -root | grep XKB _XKB_RULES_NAMES_BACKUP(STRING) = "evdev", "applealu_iso", "gb", "mac", "" _XKB_RULES_NAMES(STRING) = "evdev", "applealu_iso", "gb", "mac", ""

Steps to reproduce Log into Cinnamon session OR Configure keyboard layouts/add second keyboard layout

The keyboard layouts are not displayed in the taskbar as usual

Expected behaviour Login without the error message Add keyboard layouts without the error message Find the keyboard layout indicator in the taskbar

Other information

Configuration info, if applicable If this bug report is related to an Applet, Desklet or Extension, please paste (or use a pastebin service) the offending extension's settings, if it has any. You can obtain this by opening its configuration, clicking the 'hamburger' button in the upper-right corner of the window, and selecting "Export to a file". Please be sure to review the contents and remove any personal data it may contain.

Please paste here

[arnaghizadeh]

Hi, I have the same problem in ubuntu. Any solutions?

[spoo333]

Hello, I switched to Linux Mint. No problem there

On Wed, 10 Mar 2021, 19:49 Alireza Naghizadeh, notifications@github.com wrote:

Hi, I have the same problem in ubuntu. Any solutions?

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/9544#issuecomment-795986694, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADRAUCJXBGMCXHTZXB6RBWDTC65KJANCNFSM4QMNJRQA .

[arnaghizadeh]

I fixed it by reconfiguring the default keboard layout from teminal: sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration.

[spoo333]

Great, thanks!

On Wed, 10 Mar 2021, 22:12 Alireza Naghizadeh, notifications@github.com wrote:

I fixed it by reconfiguring the default keboard layout from teminal: sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration.

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/issues/9544#issuecomment-796210097, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADRAUCOUKE3PIMXBONYPL5DTC7ODBANCNFSM4QMNJRQA .

[kuntalkundu]

I fixed it by reconfiguring the default keboard layout from teminal: sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration.

Thanks! It solved my problem in debian 11 Cinnamon. I had activated slick-greeter replacing lightdm-gtk-greeter. After log in to the session this error started to float on screen and my xkb keyboards setup were disappeared.

[iofthetiger78]

Hi I am new to github and a beginner coder. My linux mint has been giving me trouble with this error. i ran the xprop command shown above and recieved this message:

XKB_RULES_NAMES_BACKUP(STRING) = "evdev", "pc105", "us", "", "" _XKB_RULES_NAMES(STRING) = "evdev", "pc105", "us", "", ""

can anyone post some steps for me to follow to fix this?

[3mmarYasser]

I was having the same problem on Parrot . I fixed it just by setting the keyboard Model

[SandmanMw3]

for Parrot OS check this link and fix it https://parrotsec.org/docs/configuration/assistive-technologies/

[MatzFan]

I got the "Error activating XKB configuration" error with a clean install of LMDE Faye on an old 7,2 (Intel) MacBook Air with an international keyboard (with the tilde/backtick key to the left of “z”). It isn't fixed by running sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration with any sensible combination I could find and the error shows on every boot or resume from hibernation. Also, all combinations of the above resulted in the tilde/backtick key mapped to “<”. The ±§ key to the left of “1” was mapped to backtick/tilde.

FWIW I also have Ubuntu 22.04 (Gnome) running on another, older, MacBook Air and have never got this error on that setup. The above keyboard mapping is wrong there too.

The bug alert asks for the output of some commands, so here it is:

$ xprop -root | grep XKB
_XKB_RULES_NAMES_BACKUP(STRING) = "evdev", "macbook78", "us", "mac", ""
_XKB_RULES_NAMES(STRING) = "evdev", "macbook78", "us", "mac", ""
$ gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard model
''
$ gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts
@as []
$ gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard options
['grp\tgrp:win_space_toggle', 'terminate\tterminate:ctrl_alt_bksp']

From the OP's original comment I see his/her system is also a Mac. There is also a post on the Linux Mint forums which mentions this error, again on a MacBook. I'd therefore suggest you might want to add "Mac" as a label to the bug.

A fix for the tilde/backtick mapping for me came from here. I simply did:

setxkbmap -model applealu_iso -layout gb

The above command now shows this output:

$ xprop -root | grep XKB
_XKB_RULES_NAMES_BACKUP(STRING) = "evdev", "macbook78", "us", "mac", ""
_XKB_RULES_NAMES(STRING) = "evdev", "applealu_iso", "gb", "", ""

To persist the changed I followed the instructions in the Arch wiki and did: sudo localectl --no-convert set-x11-keymap gb applealu_iso

After restarting the X server with sudo systemctl restart display-manager I saw this:

$ xprop -root | grep XKB
_XKB_RULES_NAMES_BACKUP(STRING) = "evdev", "applealu_iso", "gb", "", ""
_XKB_RULES_NAMES(STRING) = "evdev", "applealu_iso", "gb", "", ""

The keyboard mapping for tilde/backtick now persists after reboot, but alas I still get the "Error activating XKB configuration" error on startup.

In Settings, my keyboard layout still reads “English (UK, Macintosh)”.