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Re: [LUG] Emacs alt/meta key not working in fvwm

 

On 08/02/16 16:22, Roland Tarver wrote:
Just got home.

First thing I have done is try it in an "lxterm", which apparently is a
wrapper for xterm in any case, and it works fine :-)

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/natty/man1/lxterm.1.html

So, the problem definitely appears to be with the xterm.....

Best wishes
roly

On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 12:27 PM, Roland Tarver
<roland.tarver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roland.tarver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:


    On 8 Feb 2016 12:14, "Tom" <madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
     >
     > On 08/02/16 11:48, Roland Tarver wrote:
     >>
     >> Hi Tom,
     >>
     >> On 8 Feb 2016 11:29, "Tom" <madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
     >> <mailto:madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:madtom1999@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>> wrote:
     >>  >
     >>  > On 08/02/16 09:05, Roland Tarver wrote:
     >>  >>
     >>  >> Hi Folks,
     >>  >>
     >>  >> This is probably really simple, but thus far I'm beat...
     >>  >>
     >>  >> I have recently started using fvwm as my window manager. I
    use emacs
     >>  >> from an xterm on my debian system.
     >>  >>
     >>  >> Since I began using fvwm the left or right "alt" keys have
    ceased normal
     >>  >> function. For example, "meta-v" should be a "page up" instead it
     >>  >> produces a single character, an "o" with two dots above it.
     >>  >>
     >>  >> Interestingly the graphical version of emacs seems to work
    fine (still
     >>  >> running in fvwm).
     >>  >>
     >>  >> I am not aware of any change in my emacs keybindings.
     >>  >>
     >>  >> I have experimented with setxkbmap; the man page was not
    very helpful,
     >>  >> http://betabug.ch/blogs/ch-athens/1242/ <-- this link was
    more so. But,
     >>  >> still no success. :-s
     >>  >>
     >>  >> I have had a look through the files found (on my system) at
     >>  >> /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules, in particular the file base.lst.
     >>  >>
     >>  >> I have tried setting an option...
     >>  >>
     >>  >> $ setxkbmap -option 'altwin:meta_alt'
     >>  >>
     >>  >> .... which the base.lst file suggests should be "Alt and
    Meta are on Alt
     >>  >> keys"
     >>  >>
     >>  >> Am I barking up the wrong tree? :-s
     >>  >> Thanks for any pointers.
     >>  >>
     >>  >> Best wishes
     >>  >> Roly :-)
     >>  >>
     >>  >>
     >>  > Time to go mad!
     >>
     >> O dear. Sounds like another can of worms I have opened!
     >>
     >>  > I've wrestled with things like this before and it can be a
    nightmare.
     >> Sometime you can get somewhere with a bit of code to check that the
     >> keyboard and X are actually passing the characters you want -
    they often
     >> aren't.
     >>
     >> Ok. Thanks. Unfortunately it's been a long time since I did any
     >> programming and I wasnt that great when I did. Lol. ...
     >>
     >> You need a simple console version and then an X version tcl may
    need to
     >> be resurrected!
     >>  > You are running the console through the GUI or logging in via
    SSH....
     >>
     >> The xterm is running in the gui. It's running in a screen
    session too.
     >>
     >> On the same machine I used to use a gnome terminal (rather than an
     >> xterm) and run emacs in a screen session  with xfce with no trouble.
     >> Although I could obviously swap back to xfce I dont really want
    to, just
     >> for this small problem.
     >>
     >> I assumed it would merely be a matter of a setting in a config file
     >> somewhere. Bother.
     >>
     >> Hmmm...
     >>
     >> Many thanks
     >> Roly
     >>
     >>
     >>
     > found this http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.faq.html
     > "appres xterm" may reveal something? or perhaps "stty -a"
     >
     > Tom te tom te tom

    Smart. Thanks a lot Tom. Had a quick read on my phone and I nite
    prior issues with alt/meta keys.

    Will have a proper look when I get home.

    Many thanks
    Roly.

lxterm uses the system locale - so I guess xterm just takes in the keypresses without worrying about anything else. So not a problem with xterm as such.
pedantically
Tom te tom te tom

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