Keyboard repeat rate much too fast despite adjusting

[gumby]

In Control Center, I adjusted the keyboard repeat rate to the longest possible "delay" and the slowest possible "speed" but it is still way too fast and I am getting too many repeating characters. This is happening with both an external keyboard and the laptop internal keyboard.

In windows, adjusting it to the longest delay solves the problem for me. How can I do the same in Mint?

[gumby]

Thanks, Ripose, but my computer's BIOS, called "InsydeH20 setup utility" does not have any Typematic controls that I could find.

I see that this has been reported as a bug in Ubuntu:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=993982

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/264196

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... omments/26

Would any of the workarounds suggested in these threads work with Mint? This problem is incredibly annoying, I'm getting repeat characters very often and I'm a fairly fast typist. I can't believe other Mint users haven't noticed this.

[gumby]

Thanks, Ripose. Turning "repeat keys" off did the trick.

[gumby]

I'm starting to realize that turning "repeat key" off isn't a great solution. There are many times when I want keys to repeat, such as when I'm deleting a few words of text with backspace, or similar situations. I just want the repeat to have a functional delay so I can control it. jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj llllllllllllllllllll

While I was typing this post, for some reason the repeat key function turned itself back on, and my keys are repeating again, despite the fact that the Repeat Keys box in Control Center-Keyboard remains unchecked!

What about those Ubuntu workarounds I linked to earlier in this thread?

Thanks again for any help.

[gumby]

Well, after I restarted my computer, the keyboard behavior went back to normal, no repeat. But the problem still remains that turning the repeat function off completely isn't a great solution, as it causes other inconveniences.

I'm suspecting that maybe the fact that I unplugged an external keyboard from a main usb port and then plugged it into my usb hub while the computer was on might have triggered the strange behavior...but it shouldn't have, I would think.

[Fred]

gumby,

If there is an usb hub involved it could very well be. I have seen strange problems before with some usb hubs, on both Windows and Linux. When it comes to usb hubs there can be compatibility problems, I suspect related to not implementing the usb protocols correctly. Hot plugging can be tricky if it isn't implemented just right.

Fred


Fred

[gumby]

Here's a good easy fix for this problem from https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... bug/264196

"wolfwitch wrote 12 hours ago: (permalink)

The workaround posted near the top of this bug, submitted by Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto, seems to be the best fix for this for now. It works on my laptops and home desktop when using any keyboard...

Just add:

kbdrate -r 25 -d 500

...to /etc/rc.local

I just put it right above "exit 0" at the bottom of the file.

Frankly, I can't believe this hasn't been fixed yet."

******

I changed those figures a bit to repeat rate 15 and delay 750, which works for me.

Remember to restart after editing rc.local. This will make the fix work for all keyboards, including USB.