Where did THAT come from?

[SaintDanBert]

I'm running Cinnamon v5.8.4 on Linux Mint v21.2 and I have something going on that I don't understand.
I hope that someone here might help me sort it out.

When I touch the left shift key, I get the on-screen display showing the audio volume slider and
a selector for "Sound Settings".

QUESTION: Where might I look to find settings that would shortcut a keystroke outside of "system settings?"
I've looked all over keyboard shortcuts and similar and do not find any binding that claims to launch
the volume display. Further, I am not aware of doing anything that might result in some setting change like this.

I apply package updates once each week as informed by mintupdate.

Thank you in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[mikeflan]

Where might I look to find settings that would shortcut a keystroke outside of "system settings?"

I don't have a clue. But it seems to me that if the left shift key were taken by the audio volume slider, that would make typing very difficult. Are you saying you can only use the right shift key for caps?

[billyswong]

Run

Code: Select all

xev -event keyboard

Then show us the output of what signal your computer receive for the left shift key and right shift key.

[SaintDanBert]

I get the following: CORRECTED

Code: Select all

prompt$ xev -event keyboard

Outer window is 0x6c00001, inner window is 0x6c00002

KeymapNotify event, serial 24, synthetic NO, window 0x0,		<============= SHIFT press
    keys:  73  0   0   0   16  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

KeyRelease event, serial 25, synthetic NO, window 0x6c00001,	<============= SHIFT release
    root 0x76b, subw 0x0, time 3617952, (1171,1396), root:(1211,1512),
    state 0x10, keycode 36 (keysym 0xff0d, Return), same_screen YES,
"   XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (0d) "
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeymapNotify event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x0,		<============= SHIFT press
    keys:  107 0   0   0   0   0   4   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

KeyRelease event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x6c00001,	<============= SHIFT release
    root 0x76b, subw 0x0, time 3632379, (117,126), root:(157,242),
    state 0x11, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

[SaintDanBert]

I don't have a clue. But it seems to me that if the left shift key were taken by the audio volume slider, that would make typing very difficult. Are you saying you can only use the right shift key for caps?

I can use both SHIFT keys, however, I must ofter multi-click the left key to close the pop-up.
BTW --- I had to do this three times to type the one line above.

Stumped,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[SaintDanBert]

Run

Code: Select all

xev -event keyboard

Then show us the output of what signal your computer receive for the left shift key and right shift key.

Did my xev output tell you anything?

I did a power off restart. I touched the left shift before starting any desktop apps. The volume dialog
showed up.

I don't find any setting that ties left shirt to volume.

I don't have any idea where to look for this sort of setting if it is not part of system setting or cinnamon settings.

Please help,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan

[billyswong]

Aside from some mislabeling of your terminal output...

In my computer, Shift press generates KeyPress event and Shift release generates KeyRelease event. The lack of KeyPress but KeymapNotify event being in place of it looks suspicious. i wonder what will happen if you connect a standalone keyboard to your laptop computer, assuming you are currently using a laptop with its built-in keyboard.

[SaintDanBert]

FOLLOW-UP
How do I discover which user session setting is causing this?

I have two user login sessions enabled on the failing system. One session (aka, FRED) exhibits the trouble that I describe and discuss above. The other session (aka, WILMA) does not.

The session that fails, the FRED user, has been around for a long time through several fresh installs and upgrades going back over three years. The other session, the WILMA user, has only been around for a few months. Since FRED fails, there must be something over there in that per-user configuration and settings.

Would someone please help so that I can skip the excruciating effort of recreating the FRED user step by step?

Given that pressing left shift causes the volume slider on-screen widget to display, there must be a setting that enables this behavior buried somewhere in all of the end-user session settings.

Thank you in advance,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan
(very very frustrated)

[mikeflan]

Sorry we can't help, yet. Can you confirm that Wilma does not get:

Code: Select all

KeymapNotify event, serial 24, synthetic NO, window 0x0,		<============= SHIFT press
    keys:  73  0   0   0   16  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

when pressing the shift key?

I don't know what keys: 73 means
viewtopic.php?t=387197

[MintyT]

This is an ancient command for resetting the keyboard

setxkbmap -option

This command should reset FRED, but may need to be run on startup / login every time.

[SaintDanBert]

{snip}

Can you confirm that Wilma does not get:

Code: Select all

KeymapNotify event, serial 24, synthetic NO, window 0x0,		<============= SHIFT press
    keys:  73  0   0   0   16  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   

when pressing the shift key?

I'm not clear how I use xev properly... I used it in the 70's and 80's while using X-11 on Unix™. I appreciate your guidance and suggestions.

Thank you in Advance,
~~~ 0;-} Dan

[SaintDanBert]

keyboard.log

Log of 'xev' run

(6.83 KiB) Downloaded 14 times

I did the following:

• launch xev -event keyboard
• move pointer into the little X-Window
• after the events from the launching, touch the LEFT-SHIFT key
• touch the RIGHT-SHIFT key

see the log file below.

~~~ 0;-} Dan

keyboard.log

Log of 'xev' run

(6.83 KiB) Downloaded 14 times

I'll need to do the other workstation when I'm back where it lives.
I'll need to do the other user login session once I finish a Friday (tomorrow) deadline.

[SaintDanBert]

This is an ancient command for resetting the keyboard
setxkbmap -option
This command should reset FRED, but may need to be run on startup / login every time.

I qualify as "ancient" — used original AT&T® Unix™ X-11 ­— but I've never heard of either setxkbdmap or FRED (blush) that I remember.
Granted, I was a mere student/programmer and not an admin so I used X-Windows as I got it.

Man Page: setxkbdmap
[url="https://linux.die.net/man/1/setxkbmap"] /url]

As it turns out, setxkbdmap is not part of my installed Linux Mint 21.3 kit.
In spite of having a plethora of X-11 packages installed according to Software Manager, I didn't find it there either.
Sigh, I suppose all of those config details are not buried in GUI settable settings utilities... if only I could find which one.

I didn't find any relevant explanation of FRED.

Thanks for the Reply,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[billyswong]

You kept typing an extra "d" in "setxkbmap". There is no "d".

setxkbmap is installed by x11-xkb-utils, part of the default installation. (x11-xkb-utils is a dependency of xorg)

[SaintDanBert]

Hmmm.... the olde KBD muscle memory bug bit me.
Thanks for that observation. I simply didn't see it in the logs.

I continue to be plagued by the LEFT_SHIFT launching the volume widget.
I don't know how to diagnose this. I cannot find anyplace where this is configured in my user session settings.

I wish that I knew some setting string so that I might do something like:
find $HOME -type f -iname "*.*" -print -exec grep "some_setting_string" {} \; | tee setting_string.log
Sadly, I have no idea which "setting_string" I might search for. I've already used every one that seems logical given my symptoms.

Thank you in Advance,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan