[vox-tech] Re: Can't switch to virtual console anymore

[Peter Jay Salzman]

On Wed 21 Dec 05,  8:13 PM, p <p> said:
> Help.  I can't seem to switch to a virtual terminal any longer.  I'm fairly
> sure whatever happened must have happened during my last aptitude upgrade,
> because I switch to VC's very very often.
> 
> 1. My XF86Config does not contain the DontVTSwitch option.
> 
> 2. On control-alt-F1, xev reports:
> 
>    KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x1200001,
>        root 0x40, subw 0x1200002, time 417047, (47,38), root:(1117,396),
>        state 0x0, keycode 37 (keysym 0xffe3, Control_L), same_screen YES,
>        XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XFilterEvent returns: False
> 
>    KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x1200001,
>        root 0x40, subw 0x1200002, time 417495, (47,38), root:(1117,396),
>        state 0x4, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
>        XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XFilterEvent returns: False
> 
>    KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x1200001,
>        root 0x40, subw 0x1200002, time 417935, (47,38), root:(1117,396),
>        state 0xc, keycode 67 (keysym 0xffbe, F1), same_screen YES,
>        XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
>        XFilterEvent returns: False
> 
> 
> 3. Once I kill X, I can switch between consoles using the familiar alt-Fx.
> 
> 4. There's no output from xinit/startx that I don't recognize as already
>    being there (for example, I've seen the message:
> 
>       Could not init font path element /usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo,
>       removing from list!
> 
>    for at least a year.)
> 
> 
> 
> I will go nuts without my consoles.  Any suggestions?
> 
> Thanks,
> Pete

Problem solved.  It turned out to be "one of those warnings I recognized."

For years, X complained that there was no XkbVariant named "Microsoft" in
response to the line:

   Section "InputDevice"
      ...
      Option      "XkbVariant"  "Microsoft"
      ...
   EndSection

I'm not sure when that line appeared in my config file.  Quite possibly back
when I was using Suse 6.1, way before I switched to Debian.  I guess I just
"toted" the config file around, and only changed mode, horiz and vertical
timings when configuring a new system.

The warning didn't have any adverse effect, and I always promised myself to
look into it when time permitted me to delve into learning the nitty gritty
details of keyboards under X.

There always seemed to be more pressing issues.  And besides, it's difficult
to get excited about learning details of keyboards under X.  It seems more
complicated than it ought to be.  And dry.

Short story is, that line always caused a benign warning.

Since I was (potentially) having trouble with the keyboard, I started to
scrutinize the X output, even looking at things which I didn't think had
relevence to the problem at hand.  That trained my eye on the warning.

I'm not sure what got upgraded yesterday, but whatever it was, that warning
apparently was no longer benign.  I removed the XbdVariant, and now
everything is back to normal.

Pete