Xfce Forum

gilgamesh

Member

Registered: 2023-06-06

Posts: 46

[Solved]Sticky keys problem?

Hello,

I'm using Xfce with Debian 12 and I'm having a random problem with the laptop keyboard which seems to behave erratically. When this happens I have to reboot and everything is fine for a few days, usually 2 or 3 days, before it happens again.

I've recently noticed that I can mimic some of the seemingly random behavior of this keyboard. For example, I can:

* highlight all open tabs in Firefox at the same time, using only the left mouse click
* open an “Applications” drop-down menu as if I were using the right mouse click
* prevent the keyboard shortcut to open a terminal from working

All I have to do is press the left Ctrl key and hold it down when I press another key. This Ctrl key seems to be permanently "sticky". In fact, I had an accessibility option
Settings > Accessibility > Sticky keys “enabled” and Lock “enabled”. Ten days ago, I removed these options and since then, everything has worked perfectly. But as this is a random problem, nothing is 100% certain yet.

Is there anything else I can test to be sure that this problem is due to a malfunction of the Sticky Keys option?

Last edited by gilgamesh (2025-01-14 10:16:23)

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Debian 12

eriefisher

Wanderer

From: ON, Canada

Registered: 2008-10-25

Posts: 947

Re: [Solved]Sticky keys problem?

Are you saving your sessions by any chance. You may want to delete old sessions.

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But it's all right, when you're all in pain and you feel the rain come down
It's alright, when you find your way, then you see it disappear
It's alright....
Chris Cornell

gilgamesh

Member

Registered: 2023-06-06

Posts: 46

Re: [Solved]Sticky keys problem?

Are you saving your sessions by any chance. You may want to delete old sessions.

no, I don't save my sessions, but one is saved: Sun Sep 8. It's probably the first one, the one when I installed Debian 12 on my new machine. I deleted it.

My settings are:
* Session Chooser = disabled
* Logout Settings > Automatically save session = disabled

PS1: 15 days without keyboard problems, which has never happened before. I may have found a workaround, but unfortunately that doesn't help me much in finding out what's wrong with my installation.

PS2: I had exactly the same problem on another laptop with the same options enabled. I finally realized that you have to leave more time between the first keystroke and the second if the “lock” option is activated.

Last edited by gilgamesh (2025-01-14 10:21:26)

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Debian 12