Troubleshooting: Right Alt Key in Ubuntu 8.10
Posted on 2009-01-01 (Updated on 2019-01-24)
After recently taking a trip down memory lane with the old DOS-based Id game, Hexen, under Wine. I discovered a very random issue with my installation of Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex): my right alt key didn't really do anything.
I guess I had never used it previously, but in Hexen, alt just happens to be the "strafe" key. This made it extremely difficult to stay alive, which motivated me to find a fix.
It turns out that it's actually a problem with the keyboard layout that was detected automatically. Easily remedied by doing the following:
- Click on the "System" menu
- Select "Preferences"
- Open the "Keyboard" preferences
- Choose the "Layouts" tab
- Select the one you're using - Mine was set to USA automatically
- Click the "Other Options" button
- Expand the "Alt/Win key behavior" category
- Select the "Alt and Meta are on the Alt keys" option
Pretty obscure, and I'm not sure what other side effects it may have, but it did the trick for my particular keyboard/layout combination; I'm using a Kensington K64362 Standard Keyboard with the USA layout.
Hope this helps somebody out there!
Tags: linux