How do I change the login manager's keyboard layout?

Question

I have a netbook with an AZERTY layout. I've changed it to "bépo" to try it, but now I've reset it to a french layout.

While all the apps have taken the change into account, Ubuntu's login manager still uses bépo, making entering passwords a challenge. I've enabled the virtual keyboard for the time being so that I could login again.

I don't remember what I had done in the first place to switch the login screen to bépo, but now I can't switch it back.

enter image description here

EDIT : In the keyboard settings page, if I click "use system defaults", then everything is in bépo ! Where is this different keyboard layout set ?

ANOTHER EDIT : Here's what did not work :

Changing the layout in settings
using the "use system defaults" checkbox in settings
sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
changing it in Xconf
adding a line in /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales
slaming head against desk
dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
sudo gsettings set org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts "['fr']"
combinations of the above

enter image description here

Is it possible to relaunch the keyboard configuration tool that's in ubuntu's setup ? The thing has automatic layout detection and it changes the setting everywhere.

maybe try to switch your keyboard with this command : sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration , or did i missunderstand something ? — Private, Aug 05 '13 at 15:07
I had tried sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm, will try yours now — Manu, Aug 05 '13 at 15:14
If one of the answers solved your problem, please accept it. (even if it's your own) — kiri, Feb 17 '14 at 10:32

score 12 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

12

What did seem to work for me was this suggestion: change /etc/default/keyboard.

Banging head on desk indeed, this is ridiculous.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

Community

1

answered May 20 '14 at 04:18

poolie

9,241

1

This did work for me, on Xubuntu 14.04 LTS. – Premek Brada Apr 21 '15 at 17:33
You can find more info or examles how to configure at http://www.xfree86.org/current/XKB-Config2.html#3 – kasi Feb 08 '17 at 10:31
1

This is a bad solution for people switching between different layouts. – MPi May 18 '18 at 07:57

Radu Rădeanu · Answer 2 · 2013-08-21T20:19:34.070

5

From terminal, run the following command to set the language layouts (you can set maximum four layouts) for your lightdm login screen:

gsettings set org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts "['us\taltgr-intl', 'fr']"

With the above command you set English (International) and French layouts, but you can change them as you wish.

To see the current layouts, you can use:

gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts

Now, you should be able to use the keyboard icon from the top-right of your screen:

keyboard icon

Next is a screen capture from my login screen (I used gsettings set org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts "['us\taltgr-intl', 'gr', 'ro']" in terminal). As you can see, I can change the language layout as I wish:

login screen

edited Aug 21 '13 at 20:19

answered Aug 20 '13 at 22:31

Radu Rădeanu

169,590

I thought of that of course, only "french/bépo" appears in that list. – Manu Aug 21 '13 at 19:36
@Manu Why don't you add another one keyboard layout? – Radu Rădeanu Aug 21 '13 at 19:39
1

I keep doing that, the layout at the login screen are not the same as the layouts once logged in – Manu Aug 21 '13 at 19:46
1

@Manu Then use this command from terminal to set layouts (you can set maximum four layouts): gsettings set org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts "['us\taltgr-intl', 'fr']" (for English - International and French). To see the current layouts, use: gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts – Radu Rădeanu Aug 21 '13 at 19:56
I tried "['fr']" but that did not work. Problem is the layout is already in French, but in the wrong variant. – Manu Aug 21 '13 at 20:10
@Manu Are you sure? Check with gsettings get org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard layouts . Log out and log in back. – Radu Rădeanu Aug 21 '13 at 20:22
"get" returns "['fr']"... maybe it was that + dpkg-reconfigure – Manu Aug 21 '13 at 20:39
@Manu No, ...nothing to do with dpkg-reconfigure in my opinion. Maybe you have tested them in the same time, but I'm sure that this method has done the job. This is the right method. – Radu Rădeanu Aug 21 '13 at 20:45
I'm awarding you the bounty, thank you for the detailed answer. If someone has the same problem, note that this solution seemed to work only once I reconfigured lightdm, see my own answer bellow. – Manu Aug 26 '13 at 10:48
This doesn't seem to work for me on Trusty. – poolie May 20 '14 at 04:17
I tried this in Ubuntustudio 14.04 (trusty), but the command outputs "No such schema 'org.gnome.libgnomekbd.keyboard'". – jarno Nov 12 '15 at 19:45

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 21 '13 at 20:38

Must have been a weird lightdm bug.

Lightdm got the new keyboard layout once I changed the login manager to gdm, then back to lightdm, even though simply doing dpkg-reconfigure lightdm did nothing.

So here it is :

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gdm

(set gdm as the login manager when asked)

sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm

(set it as the login manager when asked)

sudo apt-get remove gdm

Then, restart.

Changing a keyboard layout in linux is serious business.

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 14 '15 at 16:08

3

What helped me was to enter shell alt+ctrl+f1 and close lightdm

sudo service lightdm stop

then

dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

and

sudo service keyboard-setup restart

I ran those commands as user and as root, then when I started lightdm

sudo service lightdm start

the keyboard was fixed.

edited Dec 14 '15 at 16:08

Mark Kirby

18,529
19
78
114

answered Dec 14 '15 at 15:56

ryukan

31
1

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 27 '23 at 13:12

0

In GNOME 42 running GDM login manager, localectl told me VC Keymap: n/a.

Running sudo localectl set-x11-keymap dk set the login screen layout to Danish.

I have no input source selection available under Region & Languages > Login Screen.

See further this GNOME help page

answered Jun 27 '23 at 13:12

Rasmus

8,375

The Input Source section has been moved to Settings -> Keyboard in later Ubuntu versions, and the GUI way still works. – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Jun 27 '23 at 13:42

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

0

Make a short-key in System Settings > Keyboard Layout > Options under "key(s) to change layout" to switch layouts.

You can see detailed answer here Keyboard shortcut for Lockscreen not working

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Aug 05 '13 at 18:48

nDman

43

3

The layout change key doesn't seem to have any effect on the login screen. – poolie May 20 '14 at 04:12

How do I change the login manager's keyboard layout?

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