Possible Manual Intervention Required After xkeyboard-config 2.48-1 Update

Important notifications
1

Due to a change introduced in the xkeyboard-config major upgrade (version 2.48-1), the X11 keyboard layout configuration managed by systemd-localed may be unset post-upgrade. This occurs because systemd-localed reads the XKB model, layout, variant, and options directly from /etc/vconsole.conf. If only the legacy Xorg keyboard snippet exists, localectl reports the X11 layout as unset. In many Desktops this will show by issue that keyboard output is screwed..Y=Z no Umlauts (Germans) or you get issue in case your passwort uses such letters uneven with default locale-C layout.

Check at your install with:
localectl status

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If you see X11 Layout: (unset) fix it by running:

sudo localectl set-x11-keymap "your-language-keymap"

Note: Replace "your-language-keymap" with your specific layout (e.g., de, us).

This command writes the selected XKB state alongside KEYMAP into /etc/vconsole.conf and replaces any stale XKB entries, matching the standard systemd behavior.

Simpler said.. it adds missing values for XKBLAYOUT=XX
and XKBMODEL=XXXX to /etc/vconsole.conf :wink:

To list possible values for sudo localectl set-x11-keymap "your-language-keymap" check this:

localectl list-x11-keymap-layouts | grep "your-language-keymap"

There are a lot other options possible too but should not be needed to fix this current issue,
You may want/need special mode / variant / layout / option set in addition:

localectl list-x11-keymap-variants

localectl list-x11-keymap-models

localectl list-x11-keymap-options

Or simple go read the Manual, and get all the details.

3

I had to set the Italian layout again

4

Thanks for the feedback!

5

don’t worry, it was easy!

6

Done now. All good, thanks! :+1:

7

Thanx I’m all fixed now

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8

Done and corrected. Thanks for the fix Joe!

9

Well, “good” in that way, as I had that keyboard problem a few days ago, when I had the big update to Plasma 6.7.1 + systemd 261. Since I suspected the Plasma update was the cause, I fixed it by editing the ~/.config/kxkbrc file that didn’t exist before on my system. But the best and most effective way is, of course, to use “sudo localectl set-X11-keymap de”. Thanks for the warning and fix, @joekamprad

10

I was wondering why my keyboard had defaulted to en-US. Re-added the correct layout via settings in Plasma for Keyboard, added the X11 layout via cli as stated, and fixed. Good catch!

11

In case hard to find the reason why, i was only find out by accident while doing test installs.

12

Test installs have a habit of doing things like that.

Pudge

13

still in this case someone using en_us keyboard would not notice.

14

Thanks for pointing this out! Mine fortunately still kept my weird setting:

$ localectl status
System Locale: LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
    VC Keymap: de-latin1
   X11 Layout: de
    X11 Model: pc105
  X11 Variant: e2
  X11 Options: lv5:lsgt_switch,compose:caps,keypad:future,nbsp:level2,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,grp:win_space_toggle

:grimacing:

15

this.. looks like its a commandline on its own indeed

16

cat /etc/vconsole.conf needs one or two extra entries to be able to set the values needed ..

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17

The nifty little features I always loved X11/Xorg for… :wink:

$ cat /etc/vconsole.conf 
# Written by systemd-localed(8) or systemd-firstboot(1), read by systemd-localed
# and systemd-vconsole-setup(8). Use localectl(1) to update this file.
KEYMAP=de-latin1
XKBLAYOUT=de
XKBMODEL=pc105
XKBVARIANT=e2
XKBOPTIONS=lv5:lsgt_switch,compose:caps,keypad:future,nbsp:level2,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,grp:win_space_toggle
18

what means :: in PROMPT variable in your terminsl?

19

:: equals :: nothing else.. thats decorative spacer

20

I don’t use x11 anyway … but what the heck i fixed it! :wink: