[26.04 TIP #1] How to activate the numeric keypad at startup

1

The transition of the Budgie desktop to Wayland comes with a few teething problems that require a bit of tinkering.
Here’s the first in a series of little workarounds I’ve adopted until these inconveniences are resolved.
Hoping you’ll find them useful.


Open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and copy and paste this line to edit the configuration file of labwc Wayland window compositor:

gedit .config/budgie-desktop/labwc/rc.xml

Add this line just below the <keyboard> tag (line 3):
<numlock>on</numlock>

Save and restart.

Note: Even though the numeric keypad is enabled, Lock Keys Indicator applet does not show it.
Pressing a modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Alt Gr) will turn on the indicator light.
The issue has been reported on GitHub.

2

@jlb Hello,

Even though the numeric keypad is enabled, Lock Keys Indicator applet does not show it.
Pressing a modifier key (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Alt Gr) will turn on the indicator light.
The issue has been reported on GitHub.

I have not the same behaviour.

When I start, the numeric keypad is not activated, to activate it, I have to press any keylock in order it functions, then on my PC it is the same if I had not modified the rc.xml configuration file.

Anyway I keep it, maybe it will work later on my device ?

3

If you’ve done everything correctly, the first seven lines of .config/budgie-desktop/labwc/rc.xml should look like this:

<labwc_config version="1">
    <desktops number="2" />
	<keyboard>
        <numlock>on</numlock>
        <keybind bridge="plugins.media-keys/decrease-text-size" key="undefined">
            <action name="" command="" />
	    </keybind>

And the numpad should be enabled even if the applet doesn’t show it until you press one of the keys I mentioned.

4

It seems mine is not different :

<labwc_config version="1">
	<desktops number="2" />
	<keyboard>
		<numlock>on</numlock>
		<keybind bridge="plugins.media-keys/decrease-text-size" key="undefined">
			<action name="" command="" />
		</keybind>

And I have checked by a restart; same behaviour: numlock is not available till I click on eithet Maj, Capslock or Numlock !

5

No, but it can indeed give that impression depending on the app and/or how it’s launched.

If you launch the terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T, the numeric keypad will be active (and marked as such by Lock Keys Indicator), but you won’t have needed to press NumLock to do so.

Need some other proof to convince you?

numpad
numpad900×407 315 KB


But anyway, I think that with the switch to Wayland, UB is paying the price for being pretty mixed and there’s still work to be done. :confused: