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meta keys (ALT) in emacs ring terminal bell--UPDATED--still a problem

dsurber-OracleApr 30 2013 — edited May 7 2013
A new version of Secure Global Desktop appeared yesterday. It works fine except when I type a meta key in emacs the terminal bell rings. Emacs still sees the key and executes the command so this isn't a showstopper. On the other hand it is really irritating so I have to set my system to MUTE. I've restarted everything and it still happens. No problem running emacs locally, only on my remote host via Secure Open Desktop. I use a terminal and start emacs at the command line. I do not use the window manager. Any idea how to make this stop?

Meta commands are really common in emacs. On a Windows keyboard you get meta by holding down the ALT key. So meta-x is typed by holding down ALT and typing 'x'.

Douglas Surber

Edit: I've disabled the bell in emacs and it still rings. This is certainly coming from Secure Global Desktop. Additional info: yesterday some Gnome based dialog box popped up. I think it was called SCIM or something like that. I just clicked cancel as I was busy doing real work when it came up. I suppose that may have something to do with the problem. I have no idea where this came from or how to make it reappear.

Edited by: dsurber on Apr 30, 2013 9:26 AM

Edit2: There are a couple of SRs against SGD for keyboard related issues. Several people in my team are having similar though not identical issues. This is a significant problem. SR 3-7142029471, SR 3-7132923081

Edited by: dsurber on May 1, 2013 7:54 AM

Edit: The SGD issue tracking web page has been updated with a workaround for the keyboard issue.

http://my.oracle.com/site/pdit/DevelopmentOps/DevInfraSvs/SGDHomePage

I haven't tried it yet as I don't want to restart my session right now.

Edited by: dsurber on May 1, 2013 4:35 PM

Edit: The workaround doesn't address the bell issue. Other team members have reported that it does address some issues with characters that did not work. Pressing the mute button on my laptop inserts an 'e' or 'E' if shifted. Clearly the keymapping is still broken.

Edited by: dsurber on May 2, 2013 7:34 AM

Edit: The problem still exists. Meta keys still ring the terminal bell. The meta-space key rings the bell and is captured, I assume by SGD, and pops up a Windows system menu. I have yet to find a graceful way to get out of this situation. Typing ESC to normal way to close a Windows menu confuses emacs as does ctl-g, the emacs cancel command. The best I've found is to move the mouse onto the desktop and left-click.

Edited by: dsurber on May 7, 2013 7:58 AM

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Locked on May 30 2013
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