i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

istest · 2019-02-17 00:00:54

Hi,
I'm using a UK keyboard, when I want to kill a window I can press mod+left-shift+q and it works fine. However, if I want to send a window to another workspace I have to press mod+right-shift+workspace-number.

I looked at my i3 config and I couldn't see anything obvious. I've also noticed that my keyboard layout is randomly lost even whilst using my laptop even though I run setxkbmap gb on start up.

If anyone could help me with these issue I would really appreciate it.

You can find my i3config below.

Thanks

# This file has been auto-generated by i3-config-wizard(1).
# It will not be overwritten, so edit it as you like.
#
# Should you change your keyboard layout some time, delete
# this file and re-run i3-config-wizard(1).
#

# i3 config file (v4)
#
# Please see https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html for a complete reference!

set $mod Mod4

# Font for window titles. Will also be used by the bar unless a different font
# is used in the bar {} block below.
font pango:monospace 8

# This font is widely installed, provides lots of unicode glyphs, right-to-left
# text rendering and scalability on retina/hidpi displays (thanks to pango).
#font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 8

# Before i3 v4.8, we used to recommend this one as the default:
# font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
# The font above is very space-efficient, that is, it looks good, sharp and
# clear in small sizes. However, its unicode glyph coverage is limited, the old
# X core fonts rendering does not support right-to-left and this being a bitmap
# font, it doesn’t scale on retina/hidpi displays.

# Use Mouse+$mod to drag floating windows to their wanted position
floating_modifier $mod

# start a terminal
bindsym $mod+Return exec i3-sensible-terminal

# kill focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+q kill

# start dmenu (a program launcher)
bindsym $mod+d exec rofi -show run -theme oxide
# There also is the (new) i3-dmenu-desktop which only displays applications
# shipping a .desktop file. It is a wrapper around dmenu, so you need that
# installed.
# bindsym $mod+d exec --no-startup-id i3-dmenu-desktop

# change focus
bindsym $mod+j focus left
bindsym $mod+k focus down
bindsym $mod+l focus up
bindsym $mod+semicolon focus right

# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Left focus left
bindsym $mod+Down focus down
bindsym $mod+Up focus up
bindsym $mod+Right focus right

# move focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+j move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+k move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+l move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+semicolon move right

# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Shift+Left move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+Down move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+Up move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+Right move right

# split in horizontal orientation
bindsym $mod+h split h

# split in vertical orientation
bindsym $mod+v split v

# enter fullscreen mode for the focused container
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle

# change container layout (stacked, tabbed, toggle split)
bindsym $mod+s layout stacking
bindsym $mod+w layout tabbed
bindsym $mod+e layout toggle split

# toggle tiling / floating
bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle

# change focus between tiling / floating windows
bindsym $mod+space focus mode_toggle

# focus the parent container
bindsym $mod+a focus parent

# focus the child container
#bindsym $mod+d focus child

# Define names for default workspaces for which we configure key bindings later on.
# We use variables to avoid repeating the names in multiple places.
#configure colour scheme
set $base00 #101218
set $base01 #000000
set $base02 #000000
set $base03 #42ffef
set $base04 #C0C5CE
set $base05 #97fff9
set $base06 #C9CCDB
set $base07 #496dfc
set $base08 #51fcff
set $base09 #f99170
set $base0A #ffefcc
set $base0B #a5ffe1
set $base0C #97e0ff
set $base0D #97bbf7
set $base0E #c0b7f9
set $base0F #fcc09e

# workspace names
set $ws1 "1:"
set $ws2 "2:"
set $ws3 "3:"
set $ws4 "4:"
set $ws5 "5:"
set $ws6 "6:"
set $ws7 "7:"
set $ws8 "8:"
set $ws9 "9:"
set $ws10 "10:"


set $mod Mod4
# switch to workspace
bindsym $mod+1 workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+4 workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+5 workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+6 workspace $ws6
bindsym $mod+7 workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+8 workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+9 workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+0 workspace $ws10

# move focused container to workspace
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+Shift+3 move container to workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+Shift+4 move container to workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+Shift+5 move container to workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+Shift+6 move container to workspace $ws6
bindsym $mod+Shift+7 move container to workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+Shift+8 move container to workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+Shift+9 move container to workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+Shift+0 move container to workspace $ws10

# reload the configuration file
bindsym $mod+Shift+c reload
# restart i3 inplace (preserves your layout/session, can be used to upgrade i3)
bindsym $mod+Shift+r restart
# exit i3 (logs you out of your X session)
bindsym $mod+Shift+e exec "i3-nagbar -t warning -m 'You pressed the exit shortcut. Do you really want to exit i3? This will end your X session.' -B 'Yes, exit i3' 'i3-msg exit'"

# resize window (you can also use the mouse for that)
mode "resize" {
        # These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode

        # Pressing left will shrink the window’s width.
        # Pressing right will grow the window’s width.
        # Pressing up will shrink the window’s height.
        # Pressing down will grow the window’s height.
        bindsym j resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym k resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym l resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym semicolon resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt

        # same bindings, but for the arrow keys
        bindsym Left resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym Down resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym Up resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
        bindsym Right resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt

        # back to normal: Enter or Escape or $mod+r
        bindsym Return mode "default"
        bindsym Escape mode "default"
        bindsym $mod+r mode "default"
}

#begin custom
exec --no-startup-id compton -f
exec_always --no-startup-id setxkbmap gb
for_window [class="Firefox"] move workspace $ws2
for_window [class="VirtualBox"] move workspace $ws3
for_window [class="Spotify"] move workspace $ws10
for_window [class = "VirtualBox"] layout tabbed
#next and previous track for playerctl
bindsym $mod+n exec "playerctl previous"
bindsym $mod+m exec "playerctl next"
#
## Sreen brightness controls
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec xbacklight -inc 20 # increase screen brightness
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec xbacklight -dec 20 # decrease screen brightness
#
## Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play
bindsym XF86AudioPause exec playerctl pause
#end custom



bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"

# Start i3bar to display a workspace bar (plus the system information i3status
# finds out, if available)
 bar {
        status_command SCRIPT_DIR=/usr/lib/i3blocks i3blocks -c ~/.config/i3/i3blocks.conf
        font pango: System San Francisco Display, FontAwesome 10
        strip_workspace_numbers yes
        colors {
              separator $base03
              background $base01
              statusline $base05
              focused_workspace  $base01 $base01    $base07
              active_workspace   $base01 $base02    $base03
              inactive_workspace $base01 $base01    $base03
              urgent_workspace   $base01 $base01    $base08
    }
}

Last edited by istest (2019-02-17 00:01:58)

seth · 2019-02-17 08:05:26

Skip i3wm (or at least ensure the combo isn't grabbed by it), "startx xterm", run "xev -event keyboard" and see whether Mod4+SHIFT_L+n generates an event (pressing Mod4 and SHIFT_L perhaps will, but the last part is crucial)
Alternatively use "showkey" on a console login and/or try using Alt as $mod (the latter is inconclusive, though)

It's possible that the HW is not wired completely (partial failure of 3-key shortcuts is unfortunately common)

istest · 2019-02-17 10:06:29

Hey!
Thanks for getting back to me, it seems to work fine in xev:

KeyRelease event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x600001,
    root 0xf9, subw 0x0, time 378966, (90,31), root:(92,33),
    state 0x1, keycode 50 (keysym 0xffe1, Shift_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

it's really strange...

update: it seems $mod+Shift+5 and $mod+Shift+6 work but none of the others

Last edited by istest (2019-02-17 10:16:58)

seth · 2019-02-17 11:00:53

That's just the release of L_SHIFT - you want to ensure that the last key in the chain still generates some event.

HiImTye · 2019-02-17 11:27:27

is this a laptop? if so, are there some sort of function keys on the number keys (excluding 5 and 6)?

Arch Linux

#1 2019-02-17 00:00:54

i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

#2 2019-02-17 08:05:26

Re: i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

#3 2019-02-17 10:06:29

Re: i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

#4 2019-02-17 11:00:53

Re: i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

#5 2019-02-17 11:27:27

Re: i3wm - left shift doesn't work when moving to a workspace

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