gdm-ctrl-alt-to-altGr

a very simple hack to type '{', '[', ']', '}', ''. '~'. and 'µ' with ctrl+alt instead of altGr

NOTE: Using AutoKey & XBinKeys did not work on my newest Gnome desktop using Wayland. But xremap works.

I programm with a german keymap (qwertz) and I havent found an easy way to use the combination ctrl+alt+7 instead of altGr+7 to type {. People told me to just use the altGr -Combo, but this is unusable for everyone who types with all ten fingers...

xremap

Requirements

• Rust / Cargo
• xremap

Installation (on Fedora 39)

xremap:

Install xremap using cargo:

cargo install xremap --features gnome

Setup sudo-less usage:

# check if uinput is installed
lsmod | grep uinput

# add access permissions for uinput / evdev
sudo gpasswd -a $USER input
echo 'KERNEL=="uinput", GROUP="input", TAG+="uaccess"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/input.rules

Install gnome extension.

Reboot.

Add configuration file

Add the configuration yml $HOME/.config/xremap.yml:

keymap:
  - name: Global
    remap:
      C-M-7: Alt_R-7
      C-M-8: Alt_R-8
      C-M-9: Alt_R-9
      C-M-0: Alt_R-0
      C-M-MINUS: Alt_R-MINUS
      C-M-RIGHTBRACE: Alt_R-RIGHTBRACE
      C-M-M: Alt_R-M

Autostart

Add an desktop entry file to $HOME/.config/autostart/xremap.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=xremap
Type=Application
TryExec=<path to xremap>
Exec=<path to xremap> <path to .yml-config>

Autokey

Requirements

• autokey-common
• autokey-gtk

Installation

Import the scripts in Autokey and set the corresponding Hotkeys for each file.

for example C-A-0.py:

# Enter script code
keyboard.send_keys("<alt_gr>+0")

Set the Hotkey to 0 and check the modifiers Alt and Ctrl.

Just do this for all the scripts and set AutoKey to start at login.

Issues

I have noticed that this setup crashes Jetbrains IDEs when typing those characters in the editor. To fix that, you have to disable all Keybinds that normally use Ctrl+Alt+?. (To do this easily, stop AutoKey and then use the "Key-Search"-Functionality in the Keymap Settings to find all conflicts)

XBindKeys

So here is my barely working hack-solution (mostly so that I don't forget it again...)

Requirements

you have to install

• xbindkeys
• xdotool

(previously I used xvkbd but it broke somehow?)

Installation

• put the .xbindkeysrc in $HOME/.xbindkeysrc
• run xbindkeys on startup

Problems with this "Solution"

I have to put a sleep 0.1 before all the commands, otherwise it won't work. This means that there is a delay whilst typing. Unfortunatly I haven't found a workaround. If you know something, please contact me.