shortcut keys for LibreOffice under Linux

users
#21

Hi :slight_smile:
I agree with Jean-Francois Nifenecker that it might be worth poking around
in the Bios.

It's a scary thing for most normal users but i'm guessing you've already
had a look back when you changed the boot-order to install non-Windows.
So, you already know that you can poke around quite a bit to explore and
then escape without saving changes.

I tend to use that "Exit without saving changes" to allow me to explore,
exit and then back in again to make the specific changes i want. Also i
find it's worth taking photos of the different screens before making
adjustments or to jot down the changes i make so that if it does go weird i
can get it back to the way it was before without having to take the mbord
battery out to reset it.

Windows wont have any effect on anything outside of itself. It can't even
see non-Windows partitions and often claims such things don't exist.

However there is firmware but that is between the hardware manufacturer and
your machine. It's nothing to do with MS.

Some distros are better at hardware detection than others. Some prefer one
set of defaults others prefer different configurations. Apparently Mint is
the only one to think that you might prefer the manufacturers defaults
rather than the FOSS ones.

An interesting thread! Thanks! :))
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#22

Hi :slight_smile:
Errr, i wouldn't have thought of poking around in the bios but it's a
brilliant idea!
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#23

Hi Thomas,

>>> Paul
>>>
>> I also thought about that already, although I have currently no
>> idea how to change that keyboard behavior.
>> BUT ... if that were true ..would / should LibreOffice not behave
>> in the same way under Ubuntu (Unity desktop), Xubuntu (XFCE) and
>> Mint (Cinnamon)?
>>
>> If I revall correctly (this is an old PC of my daugther), I
>> borrowed it a few years back when I had to spend a week away from
>> home. At that time the PC was running Windows Vista and I used
>> LibreOffice in that environment, but do not remember any such
>> behavior ...
>>
>
Thank you all!
By now I figured out, that you have to combine EVERY function key
with the Fn key.
If you do so, it works. Have not yet tested all possible combinations.

This is not perfect, but I will still with this, and not go back to
Unity.

Not the way I think it is supposed to work, but yes, this is then a
laptop issue, not a LibreOffice issue, and most likely not even a
Linux Mint issue. I'm almost certain that you will find this same
behaviour in all other apps running under your current OS. I don't
*think* the OS should affect this, so if you were to reboot into Ubuntu
or Windows right now you should experience the same behaviour, but I'm
not *absolutely* sure about this.

As someone else pointed out, you might be able to change this from the
BIOS. In fact, a quick google suggests that this can be changed in the
BIOS, so that should be your first stop.

Just because it didn't work this way last time you borrowed it from your
daughter doesn't really say much. If it is a BIOS setting, it could
have been changed in the interim. Or it could be due to a bug in the
firmware that has somehow resulted in the default behaviour being
flipped. Even a coffee spill on the keyboard could do something like
this. I've had similar things happen when I am holding down shift, and
some change of focus happens between applications (particularly when
I'm working in a virtual OS under VirtualBox), and the shift key
becomes "stuck". Maybe a reboot would be all it takes to fix this,
although I'm assuming you've rebooted the laptop by now and that this
doesn't work.

But given my quick googling suggests that this is known behaviour for
that make and model and that it can be changed in the BIOS, I would
start there. If that doesn't work, you should try googling for the
laptop make and model and things like "Fn key stuck" or "Fn key always
on" or "Fn key flipped" or something like that. But I'm assuming that
the BIOS will provide the answer.

Hope you get this sorted.

Paul

#24

(2014/08/14 19:22), Paul wrote:

Hi Thomas,

Not the way I think it is supposed to work, but yes, this is then a
laptop issue, not a LibreOffice issue, and most likely not even a
Linux Mint issue. I'm almost certain that you will find this same
behaviour in all other apps running under your current OS. I don't
*think* the OS should affect this, so if you were to reboot into Ubuntu
or Windows right now you should experience the same behaviour, but I'm
not *absolutely* sure about this.

As someone else pointed out, you might be able to change this from the
BIOS. In fact, a quick google suggests that this can be changed in the
BIOS, so that should be your first stop.

...
Hope you get this sorted.

Paul

YES! Thank you all!
The BIOS did it.
As a "non-computer specialist" messing around with the BIOS is definitely NOT my first choice.
Although, admittedly, I have done that on various occasions in the past.
Here:
BIOS:
System configuration -> Function keys (behavio) ->
there is a choice between
a) Multimedia keys first
b) Function keys first.

The original setting was (a), which I switched to (b).

Now, everything is all sunshine!
Thomas

#25

(2014/08/13 23:26), Tom Davies wrote:

Hi :slight_smile:
It's not clear which DE is being used in Mint.

It is Mint 17 Cinnamon.

(File) Tools / Customise - Keyboard tab, will let you look at all the

I tried that ...
And the "customize" function DOES NOT work. I tried that already.
For example, LibreOffice comes with a lot of presets. One is "Navigator", that is assigned to F5 under Windows and Ubuntu.
Clicking on the ICON WILL call up the Navigator.
But ... the key = F5 does not. It shows brightness adjustment on my Dell Inspiron 1545.
NExt I also tried: Delete the key assignment -> reassign to F5 "Navigator".
No response.
And that goes for all the other keys I tried too.

Yet, I am using LibreOffice for work every day. Having thrown this kind of wrench into my engine is not really acceptable,
although I like Mint much better than Ubuntu.

Linux Mint with MATE seems to work better than Mint with Cinnamon - in my opinion. Ubuntu can have MATE [1.8?] installed as well, but it is getting harder to install onto Ubuntu 14.04, than it was for 13.xx. I run Mint 16 with MATE. I could have run Ubuntu and added MATE, but it is much easier to use Mint with MATE as its default desktop environment.

AS for the F5 key on my non-brand desktop running Mint 16 with MATE, pressing it does give my the Navigator.

Your Dell is a laptop? I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop. Does it have on the keyboard the symbol/icon showing that that function key is used for brightness control - .i.e. [FN}[F5] with give you that brightness control?

To me it seems that Dell hardwired the mapping of that function key and it is showing through to LibreOffice function key options. So it may be the hardware trying to keep control of that function key and not a LibreOffice issue. Cinnamon may have the problem with Dell's control of the function keys. For me, F6 and F10 are grayed out so I cannot modify them..