[ale] Err, what? VNC+VirtualBox keyboard problem, Ubuntu 9

[Asher Vilensky]

Sorry, I don't have a solution.  Only things I can say:

1.  When I VNC'd to VM's managed by ESX, I experienced something similar
(but with the tab key, not the parenthesis).  Simply put, tab did not work
via VNC.  If I did Remote Desktop, no problems.  My guess is that I simply
had too many of virtuality that the combo of the products was simply imature
to handle all.

2.  Sometimes I would VNC to a Linux (RHEL) host and then simply telnet to
my target VM.  In such way I was able to bypass limitations.  (Of course, if
that VM was Windows, scratch that...)

3.  I saw cases where restarting vncserver helped move things in the right
way (but I can't remember the specifics).

Sorry that's all I've got.  Best of luck.

-- Asher


On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 9:34 AM, JK <jknapka at kneuro.net> wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I need a ticket for the clue train...
>
> Yesterday I upgraded by Ubuntu 8.10 box to Ubuntu 9.  It all went well.
>
> I've noticed a weird issue, though.  I run several virtual Windows machines
> in VirtualBox.  When I connect to the Ubuntu host machine via VNC and then
> try to interact with one of the virtual machines, the keyboard acts
> strangely.
> Specifically, I cannot type paren characters ()! Those keys simply do
> nothing at all when (a) typed over the VNC connection, and (b) the
> foreground
> window on the server is a VirtualBox VM window. Which is a PITA, since
> I am trying to write code on one of the virtual machines, and those
> characters therefore take on a disproportionate importance.
>
> If I connect to the same VM using the Remote Desktop server provided
> by VirtualBox, I don't have this problem.  I also don't have it when
> connecting
> via VNC *directly* to the VM (that is, both the host OS and the guest OS
> are running VNC, and I only have the problem when connecting to the
> host and interacting with the VirtualBox window on the host machine's
> desktop).
>
> I don't have any idea where to even begin looking for a solution to
> this.  There don't seem to be any keyboard-related options in either
> the VNC or VirtualBox configurations that look relevant, so I'm
> wondering if it could be something related to the X keyboard mapping.
> However, I *do not* have any problem when interacting with the
> VMs when I'm physically at the host machine, so that seems unlikely.
>
> Google says some vague things about keyboard layout settings in
> VirtualBox, but nothing very helpful.
>
> This problem definitely seems to have started with the upgrade
> to Jaunty. I know I could successfully type parens last week.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- JK
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