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Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

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This is my first post here, couldn't find my issue in the forums yet.

I have installed Kstars on a RPi2/Ubuntu MATE, and access the device from a Windows laptop through a tightVNCserver session.
The Ubuntu MATE environment is giving no problems, and Kstars also runs fine except for some keyboard mapping issue.
When I try to enter text in an input dialog box, the characters come out garbled.

Is there some setting in tight VNC that can prevent this? Or is it an inherent Kstars issue?

Thanks for any help,
Arjan
8 years 2 months ago #6639

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Definitely not KStars issue. Is it just KStars or all other KDE apps? how about other apps?
Last edit: 8 years 2 months ago by Jasem Mutlaq.
8 years 2 months ago #6647

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Replied by Arjan on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Hi Jasem,
Well, the Ubuntu MATE environment works flawlessly, it is only Kstars that has the problem.
To describe what I try to achieve:
  • One RPi2 (server) with Raspbian is running the Indi server + all devices.
  • Another RPi2 (client) with Ubuntu MATE 15.10 is running Kstars and the tight VNC server.
  • Both RPi2 are interconnected through Ethernet with a dedicated IP subnet.
  • The client RPi2 also has a WiFi interface, which is part of my home network.
I can get into the client RPi2 by means of VNC, and have a GUI on any Windows station in my home network. As said, the VNC remote desktop works great, both using tightVNC viewer or UltraVNC.
With either VNC client I get wrong characters when I try to enter data in Kstars. Kstars works normally when I use an HDMI screen/keyboard/mouse directly connected.
So I think there is a mess up with the keyboard map, which apparently does not influence Ubuntu as such, but it does affect Kstars. Perhaps Kstars does something with the locale settings, which is not synched with VNC server?

Cheers,
Arjan
Last edit: 8 years 2 months ago by Arjan.
8 years 2 months ago #6648

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Replied by Arjan on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Update: I got it to work with x11vnc. This server is re-using the graphical display of the Ubuntu MATE X environment, in contrast with tightVNC which creates its own graphics. I still use tightVNC viewer, because it is very fast and smooth. Works like a charm!
I am writing a little manual with the howto's. Will post the link later.
8 years 2 months ago #6650

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8 years 2 months ago #6655
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Replied by Derek on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

I also use x11vnc on my observatory machine (Its a full i5 pc running kubuntu).
Would be interested in your experiences and how-to manual.

Out of interest are there any other tips or options for remote use? My observatory location has very poor internet access. I'm using VNC to connect to the observatory's PC and running everything on that machine. With VNC cut down to 64 colours its just about useable.

Thanks,
Derek
8 years 2 months ago #6657

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Replied by Arjan on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Hi Derek,

Here is a link to a draft report: atm.udjat.nl/articles/Remote Control - EN.pdf
I must say that I only just got it running, and need to start more thorough testing.
My VNC link runs over a WLAN, which has plenty bandwidth. What cuts it down in my case is limited processing capability and memory in the RPi2.
If you want to have the graphics on the other end of the thin connection, it will always be a bottleneck. I believe however that tightVNC has quite good compression techniques. At least, in my case it runs a lot better than e.g. UltraVNC client. So, bottom line, it may be rewarding to experiment with different clients if you haven't done that already.

Good luck!
Arjan
The following user(s) said Thank You: Derek
Last edit: 8 years 2 months ago by Arjan. Reason: Changed link
8 years 2 months ago #6664

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Replied by Derek on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Thanks Arjan,
I have not experimented with different clients. I'm just using the one from realvnc. I'll try tightvnc.
Derek
8 years 2 months ago #6666

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AtM, Is the utp cable with which you directly connect your 2 RPi2 machine a normal UTP cable or is it a so called crossover cable?
8 years 2 weeks ago #7258

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Replied by Arjan on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

It is a straight cable; I think all Eth interfaces are auto crossover HW nowadays so it doesn't really matter...
By the way, there is a full report of what I have now here: atm.udjat.nl/stepper/Remote Control - EN.pdf
Last edit: 8 years 2 weeks ago by Arjan.
8 years 2 weeks ago #7261

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Replied by Paul on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Arjan,

I am having the same problem VNCing into Ubuntu Mate on a Raspberry Pi 2.

It works fine for all other programs I have tried but not for Kstars / INDI.

Running kstars manually I get a number of errors, one of which is

qt: keyboard extension not present on the x server.

I have a suspicion that it is has something to to do with using the Qt 5 framework.

The attachment shows an example of the problem where typing xxxxx etc into the dialog box shows ////.

The start errors are also shown.

Regards

Paul
7 years 4 months ago #11714
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Replied by David on topic Kstars/VNC keyboard issue

Hi there.

I ran into this last year when I was trying to do the same thing (headless VNC display) and couldn't get kstars to speak. I too resorted to exporting a physical X11 display, but this was never satisfactory in my opinion.

Today I ran into the same issues with qtcreator (a programming app). The common link is QT. After a bit of digging it turns out this is a (IMO) bug in QT5 that, if XKEYBOARD extensions are not present (as they're not on the usual headless vncservers, tightvncserver in my case) it defaults to some pre-programmed keyboard mappings.

Any attempts to override them with the environment variables they check for just this purpose failed dismally.

The workaround I've found and tested is to use TigerVNC server instead which does support the XKEYBOARD extension. This, apparently, may not work with all keyboard mappings, but does seem to do the job with my UK Mac one for both qtcreator and kstars. I haven't tried it out on my Pi, but don't see why it shouldn't work if compiled from source.

Have a look, it may solve your problem without needing you to run with actual display hardware:

github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc/releases

Regards,

BW.
7 years 2 months ago #13729

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