Getting the Right Alt key (Alt GR) to work in Ubuntu Linux

I've been bothered for a while now that my right alt key labelled 'Alt GR' doesn't work in Ubuntu. It was clear that things weren't right when I ran 'xev' and pressed the two Alt keys - here is the output:

KeyPress event, serial 29, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,

KeyPress event, serial 29, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    state 0x10, keycode 113 (keysym 0xfe03, ISO_Level3_Shift), same_screen YES,

ISO_Level3_Shift? Not really the Alt_R I was looking for!
After reading this Ubuntu bug report I change my keyboard preferences to be "Alt and Meta are on the Alt keys" (found under System -> Preferences -> Keyboard)

Now when I run xev this is what I get:

KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,

KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x3200001,
    state 0x10, keycode 113 (keysym 0xffea, Alt_R), same_screen YES,

At last, a working Alt-R key!

Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Keyboard, Preferences, AltR, AltGR, Andrew Beacock

Comments

Unknown said…

Thank you, it was really annoying.

6:23 am BST

Andrew Beacock said…

No problem, it has been bugging me for ages too!

7:52 pm BST

Anonymous said…

Thank you, this has been irritating me since I installed Feisty earlier this summer

1:06 am BST

I did that, but now I have a new problem.
Now I cant use the Alt-key together with numbers to make characters such as ¶¡@£$€¥{[]}\±.
Which kinda sucks, because I use [ ] { } $ a lot for programming, and @ for e-mail addresses.

11:57 am GMT

I didn't think you could get the symbols by using Alt I thought that was the job of the Shift key?

12:03 pm GMT

thank you, this was just what i was searching for

2:09 pm GMT

great, same problem in Hardy and (thankfully) same solution!

worked for dell xps m1330 laptop

thank you very much for the post!

4:18 am BST

Thanks very much Andrew! , good job :-)
You got 1+ from me :-)

9:57 am BST

(Ubuntu 8.04) I have the same problem only on IntelliJIdea.... ALT-GR is not recognised. In other application it works.

Then i followed your indications, I got the same result as you via xev, and NOW i can't use the ALT-GR neither in other apps....

9:29 am BST

Idea is a java-based program so that could be dealing with keypresses in a different way than normal Ubuntu apps.

10:06 am BST

Mark Wickens said…

Nice solution to my APL problem mate which uses right ALT as a meta key for a load of other crazy symbols! Cheers.

5:39 am BST

Max said…

Same problem - different solution: Your solution somehow didn't work with my laptop. So, instead of changing my keyboard preferences to "Alt and Meta are on the Alt keys", I checked "Right Alt, Shift + Right Alt key is Multi_Key" (System -> Preferences -> Keyboard -> Layouts -> Layout Options -> Key to choose 3rd level) and now it perfectly works.

Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T / Ubuntu 9.10

11:03 am GMT

Max, cheers for the update, that will make a useful addition if other people have similar issues to you.

11:58 am GMT

Thanks Max for your additional comment! Now since a month of struggling with Hardy I can finally write "@" in the Email-Programm ;-)

4:18 pm GMT

Thanks a lot. It solved my problem too.

3:23 am GMT

Thanks everyone!

What worked for me?

1. Choose 104-Key-Layout, instead of 105 (int)

2. Key to choose 3rd level --> Right Alt Key

7:11 am GMT

aBdul Shajin said…

worked for me..thanks

7:58 am GMT

Hao Lee said…

I checked "Right Alt key nerver chooses 3rd level" in "System -> Preferences -> Keyboard -> Layouts -> Layout Options -> Key to choose 3rd level" abd it works perfectly too!
Thanks for your inspiration!

7:45 am BST

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Getting the Right Alt key (Alt GR) to work in Ubuntu Linux

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