why won't the NumPad keys work?

[hanzj]

On my keyboard plugged into my Ubuntu desktop computer, the NumPad keys to the right of the alphabetic letters don't work.
The alphabet keys work.
Could someone help me find out what's going on.

[Frogs Hair]

I have to ask , is the number lock on ?

[doas777]

you may need to install and run numlockx. it toggles your numlock state. I've had to do it before.

[hanzj]

frogs hair,
I have tried making NumLock both on and off, but neither helps.
BTW, it does appear that the hardware works: the light for NumLock goes on and off, depending on my NumLock pressing. So it looks like it's a software issue (hardware-software communication issue)?

[JKyleOKC]

Unfortunately, the lights and the software that interprets the keys are not directly related to each other! On one of my machines, it's necessary to run the numlockx utility to switch the actual meanings of the keys on the pad; the key labelled "NumLock" switches the light, but not the software.

You can tell if you have something similar going on by seeing whether the 2, 4, 6, and 8 keys duplicate the actions of the four arrow keys. This dual meaning of the keypad dates from the earliest IBM PC designs, in 1981. At that time they didn't have the arrow keys; everyone had to use the keypad to control cursor positioning. Ditto for Home, End, PgDn, and PgUp. Only the 5 key didn't have an additional control meaning.

Ever since then, keyboards have continued that dual purpose for the keypad, even after separate keys were added for the control functions. Windows drivers switch to the number function automatically, but not all Linux drivers do so. That's why somebody wrote the numlockx utility, which can be made to run automagically when you log in...

Hope this helps! It's a real pain for anyone who does much number crunching...

[hanzj]

jkyle, none of the numpad keys do anything whether the numlock light is on or off. 8-(

[doas777]

try it:

[CODE][
sudo apt-get install numlockx
numlockx
/CODE]

[hanzj]

before i install any software, could you advise how i can test whether my computer is "hearing" my keys being pressed?


I've been using this computer for long without the numpad problem, and this numpad issue just started 2 weeks ago

[JKyleOKC]

If it doesn't do the cursor movement, or give a number, then it's most likely a failure of the keyboard itself. There are programs, usually installed by default but not put on any menus, that can show you the exact key code generated by any key. Open a terminal window, enter the command "xev", put the cursor in its little window, and press any key. You should get a number reported, which is the code for that key. Then try the keys on your numpad. If you get numbers back, the keyboard is okay and software may help. If you get no response, the keyboard has failed and needs replacement. To get out of the xev program, press Ctrl and C at the same time.

I had one go bad on me just a couple of weeks ago; it had worked perfectly for years, but one day it just didn't work any more. Since you say your problem appeared suddenly out of the blue, my guess is that something similar has happened to you.

[hanzj]

I ran xev in terminal, and then I tried pressing all the keys in the NumPad area. All the keys are "heard" by xev, in both NumLock On and NumLock Off. But still, numbers don't show up on the screen in, say, a browser or textpad.

[JKyleOKC]

I think that result indicates that the keyboard is okay, so the problem must be somewhere in the software. If the keyboard had gone bad, then xev ought not have shown any output from it.

It's possible, of course, that the keyboard is no longer sending the correct codes, even though it's sending codes back. The following is what I get here when pressing the "5" key on the numpad (it's buried within a whole string of MotionNotify events so you have to search for KeyPress and KeyRelease events):


KeyPress event, serial 31, synthetic NO, window 0x4000001,
root 0x1ad, subw 0x4000002, time 2494257106, (33,38), root:(664,435),
state 0x10, keycode 84 (keysym 0xffb5, KP_5), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (35) "5"
XmbLookupString gives 1 bytes: (35) "5"
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x4000001,
root 0x1ad, subw 0x4000002, time 2494257288, (33,38), root:(664,435),
state 0x10, keycode 84 (keysym 0xffb5, KP_5), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (35) "5"
XFilterEvent returns: False
The essential things to look for in the report are the lines starting with "state" and the two that follow. The keycode shown on the "state" line may be different for your keyboard but if you're configured for the standard US hardware should be the same. The XLookupString lines should show you the value that you would expect to see in a text entry screen.

I'm going to be off line most all day so hopefully others will jump in here to give you more help. Have you installed any updates recently, that is, at about the time the problem showed up?

[satyanash]

Hi,
I am just stating a possibility that you might have triggered the mouse cursor movement using Shift+NumLock key, this enables movement of the mouse cursor using the numpad keys. This feature is useful when you don't have a mouse.
Try disabling it by pressing Shift+NumLock again.
I am considering this possibility since the problem started abruptly, and the fact that Shift+NumLock remains active even after restarting the computer.
Satyajeet
Hopefully it'll help!:popcorn:

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

make sure it is not set to use the mouse with those keys

[skyydiver]

This is interesting. I am searching for this exact issue as my number pad died upon upgrade to 11.04. I am going to try the Shift Numlock when I get home just in case I happened to do that at the same time as the upgrade.

[hanzj]

Ok. So I realized that my NumPad keys are moving my mouse cursor. This is either NumLock on or off. So, for instance, The 7 key moves to the upper-left. The Six key moves to the right.

How can I undo this?


UPDATE: Solved:

Here’s the solution:

System – Preferences – Assistive Technologies

Keyboard Accessibility

Mouse Keys

Clear the checkbox [ ] Pointer can be controlled using the keypad
(from http://labby.co.uk/2011/03/ubuntu-numpad-moves-mouse-cursor/77)

[JKyleOKC]

Good to know you got it fixed. That little checkbox trips lots of folk up!

[ubunation]

Nice to find the solution here, the second Forum thread I checked after searching with "number pad".

But has anyone any idea what's going on, why this turned up in Natty (I just installed 11.04, had 10.04 until this week, and no trouble, neither with any other system I've played with)?

I've been using Lucid up to this week, and now figured I'm enough of a tinkerer to dare come off the LTS and get a handle on Natty before the next one comes along.

I suspect that it's Unity. Nobody seems to like unity, and me neither. In the old one, and with that, Gnome Do was the quickie-thing, if I couldn't be bothered to go to the Menu.

Cheers,

[conradin]

I pressed shift numlock and the functionality toggled from moving the mouse to acting like a numberPad.Thanks to this thread my problem is solved!!!