[arch-general] VirtualBox ALT-key problems (especially with Adobe programs)

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Klaus Doblmann M.A.

9 Jul 2016 9 Jul '16

10:57 a.m.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Hi, I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key. (No discussions about my need for these proprietary apps please, there are valid reasons for my need for those, I'm not happy about it either). This has been a long-standing problem when using Linux as host systems and is related to aspects of the window management. In previous systems the culprit was that ALT+dragging left mouse button was set to move windows around in Linux, this interfered with the function of the ALT key in the virtual machines. Now using Arch (GNOME3) I have tried several things but haven't found a solution yet. Here's what I've tried: - - Use GNOME tinker tool to disable the window action-key (or assign the super key for that) - - Use GNOME tinker tool to switch the assignment of the ALT and Windows keys - - Tried several different settings in VirtualBox in regards to the capturing of mouse and/or keyboard None of these things - which used to provide a solution in the past) worked, but I have to admit I haven't used a virtual Windows system with Photoshop on a Linux host in probably five years so things might have changed quite a bit. Any pointers from this list? thanks, Klaus - -- Klaus Doblmann M.A. PGP: 43F89A1B -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2 iQEcBAEBCAAGBQJXgNiPAAoJEJArGOi/1wqdejsH/AtddpGWCLTEe+6XqgXji73P bCkTfhdKFqDGO0rRgov8j3I4cAMWm63IVrQDxVqvRoAxklPQrLSkaj/GKCCvbJ9T Dr3NEJldqhTMyrSB1ezm6qRCAI8D73lTika6EHmpOst3g+tLmfj+/O8XMlG88gMt Vam2a40MPTYhQWLAZxSkYg92pAk6n3bHrzMRSEu0n/PLJMNSDC27ajE6kMUap4oT QGXsubG8oUYpXvJcUeTBCfGE7c7eGocqZmCrjUJT2Z4SAV31oIsAxswz0Z/OV7pE /8tpwQK6lMNmh1FTjfzdcvzBntds9zGB5ElgYtRyEM94UmNipsE8IDwBiGM8M90= =JHCG -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Ralf Mardorf

9 Jul 9 Jul

11:18 a.m.

On Sat, 9 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +0200, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...

I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key.

Hi, perhaps the used version of photoshop does work better when using wine. Wine is as easy to use as vbox, it doesn't require graphical desktop sharing by VNC and doesn't require SAMBA to share files or something similar, that is needed by other virtual machines. I run iTunes as a vbox guest, because it doesn't run on wine and I can't spend time to set up a most likely better, but not that easy to set up virtual machine. Vbox does cause a lot of trouble. Regards, Ralf

Klaus Doblmann M.A.

12:11 p.m.

On 2016-07-09 13:18, Ralf Mardorf wrote:

...

On Sat, 9 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +0200, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key.

Hi,

perhaps the used version of photoshop does work better when using wine. Wine is as easy to use as vbox, it doesn't require graphical desktop sharing by VNC and doesn't require SAMBA to share files or something similar, that is needed by other virtual machines.

Hi Ralf, Thanks for your reply. I'm very familiar with Wine, however I can't even get past installing the Creative Cloud application which works as a hub/installer for the main apps. Some people report success on running Photoshop on Wine with a lot of tinkering but some of these reports seem to use unlicensed versions... ;) The whole solution to my problem should be rather easy - SOMETHING messes with the Alt key on the linux side - it's just a matter of finding out what... ;) Klaus

Bruno Widmann

3:04 p.m.

Try some other window manager, that way you can find out if it's gnome's wm which is causing the problem. Personally i'm using fvwm, and everything in my windows vboxes is working fine. Haven't tried photoshop though... On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 2:11 PM, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...

On 2016-07-09 13:18, Ralf Mardorf wrote:

...
On Sat, 9 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +0200, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key.

Hi,

perhaps the used version of photoshop does work better when using wine. Wine is as easy to use as vbox, it doesn't require graphical desktop sharing by VNC and doesn't require SAMBA to share files or something similar, that is needed by other virtual machines.

Hi Ralf,

Thanks for your reply. I'm very familiar with Wine, however I can't even get past installing the Creative Cloud application which works as a hub/installer for the main apps. Some people report success on running Photoshop on Wine with a lot of tinkering but some of these reports seem to use unlicensed versions... ;)

The whole solution to my problem should be rather easy - SOMETHING messes with the Alt key on the linux side - it's just a matter of finding out what... ;)

Klaus

Peter Bauer

16 Jul 16 Jul

11:53 a.m.

On gnome you can modify this behavior with the gnome-tweak-tool in the Window section. I changed the Window-Action key from "ALT" to "Super". I faced the same issues with the Layout-software EAGLE on Windows in VirtualBox. Am 09.07.2016 um 17:04 schrieb Bruno Widmann via arch-general:

...

Try some other window manager, that way you can find out if it's gnome's wm which is causing the problem. Personally i'm using fvwm, and everything in my windows vboxes is working fine. Haven't tried photoshop though...

On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 2:11 PM, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
On 2016-07-09 13:18, Ralf Mardorf wrote:

...
On Sat, 9 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +0200, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key.

Hi,

perhaps the used version of photoshop does work better when using wine. Wine is as easy to use as vbox, it doesn't require graphical desktop sharing by VNC and doesn't require SAMBA to share files or something similar, that is needed by other virtual machines.

Hi Ralf,

Thanks for your reply. I'm very familiar with Wine, however I can't even get past installing the Creative Cloud application which works as a hub/installer for the main apps. Some people report success on running Photoshop on Wine with a lot of tinkering but some of these reports seem to use unlicensed versions... ;)

The whole solution to my problem should be rather easy - SOMETHING messes with the Alt key on the linux side - it's just a matter of finding out what... ;)

Klaus

Klaus Doblmann M.A.

6 Aug 6 Aug

5:36 p.m.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 On 2016-07-16 13:53, Peter Bauer wrote:

...

On gnome you can modify this behavior with the gnome-tweak-tool in the Window section. I changed the Window-Action key from "ALT" to "Super". I faced the same issues with the Layout-software EAGLE on Windows in VirtualBox.

Thanks, I tried this as well - didn't help at all, nor changing the Window manager. But, in the end, I finally found a solution. Here's my workaround for the sake of posterity and so it shows up when others are looking for a workaround: Using the software-accessibility keyboard in Windows I was able to find out that the left Alt-key was always recognised as Alt+GR in Windows. And yes, I checked the keyboard settings, multiple times. I used Gnome-tinker-tool to set a few different Alt/Super-options on the Linux side - nothing helped, Virtualbox would override it and always send Alt+Gr... In the end I used a program that remaps keys in the Windows Registry and set it so the left Alt-key now correctly sends the Alt-key signal. This is what I used: http://lifehacker.com/5883003/the-best-key-remapper-for-windows Still would be interesting why Virtualbox sends these "funny" keymappings. And yes, I also tried different keyboards....

...

Am 09.07.2016 um 17:04 schrieb Bruno Widmann via arch-general:

...
Try some other window manager, that way you can find out if it's gnome's wm which is causing the problem. Personally i'm using fvwm, and everything in my windows vboxes is working fine. Haven't tried photoshop though...

On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 2:11 PM, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
On 2016-07-09 13:18, Ralf Mardorf wrote:

...
On Sat, 9 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +0200, Klaus Doblmann M.A. wrote:

...
I'm having troubles getting the ALT-key to work properly in VirtualBox as a modifier in applications like Photoshop for things like the clone tool, it isn't recognised as the ALT-key.

Hi,

perhaps the used version of photoshop does work better when using wine. Wine is as easy to use as vbox, it doesn't require graphical desktop sharing by VNC and doesn't require SAMBA to share files or something similar, that is needed by other virtual machines.

Hi Ralf,

Thanks for your reply. I'm very familiar with Wine, however I can't even get past installing the Creative Cloud application which works as a hub/installer for the main apps. Some people report success on running Photoshop on Wine with a lot of tinkering but some of these reports seem to use unlicensed versions... ;)

The whole solution to my problem should be rather easy - SOMETHING messes with the Alt key on the linux side - it's just a matter of finding out what... ;)

Klaus

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participants (4)

Bruno Widmann
Klaus Doblmann M.A.
Peter Bauer
Ralf Mardorf