German umlaut ä not working

sfm · 13 July 2022 13:35

Hi everyone,
I have a strange problem. I can not type the german umlaut ä. It does not work in any application (browser, xfce-terminal, …). The uppercase version works without any problems and if I use caps lock I’m able to type the ä when pressing shift, but then the uppercase Ä isn’t working anymore.

It behaves like a function key, the cursor or input field flashes when pressed.
I found someone with a similar problem in the Arch Forum (hxxps://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1732749#p1732749). But he uses KDE so killing kglobalaccel is not a solution for me because it does not exist.

So what information do you need to help me with this problem?

[EDIT]
The requested inxi output:

[user@laptop ~]$ inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --width
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.50-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.1.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=dfe6004c-973c-4937-9a33-74e4cbc92022 rw quiet
    cryptdevice=UUID=23d6976d-8914-4330-92e9-ad124d017f88:luks-23d6976d-8914-4330-92e9-ad124d017f88
    root=/dev/mapper/luks-23d6976d-8914-4330-92e9-ad124d017f88 apparmor=1
    security=apparmor
    resume=/dev/mapper/luks-f22b18ee-76db-4a19-a6ea-8cd7ebe05407
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.16.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.29 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm
    v: 4.16.1 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0 Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 4286CTO v: ThinkPad X220
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 4286CTO serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO v: 8DET76WW (1.46 ) date: 06/21/2018
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 50.9 Wh (100.0%) condition: 50.9/73.3 Wh (69.5%)
    volts: 12.5 min: 11.1 model: JingYi 42T4865 type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
    status: full
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M345
    serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
Memory:
  RAM: total: 5.58 GiB used: 1.91 GiB (34.3%)
  RAM Report:
    permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-2540M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge
    gen: core 2 built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6 model-id: 0x2A (42)
    stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
    L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 966 high: 1476 min/max: 800/3300 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 797 2: 797 3: 797
    4: 1476 bogomips: 20740
  Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov
    constant_tsc cpuid cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept est
    flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida lahf_lm lm mca mce
    md_clear mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid
    pclmulqdq pdcm pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdtscp sep smx
    ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
    tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf
    mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass
    mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1
    mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen6 process: Intel 32nm
    built: 2011 ports: active: LVDS-1
    empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3, VGA-1
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0126 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.3 compositor: xfwm v: 4.16.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1639x921 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 434x244mm (17.09x9.61")
    s-diag: 498mm (19.6")
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: LG Display 0x02d8 built: 2010 res: 1640x922
    hz: 60 dpi: 150 gamma: 1.2 size: 277x156mm (10.91x6.14") diag: 318mm (12.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  Message: Unable to show GL data. Required tool glxinfo missing.
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
    vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.50-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.52 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Lenovo ThinkPad T520
    driver: e1000e v: kernel port: 5060 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1502
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:4238
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
  Device-1: luks-23d6976d-8914-4330-92e9-ad124d017f88 maj-min: 254:0
    type: LUKS dm: dm-0 size: 214.77 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 214.77 GiB
  Device-2: luks-f22b18ee-76db-4a19-a6ea-8cd7ebe05407 maj-min: 254:1
    type: LUKS dm: dm-1 size: 8.8 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 8.8 GiB
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 227.32 GiB used: 29.97 GiB (13.2%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 maj-min: 179:0 model: uSD size: 3.75 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: SSD serial: <filter> scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Intenso model: N/A size: 223.57 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: 6A0 scheme: MBR
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 214.77 GiB size: 210.33 GiB (97.94%)
    used: 29.97 GiB (14.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
    mapped: luks-23d6976d-8914-4330-92e9-ad124d017f88 label: N/A
    uuid: dfe6004c-973c-4937-9a33-74e4cbc92022
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/dm-1 maj-min: 254:1
    mapped: luks-f22b18ee-76db-4a19-a6ea-8cd7ebe05407 label: swap
    uuid: 597f70f0-3ba5-4646-aadf-94dd3a9925c9
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0p1 maj-min: 179:1 size: 3.75 GiB fs: vfat label: N/A
    uuid: 2580-0280
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 8087:0024 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-1.2:3 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver
    type: Keyboard,Mouse,HID driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 3
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 98mA chip-ID: 046d:c52b class-ID: 0300
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2995
Info:
  Processes: 206 Uptime: 58m wakeups: 7 Init: systemd v: 251
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.1.0 clang: 13.0.1
  Packages: 1186 pacman: 1176 lib: 354 flatpak: 10 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.19

andreas85 · 13 July 2022 13:46

ä

I do use xfce

Can you tell what you did just before this happened ?

Welcome to Manjaro!

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sfm · 13 July 2022 14:33

I have added the inxi output to my original post.
I can’t remember doing anything special. I installed manjaro on my notebook months ago and haven’t used it more than two times since then.
So maybe this is a problem that exists since the installation.

I had the system configured to use english as display language and german for everything else (keyboard, date format, …), maybe this caused the problem. Today I switched back to all german, but this didn’t change anything.

Mirdarthos · 13 July 2022 14:45

Hi @sfm, and welcome!

Sounds like a locale issue to me. Please provide the output to:

localectl list-locales

Also, have a look here, it should help:

sfm · 13 July 2022 15:24

Thanks for the link to the troubleshooting. I have applied all recommendations, rebooted and have still the same problem.

[user@laptop ~]$ localectl
   System Locale: LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
       VC Keymap: de
      X11 Layout: de
       X11 Model: pc104alt
     X11 Variant: nodeadkeys

[user@laptop ~]$ localectl list-locales
C.UTF-8
aa_DJ.UTF-8
aa_ER.UTF-8
aa_ER.UTF-8@saaho
aa_ET.UTF-8
af_ZA.UTF-8
agr_PE.UTF-8
ak_GH.UTF-8
am_ET.UTF-8
an_ES.UTF-8
anp_IN.UTF-8
ar_AE.UTF-8
ar_BH.UTF-8
ar_DZ.UTF-8
ar_EG.UTF-8
ar_IN.UTF-8
ar_IQ.UTF-8
ar_JO.UTF-8
ar_KW.UTF-8
ar_LB.UTF-8
ar_LY.UTF-8
ar_MA.UTF-8
ar_OM.UTF-8
ar_QA.UTF-8
ar_SA.UTF-8
ar_SD.UTF-8
ar_SS.UTF-8
ar_SY.UTF-8
ar_TN.UTF-8
ar_YE.UTF-8
as_IN.UTF-8
ast_ES.UTF-8
ayc_PE.UTF-8
az_AZ.UTF-8
az_IR.UTF-8
be_BY.UTF-8
be_BY.UTF-8@latin
bem_ZM.UTF-8
ber_DZ.UTF-8
ber_MA.UTF-8
bg_BG.UTF-8
bhb_IN.UTF-8
bho_IN.UTF-8
bho_NP.UTF-8
bi_VU.UTF-8
bn_BD.UTF-8
bn_IN.UTF-8
bo_CN.UTF-8
bo_IN.UTF-8
br_FR.UTF-8
brx_IN.UTF-8
bs_BA.UTF-8
byn_ER.UTF-8
ca_AD.UTF-8
ca_ES.UTF-8
ca_ES.UTF-8@valencia
ca_FR.UTF-8
ca_IT.UTF-8
ce_RU.UTF-8
chr_US.UTF-8
cmn_TW.UTF-8
crh_UA.UTF-8
cs_CZ.UTF-8
csb_PL.UTF-8
cv_RU.UTF-8
cy_GB.UTF-8
da_DK.UTF-8
de_AT.UTF-8
de_BE.UTF-8
de_CH.UTF-8
de_DE.UTF-8
de_IT.UTF-8
de_LI.UTF-8
de_LU.UTF-8
doi_IN.UTF-8
dsb_DE.UTF-8
dv_MV.UTF-8
dz_BT.UTF-8
el_CY.UTF-8
el_GR.UTF-8
en_AG.UTF-8
en_AU.UTF-8
en_BW.UTF-8
en_CA.UTF-8
en_DK.UTF-8
en_GB.UTF-8
en_HK.UTF-8
en_IE.UTF-8
en_IL.UTF-8
en_IN.UTF-8
en_NG.UTF-8
en_NZ.UTF-8
en_PH.UTF-8
en_SC.UTF-8
en_SG.UTF-8
en_US.UTF-8
en_ZA.UTF-8
en_ZM.UTF-8
en_ZW.UTF-8
eo.UTF-8
es_AR.UTF-8
es_BO.UTF-8
es_CL.UTF-8
es_CO.UTF-8
es_CR.UTF-8
es_CU.UTF-8
es_DO.UTF-8
es_EC.UTF-8
es_ES.UTF-8
es_GT.UTF-8
es_HN.UTF-8
es_MX.UTF-8
es_NI.UTF-8
es_PA.UTF-8
es_PE.UTF-8
es_PR.UTF-8
es_PY.UTF-8
es_SV.UTF-8
es_US.UTF-8
es_UY.UTF-8
es_VE.UTF-8
et_EE.UTF-8
eu_ES.UTF-8
fa_IR.UTF-8
ff_SN.UTF-8
fi_FI.UTF-8
fil_PH.UTF-8
fo_FO.UTF-8
fr_BE.UTF-8
fr_CA.UTF-8
fr_CH.UTF-8
fr_FR.UTF-8
fr_LU.UTF-8
fur_IT.UTF-8
fy_DE.UTF-8
fy_NL.UTF-8
ga_IE.UTF-8
gd_GB.UTF-8
gez_ER.UTF-8
gez_ER.UTF-8@abegede
gez_ET.UTF-8
gez_ET.UTF-8@abegede
gl_ES.UTF-8
gu_IN.UTF-8
gv_GB.UTF-8
ha_NG.UTF-8
hak_TW.UTF-8
he_IL.UTF-8
hi_IN.UTF-8
hif_FJ.UTF-8
hne_IN.UTF-8
hr_HR.UTF-8
hsb_DE.UTF-8
ht_HT.UTF-8
hu_HU.UTF-8
hy_AM.UTF-8
ia_FR.UTF-8
id_ID.UTF-8
ig_NG.UTF-8
ik_CA.UTF-8
is_IS.UTF-8
it_CH.UTF-8
it_IT.UTF-8
iu_CA.UTF-8
ja_JP.UTF-8
ka_GE.UTF-8
kab_DZ.UTF-8
kk_KZ.UTF-8
kl_GL.UTF-8
km_KH.UTF-8
kn_IN.UTF-8
ko_KR.UTF-8
kok_IN.UTF-8
ks_IN.UTF-8
ks_IN.UTF-8@devanagari
ku_TR.UTF-8
kw_GB.UTF-8
ky_KG.UTF-8
lb_LU.UTF-8
lg_UG.UTF-8
li_BE.UTF-8
li_NL.UTF-8
lij_IT.UTF-8
ln_CD.UTF-8
lo_LA.UTF-8
lt_LT.UTF-8
lv_LV.UTF-8
lzh_TW.UTF-8
mag_IN.UTF-8
mai_IN.UTF-8
mai_NP.UTF-8
mfe_MU.UTF-8
mg_MG.UTF-8
mhr_RU.UTF-8
mi_NZ.UTF-8
miq_NI.UTF-8
mjw_IN.UTF-8
mk_MK.UTF-8
ml_IN.UTF-8
mn_MN.UTF-8
mni_IN.UTF-8
mnw_MM.UTF-8
mr_IN.UTF-8
ms_MY.UTF-8
mt_MT.UTF-8
my_MM.UTF-8
nan_TW.UTF-8
nan_TW.UTF-8@latin
nb_NO.UTF-8
nds_DE.UTF-8
nds_NL.UTF-8
ne_NP.UTF-8
nhn_MX.UTF-8
niu_NU.UTF-8
niu_NZ.UTF-8
nl_AW.UTF-8
nl_BE.UTF-8
nl_NL.UTF-8
nn_NO.UTF-8
nr_ZA.UTF-8
nso_ZA.UTF-8
oc_FR.UTF-8
om_ET.UTF-8
om_KE.UTF-8
or_IN.UTF-8
os_RU.UTF-8
pa_IN.UTF-8
pa_PK.UTF-8
pap_AW.UTF-8
pap_CW.UTF-8
pl_PL.UTF-8
ps_AF.UTF-8
pt_BR.UTF-8
pt_PT.UTF-8
quz_PE.UTF-8
raj_IN.UTF-8
ro_RO.UTF-8
ru_RU.UTF-8
ru_UA.UTF-8
rw_RW.UTF-8
sa_IN.UTF-8
sah_RU.UTF-8
sat_IN.UTF-8
sc_IT.UTF-8
sd_IN.UTF-8
sd_IN.UTF-8@devanagari
se_NO.UTF-8
sgs_LT.UTF-8
shn_MM.UTF-8
shs_CA.UTF-8
si_LK.UTF-8
sid_ET.UTF-8
sk_SK.UTF-8
sl_SI.UTF-8
sm_WS.UTF-8
so_DJ.UTF-8
so_ET.UTF-8
so_KE.UTF-8
so_SO.UTF-8
sq_AL.UTF-8
sq_MK.UTF-8
sr_ME.UTF-8
sr_RS.UTF-8
sr_RS.UTF-8@latin
ss_ZA.UTF-8
st_ZA.UTF-8
sv_FI.UTF-8
sv_SE.UTF-8
sw_KE.UTF-8
sw_TZ.UTF-8
szl_PL.UTF-8
ta_IN.UTF-8
ta_LK.UTF-8
tcy_IN.UTF-8
te_IN.UTF-8
tg_TJ.UTF-8
th_TH.UTF-8
the_NP.UTF-8
ti_ER.UTF-8
ti_ET.UTF-8
tig_ER.UTF-8
tk_TM.UTF-8
tl_PH.UTF-8
tn_ZA.UTF-8
to_TO.UTF-8
tpi_PG.UTF-8
tr_CY.UTF-8
tr_TR.UTF-8
ts_ZA.UTF-8
tt_RU.UTF-8
tt_RU.UTF-8@iqtelif
ug_CN.UTF-8
uk_UA.UTF-8
unm_US.UTF-8
ur_IN.UTF-8
ur_PK.UTF-8
uz_UZ.UTF-8
uz_UZ.UTF-8@cyrillic
ve_ZA.UTF-8
vi_VN.UTF-8
wa_BE.UTF-8
wae_CH.UTF-8
wal_ET.UTF-8
wo_SN.UTF-8
xh_ZA.UTF-8
yi_US.UTF-8
yo_NG.UTF-8
yue_HK.UTF-8
yuw_PG.UTF-8
zh_CN.UTF-8
zh_HK.UTF-8
zh_SG.UTF-8
zh_TW.UTF-8
zu_ZA.UTF-8

sfm · 13 July 2022 15:37

I just had an idea. I created a new user in the majaro settings manager and logged in with this new user, and the umlaut ä is working!
If no one know how to solve this issue, I would stop wasting your time and just create a new user and use that one from now on.

mithrial · 13 July 2022 15:46

Maybe it’s this? I don’t know what the ...alt stands for.

Mirdarthos · 13 July 2022 15:57

Then it definitely sounds like a locale problem. You’d do well to troubleshoot it with that link I gave you.

bogdancovaciu · 14 July 2022 11:34

Generic 104-key PC with L-shaped Enter key

Mirdarthos · 14 July 2022 11:39

If you still want to troubleshoot this, please provide the output for

cat /etc/locale.gen

If not, you can simply carry on using the new user.

freggel.doe · 14 July 2022 20:08

Checking with another/fresh user is always a good idea.
This points to something config releated, perhaps a keyboard shortcut “eating” the “ä”?

sfm · 3 September 2022 20:05

The hint to the keyboard shortcuts was the right direction.
I had “^” assigned to the command “xfce4-terminal --drop-down” to get a quake like console. And that was the problem. replacing ^ with super+t and my umlaut ä is working again. This is kinda weird but I can live with it.

Thank you all for the help.

system · 6 September 2022 10:06

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