Why are non-US keyboards not supported while prompting for decryption?

[TriMoon]

@linux-aarhus

as it requires a custom build of the efi stub and the loader becomes hardcoded to that layout.

What has the efi-stub todo with keyboard layouts
The used layout is used by the software asking for the input, which is not the efi-stub

@Cl00e9ment

I don’t know where this miss-conception come from, but no, if you press a A on the AZERTY layout but the QWERTY layout is loaded, a Q will be produced, not a A. So, even if you use ASCII only character, you will still be impacted by this.

Exactly

@linux-aarhus

You are referring to - and is confused by - the visual layout - what I am saying is the visual layout is irrelevant when you know what layout is configured.

The point is, if you keep to the topic, is the characters interpreted for the password input by the user, which does not use the key-codes but instead uses the produced char…

When it comes to Grub, yes they need to add support for it, just like they did when they made Grub able to decrypt partitions
Need by users makes devs implement stuff, unless they keep saying “I don’t mind cause i don’t use it”…

@Nachlese

This means that one would need to build a custom grub image - which is not exactly easy.

They could just add another module you can load, like the other modules they use now.
Ofcourse a bit problematic if distro’s keep installing grub in /boot instead of the ESP…

[Cl00e9ment]

I don’t know why Ubuntu and some other distros don’t have this issue. However this doesn’t seem to be exclusive to Manjaro. Endeavour OS have the same problem.

It seems like the issue comes from upstream Calamares or GRUB. There is indeed an active discussion on the upstream Calamares repo, with someone willing to tackle this.

I don’t think that this discussion is relevant to Manjaro.

[Teo]

While this might be hard to implement, i also think more kbd layouts should be available in the future. Maybe not now but at some point. It is the only logical thing to do in a OS that should be used outside US

That said, i think the Manjaro Team is underestimating the impact of the issue. And the issue is not only with the encryption, it is with the logon (there is en-us indicator on login screen but clicking on it does nothing). I am pretty sure some users were stuck and had to reinstall on the first login because of this. Yes, “common sense”, use passwords in english, but come on…it is 2023 now, not 1993.

The solution if you cannot fix the early boot stages and the login of the OS is at least to sanitize the input field and to warn the user in Calamares installer in the live ISO, or at the very least you must add a note / explanation / warning in Calamares interface where the “choose a password to keep your account safe” field is. Adding another sentence there will take like 30 seconds.

[linux-aarhus]

I did a very recent test install using luks encryption using danish input and the subsequent restart inputting the password using danish keyboard layout worked.

I suspect it is a bi-product of the recent plymouth boot splash implementation as it is plymouth which is handling the password prompt.

[Teo]

@Teo

And the issue is not only with the encryption, it is with the logon (there is en-us indicator on login screen but clicking on it does nothing). I am pretty sure some users were stuck and had to reinstall on the first login because of this. Yes, “common sense”, use passwords in english, but come on…it is 2023 now, not 1993.

I have to take this back. I discovered today, the small language menu in LightDM greeter actually works. But it uses the default manjaro touchpad behavior and you have to press the touchpad and not just tap…

[anoap]

@Cl00e9ment A French-Canadian guy had a similar problem with Mabox.
https://forum.maboxlinux.org/t/solved-luks-passphrase-wrong-keyboard-language/1003/17
As far as I remember if you are not on BTRFS and ready to give a shot to switch to systemd-boot
https://forum.xerolinux.xyz/thread-166.html
you have a chance to a workaround.
There were successful tests with Mabox which is a Manjaro descendant AFAIK.
So say farewell to GRUB if this keyboard layout problem is so important to you.

[Cl00e9ment]

@Teo This is not a character issue, but a keyboard layout issue (placement of keys). Using English passwords doesn’t fix the issue.

@anoap Thanks for your help, but I made a radical fix. I was fed up of softwares not supporting non-US keyboards so I switched to an international QWERTY months ago. Since QWERTY is often the default, it also saves setup time. It’s a solution that works for me but will not fit everyone.