Bug 83737

Summary:	alt tab traps user in taskbox indefinitely
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	Daniel Klein <bringa>
Component:	general	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED DUPLICATE
Severity:	normal
Priority:	NOR
Version:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Debian testing
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Daniel Klein 2004-06-21 00:11:07 UTC

Version: (using KDE KDE 3.2.2)
Installed from: Debian testing/unstable Packages
OS: Linux

Randomly (I cannot provoke the behaviour reliably :/), the taskchanger box will not close after I release alt-tab. This seems to be unrelated to whether I press and release alt tab quickly or not.
After that, ALL keyboard input is ignored, and all mouse clicking is ignored except for clicks on tasks in the change task box (clicking moves the little frame around the currently selected task, just like another press of tab with alt held down would do, no selection or closing of the box happens) and clicks on the panel. By clicking on the panel, I can start tasks (konsole, konqueror...) but I won't be able to interact with the newly launched programs. I get to open the start menu and do the same there. The only way out of this bug is to click log out and pray there won't be any 'do you want to save' dialogs (which I won't be able to answer). All keyboard input is IGNORED - not even toggling numlock or capslock works, ctrl-alt+f1-f6 are ignored, ctrl-alt+BACKSPACE is ignored, I can't even get my PC to beep by holding down many keys. This has happened well over 10 times to me now. I have slowly and methodically tried pretty much everything while I was stuck in that way, but when a 'confirm no-save' type dialog pops up, the only way to use my computer again is a hardware reset. Note that all programs in the background keep running just fine - even mouseovers are properly registered still (clicks are not), mp3s keep playing and so on.

I would say this bug has rather high severity - forcing me to logout from KDE (killing is impossible since I don't get to do ANYTHING with my keyboard) or, worse, forcing me to hardware reset is *BAD*. This has never happened to me in KDE 3.0.* (which I used before the transition to debian and KDE 3.2.2). A quickfix of some sort (maybe removal of whatever code disables keyboard input, or a timer that checks if the taskchanger box is open for a certain time, anything quick and dirty to help me get out of there) would be greatly appreciated.

Comment 1 skyostil 2004-06-21 20:33:24 UTC

I'm seeing this with Debian testing packages too, although not as severely. If I alt-tab slow enough for the task window to be visible, it gets stuck and won't switch to the selected task. From there I can only get out by doing a fast alt-tab, anything too slow just cycles it around the task list.

The problem goes away if I assign another key for task switching instead of alt. Not sure if it's related, but after a recent update none of the alt-letter menu accelerators work. I'm guessing this is some sort of a distro bug.

Comment 2 Daniel Klein 2004-06-21 20:50:14 UTC

I don't think that's related. I've heard that bug description you mention as well, when I searched for mine at first. The thing is, I cannot press ANYTHING on my keyboard anymore. And I can wait a long time and keep the window visible and everything will still work as intended. Maybe it's related, but it's surely not the same bug. At least I'd say so with my non existent KDE knowledge :P

Comment 3 Jan Spitalnik 2004-07-02 14:19:16 UTC

I see the same problem, the solution is to press Enter on the task you want to be switched to or to press alt-tab again but fast this time. 

1) fast press-release alt-tab - OK
2) slow press-release alt-tab - KO

PS: I'm using Debian too, maybe it's just coincidence :-)

Comment 4 Stephan Binner 2004-07-06 13:38:52 UTC


*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 84415 ***