Keyboard issue: AltGr seems to hang after typing \)

[joew]

Hello,

I am pretty new to Proxmox and did a test install of Proxmox VE to check whether this would be the way to go for me.

I have created a new VM and installed ubuntu-24.04.3 on it, configured german keyboard (nodeadkeys) as I actually have a german keyboard.

Whenever I type the key sequence '\' ')' fast into the web-console of this VM (as in "sed 's/abc\(def\)g//'" or something), the AltGr-Key (the key on the right side of the space-bar) seems to hang.

Any hints?

Update:
I forgot to mention, that

• other VMs are not affected, pve-web-console is also not affected, so it is not a local problem
• I can't find any way to get out of the situation. All keystrokes appear as if AltGr is constantly pressed. Only rebooting the VM gives me a working keyboard.

 

[mariol]

Have you ever tried xterm.js? https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/renseignements-ssh-shell-ou-console.177833/#post-825890

 

[joew]

Had a long running compile (lasted about three days).

Could not find any way to copy screen contents from VM Console into a local file.

So tried to save byobu scrollbac kbuffer (containing compile error message) into a file (on the VM) so I can download it for local investigation.

While entering '~/' to enter a file name withhin the home directory, AltGr hangs again.

Any idea how to get out of this situation without loosing my byobu capture due to a reboot?

Maybe another virtual terminal has still a working keyboard, but can't figure how to change virtual terminal on the VM. How would I change virtual terminal? Typing ALT-Fx or CTRL-ALT-Fx chnages virtual terminal on my local machine. In qemu, there's the "monitor console", where I can send keys to switch virtual terminals. How would I do this in proxmox?

I just can't believe that such a basic thing like typing the home directory prefix '~/' would render the VM into a completely unusable state without any way to get out of the situation.

 

[mariol]

I cannot reproduce this behavior here in a current Ubuntu-Server 24.04 VM.

other VMs are not affected, pve-web-console is also not affected, so it is not a local problem

Is this the only Ubuntu VM?
Is this a Desktop or an Ubuntu-Server VM?
Please post your VM-Config: "qm config <vmid>"
What Proxmox VE Version to you use? "pveversion -v"

So tried to save byobu scrollbac kbuffer (containing compile error message) into a file (on the VM) so I can download it for local investigation.

Would access via SSH be a solution?
Maybe screen could be simpler solution then byobu?

New session:

screen -S <sessionname>

Leave an active session:

screen -d

or STRG+A+D

Show all sessions with screen:

screen -ls

Resuming a suspended session:

screen -r <sessionname>

Join an existing session:

screen -rx <sessionname>

Maybe another virtual terminal has still a working keyboard, but can't figure how to change virtual terminal on the VM. How would I change virtual terminal? Typing ALT-Fx or CTRL-ALT-Fx chnages virtual terminal on my local machine. In qemu, there's the "monitor console", where I can send keys to switch virtual terminals. How would I do this in proxmox?

Press the virtual STRG + ALT and the real F-Key on your keyboard to change the TTY.

 

[joew]

Thanks for the reply, @mariol!

I cannot reproduce this behavior here in a current Ubuntu-Server 24.04 VM.

It happens only when I type fast. If I type really slow, it doesn't happen.

Is this the only Ubuntu VM?

I can not reproduce on debian-13.2.0
Guess this is because debian-installer won't let me select a keyboard variant?

Is this a Desktop or an Ubuntu-Server VM?

Recipe to reproduce:

boot ubuntu-24.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
on grub menu, choose "Try or install ubuntu server"
select german keyboard, variant "no dead keys"
switch to virtual terminal 2
fast type '\)'

no desktop and no install needed to reproduce.

Can be reproduced right after keyboard selection in the installer (on a different virtual terminal)

Please post your VM-Config: "qm config <vmid>"

# qm config 104
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
LANGUAGE = (unset),
LC_ALL = (unset),
LC_CTYPE = (unset),
LC_NUMERIC = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_COLLATE = (unset),
LC_TIME = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_MESSAGES = (unset),
LC_MONETARY = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_ADDRESS = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_IDENTIFICATION = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_MEASUREMENT = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_PAPER = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_TELEPHONE = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_NAME = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to a fallback locale ("en_US.UTF-8").
boot: order=scsi0;ide2;net0
cores: 1
cpu: x86-64-v2-AES
ide2: local:iso/ubuntu-24.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso,media=cdrom,size=3226020K
memory: 8192
meta: creation-qemu=10.1.2,ctime=1767187056
name: ubuntu-original
net0: virtio=BC:24:11:EB:F1:F0,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1
numa: 0
ostype: l26
scsi0: local-lvm:vm-104-disk-0,iothread=1,size=32G
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
smbios1: uuid=665234fd-2c5d-4352-9ef0-3116a5be5e44
sockets: 1
vmgenid: 60cd9f0c-e8f6-469b-8ac2-ff286ef12843

What Proxmox VE Version to you use? "pveversion -v"

# pveversion -v
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
LANGUAGE = (unset),
LC_ALL = (unset),
LC_CTYPE = (unset),
LC_NUMERIC = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_COLLATE = (unset),
LC_TIME = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_MESSAGES = (unset),
LC_MONETARY = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_ADDRESS = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_IDENTIFICATION = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_MEASUREMENT = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_PAPER = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_TELEPHONE = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LC_NAME = "de_DE.UTF-8",
LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to a fallback locale ("en_US.UTF-8").
proxmox-ve: 9.1.0 (running kernel: 6.17.2-1-pve)
pve-manager: 9.1.1 (running version: 9.1.1/42db4a6cf33dac83)
proxmox-kernel-helper: 9.0.4
proxmox-kernel-6.17.2-1-pve-signed: 6.17.2-1
proxmox-kernel-6.17: 6.17.2-1
amd64-microcode: 3.20250311.1
ceph-fuse: 19.2.3-pve2
corosync: 3.1.9-pve2
criu: 4.1.1-1
frr-pythontools: 10.3.1-1+pve4
ifupdown2: 3.3.0-1+pmx11
ksm-control-daemon: 1.5-1
libjs-extjs: 7.0.0-5
libproxmox-acme-perl: 1.7.0
libproxmox-backup-qemu0: 2.0.1
libproxmox-rs-perl: 0.4.1
libpve-access-control: 9.0.4
libpve-apiclient-perl: 3.4.2
libpve-cluster-api-perl: 9.0.7
libpve-cluster-perl: 9.0.7
libpve-common-perl: 9.0.15
libpve-guest-common-perl: 6.0.2
libpve-http-server-perl: 6.0.5
libpve-network-perl: 1.2.3
libpve-rs-perl: 0.11.3
libpve-storage-perl: 9.0.18
libspice-server1: 0.15.2-1+b1
lvm2: 2.03.31-2+pmx1
lxc-pve: 6.0.5-3
lxcfs: 6.0.4-pve1
novnc-pve: 1.6.0-3
proxmox-backup-client: 4.0.20-1
proxmox-backup-file-restore: 4.0.20-1
proxmox-backup-restore-image: 1.0.0
proxmox-firewall: 1.2.1
proxmox-kernel-helper: 9.0.4
proxmox-mail-forward: 1.0.2
proxmox-mini-journalreader: 1.6
proxmox-offline-mirror-helper: 0.7.3
proxmox-widget-toolkit: 5.1.2
pve-cluster: 9.0.7
pve-container: 6.0.18
pve-docs: 9.1.0
pve-edk2-firmware: 4.2025.05-2
pve-esxi-import-tools: 1.0.1
pve-firewall: 6.0.4
pve-firmware: 3.17-2
pve-ha-manager: 5.0.8
pve-i18n: 3.6.2
pve-qemu-kvm: 10.1.2-3
pve-xtermjs: 5.5.0-3
qemu-server: 9.0.30
smartmontools: 7.4-pve1
spiceterm: 3.4.1
swtpm: 0.8.0+pve3
vncterm: 1.9.1
zfsutils-linux: 2.3.4-pve1

Would access via SSH be a solution?

Not really, since I am currently debugging remastering of install-images. No sshd running at such an early stage of install.

Maybe screen could be simpler solution then byobu?

Not really. Problem is not using byobu. Problem is that keyboard is not usable at all. All the alphanumeric keys are broken.

For example, typing "screen" gives:



(the "yy: command not found" is because before typing '\)', I checked whether keyboard selection actually activated german keyboard)

Cant find any way to get a usable keyboard at all. Only reboot the VM.

Press the virtual STRG + ALT and the real F-Key on your keyboard to change the TTY.

View attachment 94477

Ugh, tried this countless times without any luck.

Now tried again and it worked. Guess console lost focus when I selected the "ctrl" and "alt" buttons?

Another big inconvenience: typing C-w (kill-region) in emacs when inside a VM closes the pve tab in firefox. Guess there's not much that can be done here :-(

 

[Onslow]

Cant find any way to get a usable keyboard at all. Only reboot the VM.

When I happen to severely "spoil" my console or ssh session (e.g. catting some binary to the screen) and stty sane isn't able to reset it, I hit:

echo Ctrl-v Esc c

which I input in the following way:

echo
space
keeping left Ctrl pressed press v
Esc
c
Enter

The above keypressings are all in one line. I've only divided them for readability.
Works always for me .