FAQ

Table of Contents So, Superkb is running. What do I do now? I just compiled Superkb successfully and it runs but crashes with a "Segmentation fault" error. What does this mean? I get a "BadAccess: attempt to access private resource denied" error on X_GrabKey right after running Superkb. What is happening and how do I fix it? I get a "Could not load keyboard information from X" error

So, Superkb is running. What do I do now?

At this moment, Superkb is waiting for you. Hold your Super key (also known as the Windows key) down and you will see a keyboard with your configured key bindings. If a keyboard shows up without any application icons, it means you need to set them in your $HOME/.superkbrc file using the KEY COMMAND or KEY DOCUMENT directive.

I just compiled Superkb successfully and it runs but crashes with a "Segmentation fault" error. What does this mean?

The most probable cause is you have a library mismatch. The most typical example would be when you don't have the Cairo development headers installed, so Superkb configuration process doesn't include Cairo support, and yet, it is the default value.

We are awere of this: it's insane, but that's how it is at the moment of writing. The most recent version (currently in Git) will detect this and actually output a bit more descriptive message about the cause of the crash.

To fix the segmentation fault in this case you might want to try a different DRAWKBLIB or IMAGELIB with one actually included in the compilation configuration. Example: "DRAWKBLIB xlib".

Of course, if this is not the case, a "Segmentation fault" crash can be anything. You might want to run it through GDB (use gdb ./superkb) and run it with "r", and when it crashes, do a "bt" (for backtrace) and raise a support ticket.

I get a "BadAccess: attempt to access private resource denied" error on X_GrabKey right after running Superkb. What is happening and how do I fix it?

This error means Superkb could not "grab" one or both of the Super keys. This may happen if you already have another program that grabs it for its own use. Unfortunately, Xlib doesn't provide a method for programatically determining the conflicting program.

There are a couple of things you may try:

1. Setting it up in the Startup Applications under GNOME or in your Session Manager otherwise has helped loading Superkb before the conflicting program, and sometimes it works.
2. Compiz tends to use the Super keys by default. You may try disabling Compiz or removing your Super key bindings from Compiz.
3. Try configuring an alternate key instead of Super in your $HOME/.superkbrc file: SUPERKEY1_STRING F8 and SUPERKEY2_CODE 0. I use F8 in the laptop myself. You will not lose the key thanks to the default SUPERKEY_REPLAY value of 1.

This is by far the biggest show stopper and we have no easy way around it yet.

I get a "Could not load keyboard information from X" error

This means Superkb isn't recognizing any keyboard geometry. Here are a few steps you can do to solve this problem:

If you are using GNOME:

1. Go to "System" > "Preferences" > "Keyboard".
2. Navigate to the "Layouts" tab.
3. If you already have a keyboard layout selected, try removing it and adding it again; if not, just add a keyboard layout by clicking on the "Add" button.
4. Try running superkb again.

If you are using KDE:

1. Go to the Menu and then "Preferences" > "System Settings".
2. On the "General" tab, click on "Regional & Language".
3. Move to the "Keyboard Layout box".
4. On the "Layout" tab, make sure you have selected the "Enable keyboard layouts" option.
5. If you already have a keyboard layout selected, try removing it and adding it again; if not, just add a keyboard layout.
6. Try running superkb again.

If the problem persists, look at the Support channels for more help.