Cannot switch keyboard layout in Paratext on Ubuntu Linux

Question

I’m running Paratext 9.0.100.10236 on Ubuntu 20.04. We’re working on a project in Arabic. My Ubuntu has two keyboard layouts configured, that I can switch in between by pressing super+space. I can also switch between them by pressing on the indicator in the top right corner of the screen.

No matter what I do, when I type in Paratext, it will only treat my keyboard in the Dvorak layout (the first layout). If I switch my keyboard layout to an Arabic keyboard layout, it still treats my keyboard input as if I am still in the Dvorak layout.

If I click on “Project Settings” submenu, the “Keyboard…” menu item is greyed out and disabled.

How can I get Paratext on Linux to accept my Arabic keyboard?

Answer 1

To test this I booted up a Wasta 20.04 VM.

1. Start -> Ibus keyboards
2. Added and arablic keyboard.

image646×553 70.7 KB

Note, the switching keyboard was Ctrl + space, rather than super + space. Perhaps that makes a difference?

Are you using ibus keyboards?
Can you change keyboards using keyboard switcher on the task bar?
If you change you keyboard switcher to Contrl + space, does that work?

(Changed the keyboard switching keys to super + space, didn’t work at all for me, but possibly that was because I was using a VM)

Comments

Thanks for the answer!

I’m using GNOME 3 (GNOME Shell) on Ubuntu 20.04. If I open the Settings (gnome-control-center) and look at the keyboard layouts there, this is what I have listed:

Screenshot from 2021-01-09 10-20-42871×786 48 KB

If I search for the application “Ibus keyboards”, I don’t get any results. However, running ibus-setup from the command-line gets me this result:

Screenshot from 2021-01-09 09-29-54653×516 30.4 KB

Interestingly, if I click the “Input Method” tab, the list displayed is empty, even though I have both Dvorak and the Arabic keyboard set up:

Screenshot from 2021-01-09 09-32-18653×516 21.7 KB

If I launch “Language Support” (gnome-language-selector), it seems the keyboard input method system is set to “IBus”:

2021-01-09_09-27485×517 37 KB

Changing keyboard layouts using super+space works in every other application on Ubuntu, just not Paratext. The keyboard indicator in the top bar changes when I press those buttons, as expected. I can also change the keyboard layout using the indicator using the mouse. From my point of view, the bug here is in Paratext.