Ubuntu and the Number Pad That Won’t Work
* Updated – see bottom of post for new information *
Sometimes when I’ve been accessing my laptop remotely via VNC my number pad will quit working. The number lock is on, I can see the indicator right there. The alternate functions of the keys aren’t working either, though. So what’s up?
Accessibility is what’s up. For some reason unknown to me Ubuntu chooses to turn on what it calls “Mouse Keys”. Basically when you try using your number pad you’ll notice your mouse cursor moving ever so slightly with each press of a numeral. Here’s how to make it stop.
- Go to System -> Preferences -> Assistive Technologies.
- When the Assistive Technologies Preferences screen opens, click the Keyboard Accessibility button.
- When the Keyboard Preferences screen opens, select the Mouse Keys tab.
- Uncheck the box labeled “Pointer can be controlled using the keypad”.
- Close out of all dialogs.
That’s all there is to it. Your keypad is now functional again.
2009-04-24 Update:
Shift-Number Lock is a shortcut for turning this ‘feature’ off and on. For some reason mouse keys do not honor the setting that determines if accessibility features can be turned on and off with keyboard shortcuts.
Ubuntu and the Number Pad That Won’t Work | Eric Biven’s Blog…
Sometimes when I’ve been accessing my laptop remotely via VNC my number pad will quit working. The number lock is on, I can see the indicator right there. The alternate functions of the keys aren’t working either, though. So what’s up? Accessibi…
That doesn’t solve the problem.
I have the same issue, it seems whenever I VNC to my machine that checkbox get’s checked, then when I return to my pc later, my numpad is dead.
I’d like this to never occur in the first place, It’s very annoying, especially when I don’t ‘enable’ this feature on my own, it does it automatically.
Sounds like a M$ flex.
@b white:
I realize it isn’t a cure for the problem and I’d like a complete solution as much as the next guy. For me the most frustrating part is that it isn’t even consistent. It only happens on rare occasion.
However annoying following this procedure over and over may be, it does work to restore the functionality of the num pad.
Oh thanks so much! I love it when it’s a simple solution! I must have inadvertently enabled this while programming and mashing keys in frustration =P
[...] make things easier, I will post a quote from Eric Biven, which is where I found the [...]
Even if I turn off the “Pointer can be controlled using the keypad” feature it is enabled again after reboot.
I’ve been using the Alt-Shift-Num Lock shortcut to disable the feature each time.
Thank you for writing this and giving me a solution to a very puzzling feature indeed.
Thanks equally go out to Casey Watson for the shortcuts for this feature.
Thanks…this post saved me some time I am sure.