Permanently set keyboard layout options with setxkbmap in gnome/unity

Ubuntu 13.10¹ (and maybe upstream gnome) introduced very annoying bug: pressing keyboard layout switch shortcut makes focus go away to some system window, then back to window where shortcut was pressed. Some applications have some actions bound to change of focus, for example twitter (in browser) closes reply text input field when losing focus, etc. So ubuntu's native keyboard switcher isn't suitable for me, until fixed.

X has builtin switching mechanism, and it is much better, in addition to that it does not involve focus switching, it switches immediately (gnome switcher also sometimes lags).

How can I set up xkbmap options so settings will remain after reboot and will not be reset by Gnome?

What I've tried:

First, just executing setxkbmap:

setxkbmap -layout "us,ru"
setxkbmap -option "grp:caps_toggle,grp_led:scroll,compose:ralt"

But it works only:

1. For current session
2. Until Gnome will overwrite it (for example touching something in gconf's org.gnome.desktop.input-sources triggers reset).

Second, adding xkb options to Xorg config:

Another option is to add following to xorg config:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "system-keyboard"
        MatchIsKeyboard "on"
        Option "XkbLayout" "us,ru"
        Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
        Option "XkbVariant" "pc105"
        Option "XkbOptions" "grp:rctrl_toggle,grp_led:scroll"
EndSection

Xorg understands that during startup:

[    33.791] (**) Option "xkb_rules" "evdev"
[    33.791] (**) Option "xkb_model" "pc105"
[    33.791] (**) Option "xkb_layout" "us,ru"
[    33.791] (**) Option "xkb_variant" "pc105"
[    33.791] (**) Option "xkb_options" "grp:rctrl_toggle,grp_led:scroll"

But switching configuration still resets later, likely by gnome.

Third, gconf

I have xkb-options and sources set in org.gnome.desktop.input-sources, but Gnome still sets xkb to single English layout:

$ setxkbmap -print -verbose 10
Setting verbose level to 10
locale is C
Trying to load rules file ./rules/evdev...
Trying to load rules file /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev...
Success.
Applied rules from evdev:
rules:      evdev
model:      pc105
layout:     us
options:    grp_led:scroll
Trying to build keymap using the following components:
keycodes:   evdev+aliases(qwerty)
types:      complete
compat:     complete+ledscroll(group_lock)
symbols:    pc+us+inet(evdev)
geometry:   pc(pc105)
xkb_keymap {
    xkb_keycodes  { include "evdev+aliases(qwerty)" };
    xkb_types     { include "complete"  };
    xkb_compat    { include "complete+ledscroll(group_lock)"    };
    xkb_symbols   { include "pc+us+inet(evdev)" };
    xkb_geometry  { include "pc(pc105)" };
};

Fourth, another option in gconf

Setting org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.keyboard also does not work for me. Nothing changes.

Upd 1: There is discussion recommending to remove /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/libkeyboard.so. At least this fixes some resets of xkbmap (i.e. after lock screen).

¹ I use 14.04, but problem with losing focus is still not fixed. (Unconfirmed report in upstream Gnome)

To prevent gnome resetting keyboard setting in X i use this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.keyboard active false

This works for me.

I've been going nuts over this just like you, but with Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS), Xubuntu, xfce 4.12 and xkbd (from xfce goodies). Ctrl+Space to change the keyboard layout worked, but Alt+Shift didn't (modifier-only keys).

Finally managed to make things work-

1. Run ibus-setup (Keyboard Input Methods application).
2. Goto Advanced tab.
3. Check 'Use system keyboard layout'.
4. Click 'Close'

5. Run xfce4-keyboard-settings (Keyboard application).
6. Goto Layout tab.
7. Uncheck 'Use system defaults'
8. Select 'Keyboard model' (typically 'Generic 105-key (Intl) PC' will do)
9. Set 'Change layout option' to your required switching keys combination (typically Alt+Shift will do).
10. Add languages to 'Keyboard layout'.
11. Click 'Close'.
12. Restart the computer

You're done! Use Alt+Shift to change keyboard layout.

I just read this article on screenlocking, which may be related. According to the article, screenlocking has the intended consequence of blocking input devices and manipulating locales. Seems like you have a few options:

1. Stop locking the screen, probably this includes the greeting screen as well which serves a similar function
2. Use different power management tools
3. Stop using ibus for im-switching (Perhaps FCITX?)
4. Create a hook for screen unlock events as described here.

There is an interesting discussion of this and related events which can be found on the ubuntu-dev mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2013-November/037768.html

Workaround by user wof in Ubuntu bug tracker, for Ubuntu 14.10 using gxkb:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/gnome-settings-daemon/+bug/1244090/comments/39

this workaround worked for ubuntu 14.10:

• in Settings->Text entry remove all input sources, leave only english
• install gxkb (layout switcher): sudo apt-get install gxkb
• add gxkb to startup applications via gnome-tweak-tool
• setup gxkb hotkeys in ~/.config/gxkb (default is alt_shift, but in 14.10 it doesn't work. ctrl_shift works ok)

p.s. new version of gxkb has appindicator for ubuntu. can be installed via ppa:zen-root/gxkb-stable