What might affect keyboard input in a game under Wine?

[dk]

Hi everyone - and I apologize in advance for the vagueness on this one.

I recently installed Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit (fresh install).

One game that I normally submit test data for has suddenly lost the ability to type. I can no longer enter a userid or password on it's login screen. (I was able to do this in 11.04 64-bit with Wine 1.3.29.) The only keys that are responsive now are the return and escape keys (which are used for navigating the game's initial menus) The weird thing is that typing seems fine on other games that I routinely play.

I've tried the game with Wine 1.3.29 through 1.3.31 with the same results. Since typing was partially working in 1.3.29 (on Ubuntu 11.04) I'm willing to entertain the idea that this is a distro problem and not one specifically with Wine.

Having said that however I wanted to ask what things might affect keyboard input in a game when it's running under Wine.

So far I've checked/unchecked all of the Window options in winecfg (no change). I've tried running the game under Unity-2D, Unity, Gnome 3, and fallback Gnome but still have been unable to type. In Ubuntu 11.04 Unity-2D (which I was using when typing last worked) used metacity. In 11.10 I believe it's now using compiz. I tried using "metacity --replace" but that didn't help either.

What are some other things that I can check that might interfere with Wine's input handling - specifically with keyboard input? (mouse seems to work fine) My next stop will be the Ubuntu forums but I need to identify the components to ask about.

Thanks in advance!

[SpawnHappyJake]

I don't know; have you tried installing to a clean prefix? I know that Hype the Time Quest needs a dinput override for the keyboard to work. Maybe give that a shot? Shouldn't need it if it worked without it before, especially since you said you went back and tried the version it worked in.

When it was working, was that 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu?

Also, are you compiling from source? You said you went back and tried some versions, I'm assuming by compiling from source. Sometimes the binary package just works better than when you try to compile from source.

What is this game?

Jake

[dk]

..have you tried installing to a clean prefix? I know that Hype the Time Quest needs a dinput override for the keyboard to work. Maybe give that a shot? Shouldn't need it if it worked without it before, especially since you said you went back and tried the version it worked in.

When it was working, was that 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu?

Also, are you compiling from source? You said you went back and tried some versions, I'm assuming by compiling from source. Sometimes the binary package just works better than when you try to compile from source.

Yes, I did install the game to a clean prefix. Both Ubuntu 11.04 and 11.10 were 64-bit. Yes, I'm compiling from source (and running Wine directly from the build directory).

What is this game?

Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst. I didn't mention this because bug #27293 also involves keyboard input and I didn't want to cause confusion. It may or may not be related but I want to first determine why (using the same version of Wine) I'm getting different results on two versions of Ubuntu. It's possible that this is something broken that Ubuntu can fix but I have to identify the component that is interfering with Wine first.

[dimesio]

What are some other things that I can check that might interfere with Wine's input handling - specifically with keyboard input? (mouse seems to work fine)

Are you using any keyboard switching tools such as scim or xneur?

[slopoke]

What happens if you turn off Compiz?

[dk]

Are you using any keyboard switching tools such as scim or xneur?

No - not that I know of. It's a fresh install of Ubuntu 11.10 64-bit with latest updates applied. One of the first things I did after completing the initial install was install the wine-dev dependencies and compiled the latest Wine version.

What happens if you turn off Compiz?

I get the same results. I used:

Code: Select all

metacity --replace

and logged out and in again.

I get the same behavior in Gnome 3 which uses mutter so it's got to be something else that's interfering.

[dimesio]

I get the same behavior in Gnome 3 which uses mutter so it's got to be something else that's interfering.

Have you tried disabling desktop effects?

[dk]

I get the same behavior in Gnome 3 which uses mutter so it's got to be something else that's interfering.

Have you tried disabling desktop effects?

I've never been able to use Gnome 3 before until Ubuntu 11.10 and I'm still getting used to where things are. I did installed the gnome tweak tool (to display the full date at the top of the screen) but it doesn't look like it has a general desktop effects option. Is there another tool I'm suppose to use to switch off that feature or do you mean trying the Gnome 3 fallback mode?

[dimesio]

Is there another tool I'm suppose to use to switch off that feature or do you mean trying the Gnome 3 fallback mode?

I use KDE, and it has a simple checkbox to disable desktop effects. But I have no idea how to do anything in Gnome. Ask on the Ubuntu forum.