Num Lock Revisited (SOLVED, sort of...)

[Far North]

I have the latest Phoenix LiveCD moved to a USB via the LiveUSB Creator. Phoenix loads onto my ancient Gateway notebook in live mode. I can navigate through the menus, view the various programmes and generally familiarize myself with Phoenix. However I am not able to process any words. Num Lock appears to be permanently locked on as a few others have noted in this forum. I have searched for a remedy and tried the few that were suggested. They will not work on my Gateway.

The keyboard does not have a numeric keypad included except by elimination of keys u, i, o, p, j, k, l, ;, and m. I was going to install Phoenix however, I need to become Root. Not surprisingly, the password "r66t" isn't kosher. I felt that a reply from 15 June 2011 to this question (did not record the poster's name) seemed the most logical. It involved changing the xfce4 settings editor making a Numlock property TRUE. It is "true" on the USB but I still have the NUMs locked. I tried changing this section without success. Rebooting didn't help. When loading, I am using the US Keyboard. Num Locks do not affect the sign on screen -- I am "guest".

I've tried making the change to the settings editor -- eliminating and restoring the same verbiage -- but the num is still locked on.

It seems odd that this would be a default in a PCLOS release. Surely, it can be eliminated. But how? (Is it something that xfce has made mandatory?)

Somewhat frustrated,
Far North

[AS]

Try: PCLinuxOS Control Center -> System -> Manage Services, and verify if the numlock service is on or off.

AS

[Far North]

Try: PCLinuxOS Control Center -> System -> Manage Services, and verify if the numlock service is on or off.

AS

I signed in on the LiveUSB as root successfully. The numlock lines in the Control Centre says "stopped", the box for "on boot" is not checked. If I click on the "Stop", I get "Disabling numlocks on ttys: [ OK ]". I clicked "OK" at the bottom right of the screen and restarted the LiveUSB. (A pause here while I wait for the Gateway to shut down and restart...  I ponder what will happen...) I've signed on as "guest", started "Editor" and get numbers instead of u, i, o, p, etc.

I guess my old Gateway and the current release of Phoenix will not be friends. 

I've used LXDE and KDE (though it's slow on the Gateway). I tried to put Phoenix on the notebook a couple years ago without success IIRC. The system on which I'm writing this message is running (blush) another Linux OS. I'd like to have Phoenix run on the Gateway...

Could it be just the LiveUSB? If I install Phoenix, would numlocks be a bad memory of the USB? Phoenix is now being installed.

The answer, NO. Numlocks still locked on and I cannot log into the control centre as my Root password contains a mix of letters including those that are now permanently numbers.  Now, where is my GParted disk...

Far North

 

[Far North]

how sad you cannot hold down a function key on your keyboard and turn it off num lock off .... or enter your bios settings and turn num lock off there ....

Frustrating, too. I have searched and read posts in this forum to find an answer before asking. I've learned to do so after using PCLOS in various versions since 2007. This situation came as a surprise. I don't know if it's my now "senior" notebook (the one I originally began with) or, like me, it's parts are getting old and wearing out. I do not have a manual for the Gateway -- it was refurbished when I bought it so never had one (except for how to use XP -- probably was 100 pages  long. PCLOS replaced XP.)

BIOS is hitting the F2 key at startup but I don't see anything specific to numlocks (or I haven't looked in "the last place" yet...). The function keys may work with some combination but I haven't figured it out. Maybe talking about it here will trigger someone's memory and say I have to press F2, F7, F11 together while holding down the shift key. Yes, ridiculous but it could be an obtuse combination. Yet having the Gateway for the past six years, I've never hit this wall.

Or maybe Phoenix is telling me something...   

Far North 

[djohnston]

I was thinking there should be a BIOS option, too. Maybe not. Try this. At the GRUB boot screen, press the function key for boot options. There should be a row of function key labels at the bottom of the boot screen. It may be F3, it may be F6, but the label will be Boot Options. Anyway, after pressing the key, select Normal in the popup window. Your cursor will then be at the end of a line of text. Make sure there's one space after the last option in the line, then enter numlock=off. Press [ENTER] to boot. If that works, you'll need to enter it as a permanent boot option.

[Far North]

... Make sure there's one space after the last option in the line, then enter numlock=off. Press [ENTER] to boot. If that works, you'll need to enter it as a permanent boot option.

Tried your suggestion. Pressing F3 gave me a long line of verbiage to which I added " numlock=off" (no quotes) and pressed Enter. Phoenix started in it's normal ("Default") manner -- numlocks on...

Most frustrating, eh! Perhaps Phoenix is not be be on my system...   

If there is a way -- looking positively into the future -- how would an F3 change be entered as a "permanent boot option"?

[Far North]

It is a Gateway Model MA3 or Model MX6425, depending on which sticker you chose to use. The MX6425 sticker says that this machine was refurbished in the U.S.A. and complies with "Canadian ICES-003" (in English and French-Canadian...) and other "complies with" statements.

I've owned the refurbished version since 2006 so don't know exactly how old it actually is.

Far North

[Far North]

(Blush) After owning the notebook for six years, I had never really noticed an "FN" key in the lower left corner of the keyboard. I have no idea what it's for since there's no documentation with this notebook. I never questioned that obscure key. It may have a use???

I tried your suggestions. Hitting the numlock before and after booting made absolutely no difference. Typing an "r", pressing and holding the FN key and typing 66, then releasing the key and pressing "t" did nothing.

I have given up. LXDE is installed, and doesn't think about numlock at all. Since I don't really need it, I don't use it.

I appreciate your hints, suggestions, observations. I do use my system and like to consider a different OS every once in a while. LXDE worked fine before I decided to consider Phoenix si it seems I shouldn't have tried to change...

To all those users who do not have a situation with Phoenix and numlocks, good for you! The OS seems great. Keep on supporting it.

Far North