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I like the Super button for the Whisker Menu search (xfce4-popup-whiskermenu), which is the default in Linux Mint Xfce (but can be set like that in Xubuntu or other systems with the Xfce desktop) and the Display button (XF86Display, F4) for xfce4-display-settings --minimal.

The same command xfce4-display-settings --minimal is present in the Xfce keyboard shortcuts (xfce4-keyboard-settings) associated with Super-P.

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For some reason this leads to interference when using XF86Display button, as the Whisker menu appears too:

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When trying to remove one of the two commands in the keyboard shortcuts list, it doesn't work. When I try to edit Super-P and replace it with something else like Ctrl-Alt-P, this only creates a new entry instead of replacing the old one (the new entry appears beside the old one after restarting xfce4-keyboard-settings).

Update:

To remove the Super-P shortkey, one has to edit the /usr/share/mint-configuration-xfce/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml file and delete the according line as indicated here. But the interference stays there: then, the XF86Display button will only show the Whisker menu, although associated to xfce4-display-settings --minimal in xfce4-keyboard-settings.

Interestingly, trying to edit that entry and pushing the XF68Display button again, a new entry is created with the Super-P shortkey (although I didn't touch those keys, but the Display button F4). In this way the initial situation is restored. -- This is because in this way the deleted entry from /usr/share/mint-configuration-xfce/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml was recreated in the user-specific file /home/USER/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml. -- No change in these files seems to dissolve the confusion/association between XF86Display and Super-P.)

It looks like the XF86Display (F4) button is seen as Super-P. Is this normal?

Is this limited maybe to the laptop? (hp pavilion g7-1246)

Update:

Xev for the display button says:

FocusOut event, serial 37, synthetic NO, window 0x4400001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

Pastebin for the whole terminal output - here.

This is odd because on the same laptop with the same bios I have installed Ubuntu Unity which also uses Super-key-only (to invoke the Dash search), but there is no interference with the Display button.

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  • XF86Display (F4) seems the only one affected. Associating some other button that I do not use otherwise, like the Menu button or the F5 XF86HomePage button (or multiple keys) to run xfce4-display-settings --minimal seems a good workaround.
    – user32012
    Dec 30, 2014 at 19:09
  • What does xev when the button is pushed?
    – peterph
    Dec 30, 2014 at 21:35
  • @peterph - I am not sure I know how to use xev, but I am posting the last part of the output from terminal (the one after using the XF68Display button). but the output is very long even before pressing the button, and then it changes even after moving the mouse so maybe i'm doing it wrong
    – user32012
    Dec 31, 2014 at 0:45
  • @peterph - so, i added the link to a pastebin for whole xev terminal output
    – user32012
    Dec 31, 2014 at 0:51

1 Answer 1

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This is probably a bug, similar or identical to this one (Super-P mapped for display in BIOS), only that on my laptop the display button is not Fn-F8, but F4.

What I do not like is not that the command for switching displays (XF68Display) matches also the "p" key, but that it matches Super-P: I want Super to be reserved for Menu Search (xfce4-popup-whiskermenu) and be used by itself for search in Xfce, just like in Ubuntu Unity. So, I do not want Super to be used in any other combination.

Super-P cannot be removed, because it seems to be set by the laptop manufacturer in BIOS to match the Windows 7 setting. Identity between Super-P and XF68Display (F4 on my laptop) is probably also BIOS-based.

So, I do not have a solution, but a workaround: F5 (XF86HomePage) button is not associated in BIOS with any command, and so it can be set in xfce4-keyboard-settings to run xfce4-display-settings --minimal.

Now F4 still shows both the display settings and the menu, but F5 shows just the display settings and Super button just the menu.

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  • On my little dell laptop, I there is a bios setting to use the function keys traditionally, or as multimedia keys. I spent a few days in aggravation until I found it.
    – umeboshi
    Jan 26, 2015 at 17:17
  • @umeboshi - Disabling my multimedia/Action Keys in BIOS works in the sense it creates the need to use the Fn key too, while changing nothing to the problem, as Fn-F4 will still pop up both the menu and the displays window. But trying to re-anable them didn't work. I had to enable BIOS defaults to get back to the initial state, which I prefer: in order to use just one single key to mute-unmute, cycle displays and so on
    – user32012
    Feb 2, 2015 at 11:03

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