Keyboard alt key doesn't work; no keyboard maps/regional settings can be found

[Ninjagecko]

Hello,

Any insight would greatly be appreciated. I can't use my computer without an alt key...

I recently upgraded KDE to 3.5.6 (not sure if this is a KDE or xorg problem). My keyboard is only minimally functional; the alt and win keys don't work. When I go to kcontrol, the regional settings are missing (i.e. there is absolutely nothing), nor is there anything in the drop-down menu for keyboard model (literally, nothing). The xkb options tabbed pane also, normally full of options, contains nothing.

I apparently have a bunch of files in /usr/share/kbd/..., and I think Ubuntu people had a similar problem and may have fixed it using "sudo ln -s /etc/X11/xkb /usr/share/X11" (except I don't have an /etc/X11/xkb directory).

Help please?
Thank you in advance.

[devils casper]

try to change layout using 'setxkbmap' command.

setxkbmap us

[Ninjagecko]

try to change layout using 'setxkbmap' command.

setxkbmap us

Thanks, unfortunately I tried this already. Sorry for forgetting to mention:

$ setxkbmap us
Couldn't interpret _XKB_RULES_NAMES property
Use defaults: rules - 'xorg' model - 'pc101' layout - 'us'
Couldn't find rules file (xorg)

[devils casper]

execute this

rm /etc/X11/xkb
ln -sf /etc/X11/xkb /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb

this command will create a link of 'xkb' in /etc/X11 folder and it should solve the problem.

[Ninjagecko]

execute this

rm /etc/X11/xkb
ln -sf /etc/X11/xkb /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb

this command will create a link of 'xkb' in /etc/X11 folder and it should solve the problem.

I mean no offense, but I don't think you read my original post fully. I already mentioned that I do not have an /etc/X11/xkb folder... Thank you anyway.

[devils casper]

'ln -sf' command creates a symlink like shortcut in windows and it doesn't matter if file/folder exists or not.
did you try that command?

[Ninjagecko]

'ln -sf' command creates a symlink like shortcut in windows and it doesn't matter if file/folder exists or not.
did you try that command?

I fail to see what use a broken symlink is...

[Ninjagecko]

I fail to see what use a broken symlink is...

Perhaps you are mixing up the order of the command? Perhaps you mean:

sudo ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb /etc/X11/xkb

Unfortunately this still would not work, because there is no /usr/X11R6/lib/X11 directory, much less a /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb directory. In fact, there are no directories named xkb on my hard drive. If you give me the name of a file that ought to be in the xkb folder, perhaps I could try to <locate> it?