Re: [gdm-list] starting a new X session

[Brian Cameron <Brian Cameron Sun COM>]

Jason:

Thanks for the message.  I'm glad to hear that people are using GDM with
accessibility.  It seems that most of your questions are related to
Xserver setup for accessibility.  I'd recommend emailing the
gnome-accessibility-devel list with these sorts of question.  The
problems vary from distro to distro, so you might also try forums
focused on Xserver issues for your platform.  Using the
http://mail.gnome.org/archives Search might also be helpful since
Xserver questions do often come up.

> After reading the configuration file I have 2 questions for you dealing 
> with accessibility.
> 1)I want to load up a new X session with a new extension.  in AIX this 
> extension is -sme which initiates the viritual frame buffer.  In other 
> words when I log in as say "jason" I want to start a new X sessoin with 
> something like "startx -sme" which will start x with the virtual frame 
> bugger (used for full screen magnification)

Different Xservers have different ways to specify that you want to
use an extension, and some extensions don't work on certain platforms.
Some people find they have to switch to a different Xserver to get the
extension support they need.  I'm not sure about AIX, or which Xserver
it is using.

> 2)I also recieved this error in /opt/freeware/var/log/gdm (I am on AIX 
> hence the ibm and starnge configuration)
>
> The XKB keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
> Erorr: can't find file "ibm' for keycodes include
> Exiting
> Abading keyvodes file "default"

This sounds like a configuration issue.  I'd see if there are forums
that could help you understand xkbcomp configuration.

> I fixed an error saying "cannot find xkbcomp" by making a symbolic link 
> to where xkbcomp resided.  Now I have this.  What  I need to know is 
> does this affect the GTKModules for accessible login?

I don't think XKB affects the GDM gesture listeners.  The GDM gesture
listeners work by using GTK+ calls to get information about key press
and release events.  I believe XKB is needed for gok to work and you'ld
have to check to see if it is needed for gnopernicus.  I don't think it
does, but it might.  If you aren't using these AT programs (or other
tools like maybe keyboard switcher applet may use it), than you robably 
don't need XKB at all.  But you should test it and verify.  Turn on
a11y in the gdm.conf file, and it should start working with the
gestures in the gesture config files.  Note that some Xservers have a
bug that causes autokeyrepeat detection to break when XEVIE is turned
on (which it is whenever you turn on a11y since XEVIE is used by
atk-bridge).  This mean key gestures that require holding the key
down for a length of time doesn't work.  It works okay if you use
key gestures that have duration set to 0.  Also you should use gdm
2.8.0.5 if possible since the dwellmouselistener was broken in
previous versions.

> Like when I try
> to use a key combination to start gnopernicus and/or magnificatoin for 
> GDM nothing occurs.  I have triple checked the settings in gdm.conf and 
> made sure the required files have the key bindings I need.

Make sure that duration is set to 0 for the keygestures.  If that
fixes the problem, you are using an Xserver that has the bug described
above.

When you press a key to start up a program do you see an hourglass
briefly and then it goes away without the program started?  If so,
you should also try to give the gdm user a writable home directory.
Some AT programs like gok and gnopernicus won't start up if the user
running the application doesn't have a home directory writable by the
user.  This is really a bug, and the gok/gnopernicus people are fixing
it so the gdm user can avoid having a home directory.  I normally set
mine to /var/lib/gdm to workaround this.

As I said above, also upgrading to 2.8.0.5 is a good idea if you
haven't already.  Many a11y fixes have gone into the GDM codebase
recently.  Including a feature that allows the gesture listeners
to send debug messages to syslog when you turn on GDM debug.  Try
using this and see if the gesture listeners work.

A great way to test this is to turn on debug in gdm.conf and restart
GDM so this takes effect.  In one window run "tail -f /var/log/messages"
and in another window set the environment variable

 GTK_MODULES=<the same value you find in AddGtkModules in gdm.conf>

Then run a program like gnome-calculator.  You should see information
in the gesture listener that shows what it is doing and whether it
is recognizing key press/release events properly.

> Thanks for the help.  GREAT application.
fsf> Note: I am not exactly on the "list" so a reply to gdm-list will 
not get
> to me.  I was not quite sure how to add myself to it.

Namaste,

Brian