Error loading new keyboard description

[carey]

When I try to change keyboard layout in an X session using setxkbmap, I get "Error loading new keyboard description". It works outside of X, in console. I am trying to temporarily use the colemak keyboard layout. Keyboard layout switchers don't work either. Does anyone have a solution for this?

[ramesh]

According to the manual:

USING WITH xkbcomp

If you have an Xserver and a client shell running on different computers and XKB configuration files sets on those machines are different you can get problems specifying a keyboard map by model, layout, options names. The thing is the setxkbcomp converts these names to names of XKB configuration files according to files that are on the client side computer. Then it sends the file names to the server where the xkbcomp has to compose a complete keyboard map using files which the server has. Thus if the sets of files differ significantly the names that the setxkbmap generates can be unacceptable on the server side. You can solve this problem running the xkbcomp on the client side too. With the -print option setxkbmap just prints the files names in an appropriate format to its stdout and this output can be piped directly to the xkbcomp input. For example, a command

setxkbmap us -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY

makes both step on the same (client) machine and loads a keyboard map into the server.

Hope this applies to your situation.

[carey]

I saw this but didn't want to try it. It appears to compare 2 layouts, then generates a layout containing the differences, which would most likely be extra keys. Let me try it instead of using guess work.

Update: Does not work. Here is the output

[carey]

I figured it out. Only it worked best in a tty. Then, my 500GB containing my Linux failed mainly because of JPS daily antics (1 power outage just about everyday is outrageous!). Now, I have a portable keyboard set up along with portableapps on a portable 2.5 HDD. Details are here: http://colemak.com/wiki/index.php?title=Windows .