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KDE Common Problems: 'Alt+PrintScrn' does not work

That's because on some keyboards Alt+PrintScrn is used as Sysreq. You can use xmodmap -pke | grep -i print to check if you are affected. If you get something along the lines of keycode 111 = Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req there is no alt+printscrn for you.

Someone managed to put a really bad hack into kde hardcoding keycode 111 to the printscrn key so it worked if you changed the shortcut manually in the config file. That code managed to be there since 3.x. So much to the many eyeballs theory :-) : I removed that hack so it will stop working with 4.3 because it breaks keyboards where 111 is mapped to some other key.

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18 May, 2009 - 14:49 — Anonymous (not verified)

Well, here it is

I've the same output as the one above. So here it is. 
Outer window is 0x2e00001, inner window is 0x2e00002

PropertyNotify event, serial 8, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x27 (WM_NAME), time 1415785, state PropertyNewValue  

PropertyNotify event, serial 9, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x22 (WM_COMMAND), time 1415785, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 10, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x28 (WM_NORMAL_HINTS), time 1415785, state PropertyNewValue

CreateNotify event, serial 11, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    parent 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00002, (10,10), width 50, height 50
border_width 4, override NO                                         

PropertyNotify event, serial 12, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1ac (_KDE_NET_WM_USER_CREATION_TIME), time 1415786, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 14, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0xf0 (WM_PROTOCOLS), time 1415786, state PropertyNewValue

MapNotify event, serial 15, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    event 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00002, override NO         

ConfigureNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    event 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00001, (0,0), width 178, height 178,
    border_width 0, above 0x2a12c36, override NO                    

ReparentNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    event 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00001, parent 0x1408061,        
    (0,0), override NO                                          

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x118 (_NET_WM_STATE), time 1415791, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1c3 (_NET_WM_DESKTOP), time 1415793, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1b1 (_NET_FRAME_EXTENTS), time 1415816, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x134 (_KDE_NET_WM_FRAME_STRUT), time 1415816, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1c9 (_NET_WM_ALLOWED_ACTIONS), time 1415816, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x118 (_NET_WM_STATE), time 1415826, state PropertyNewValue

MapNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    event 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00001, override NO         

VisibilityNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    state VisibilityFullyObscured                                 

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0xf5 (WM_STATE), time 1415826, state PropertyNewValue  

FocusIn event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    mode NotifyNormal, detail NotifyNonlinear            

KeymapNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  4294967172 0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0          

ConfigureNotify event, serial 18, synthetic YES, window 0x2e00001,
    event 0x2e00001, window 0x2e00001, (841,25), width 178, height 178,
    border_width 0, above 0x0, override NO                             

VisibilityNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    state VisibilityUnobscured                                    

Expose event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    (0,0), width 178, height 10, count 3                

Expose event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    (0,10), width 10, height 58, count 2                

Expose event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    (68,10), width 110, height 58, count 1              

Expose event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    (0,68), width 178, height 110, count 0              

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1c6 (_NET_WM_ICON_GEOMETRY), time 1415942, state PropertyNewValue

PropertyNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    atom 0x1c6 (_NET_WM_ICON_GEOMETRY), time 1415946, state PropertyNewValue

KeyPress event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1415978, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
    state 0x0, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:                                  
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:                                
    XFilterEvent returns: False                                   

FocusOut event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor                

FocusIn event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor             

KeymapNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1416149, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
    state 0x8, keycode 107 (keysym 0xff15, Sys_Req), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1416209, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
    state 0x8, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1416416, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
    state 0x0, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
    XFilterEvent returns: False

FocusOut event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

FocusIn event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor

KeymapNotify event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
           0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0

ClientMessage event, serial 34, synthetic YES, window 0x2e00001,
    message_type 0xf0 (WM_PROTOCOLS), format 32, message 0xf1 (WM_DELETE_WINDOW)
18 May, 2009 - 15:13 — Mike

The interesting part

The interesting part is

KeyPress event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1415978, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
state 0x0, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

FocusOut event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyAncestor

FocusIn event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyAncestor

KeymapNotify event, serial 18, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
keys: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1416149, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
state 0x8, keycode 107 (keysym 0xff15, Sys_Req), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 34, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
root 0xf1, subw 0x0, time 1416209, (-203,492), root:(638,517),
state 0x8, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False

As you can see we get: 'Keypress Alt', Some uninteresting things, 'Keyrelease Sys_Req, Keyrelease Alt. So your PrintScrn button becomes SysReq when pressed together with Alt.

Interesting tidbit ... Where is the Key Press Event for SysReq? I don't know for sure but since SysReq has a special meaning for the x server the key press event was most likely eaten by the x server itself.

WARNING: Don't play with the sysreq key. It can lead to data loss.

18 May, 2009 - 10:22 — FiNeX (not verified)

Let me understand

Speaking less technically, I've done a "xmodmap -pke": $ xmodmap -pke | grep -i print keycode 107 = Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req keycode 218 = Print NoSymbol Print NoSymbol Print What does it means?
18 May, 2009 - 14:16 — Mike

That means x11 is a complex beast :-)

Try xev . See what it reports for 'alt+printscrn'. You can see there too which keycode is the correct one for your printscrn button.

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