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Tom Desmond
Asked: 2020-05-18 13:13:34 +0800 CST

how can I set num lock on as the boot default in Ubuntu 20.04

  • 772

I upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 Friday and have lost num Lock on boot - how can I set the system so that the keypad Num Lock is set on boot?

keyboard numlock

9 Answers

  1. Thanks to this video,

    I installed numlockx

    sudo apt install numlockx

    then setup a startrup application with "numlockx on" as the command.

    • 5

  2. You can just set gnome to remember the Num Lock state between boots:

    $ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard remember-numlock-state true
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  3. On Ubuntu 20.04.1

    Source French: https://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/numlockx

    $ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install numlockx

    Add this line after install numlockx:

    greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx

    on file "50-slick-greeter.conf"

    Path to diretory:

     $ sudo nemo /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-slick-greeter.conf


[Seat:*]
greeter-session=slick-greeter
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on
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  4. No additional package needed, just follow this pathway:

    Application Menu > Preferences > LXQt settings > Keyboard and Mouse > Keyboard > Turn on NumLock after login
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  5. This feature is temporarily broken. My preferred workaround uses xdotool (great for desktop automation), install if not already present. Place the following line in a startup script, or can be added to ~/.bashrc if terminal opens on startup:

    xdotool key Num_Lock

    To make persistent across suspends/hibernates, create (as root) /etc/pm/sleep.d/90_numlock-temp-fix with the following contents:

    #!/bin/bash
case "$1" in
  resume|thaw)
    xdotool key Num_Lock
  ;;
esac

    Backstory: The following two keys should work to both set numlock on and make that the default bootup state.

    • org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard numlock-state true
    • org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.keyboard remember-numlock-state true

    In 20.04.1, at least so far, they are ignored.

    Unused keys are typically a tipoff that the object controls are in a state of flux. There are several dealing with numlock so expect this to be fixed, hopefully in the next minor release (which should be out any time now?).

    If these two keys are already set, watch for the bootup numlock state to return to 'off', which means the bug is fixed and this workaround can be removed. (Numlock will then boot 'on'.)

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  6. Num-Lock can be set on the Input devices page in settings. BUT some computers set this in Bios. Boot to the Bios and look for it there as well.

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  7. From the K-Menu > Settings > System Settings > Input Devices (under Hardware) > Keyboard

    The first option is "NumLock on Plasma Startup" just turn it on.

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  8. Addition answer @Daniel Pablo Sheng: In Xubuntu 20.04 for me work this:

    $ sudo gedit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-xubuntu-numlock.conf

[Seat:*]
#greeter-setup-script=xubuntu-numlockx
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on

    reboot

    • 0

  9. The "NumLock on Plasma Startup"-Option in Kubuntu 20.04 doesn't work.

    Just installing numlockx from repository does the job.

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