Num. lock default, install and first boot

[Ottawagrant]

The numberlock problem was really bad in Linux Lite series one. Especially if you had a netbook. The keyboard layout would never install correctly. Plus on install, even if you selected automatic login, it didn't. You had to edit via a 'gksu lxdm-config' to correct the problem. I seem to recall it got fixed around 1.0.6. Might be wrong.

[paul1149]

I haven't had any recent experience with any other distro/DE.

[torreydale]

I wonder if that is a current limitation of Xfce.  Have you run into this on another distro with a different desktop environment?

[paul1149]

Thanks. I've done maybe a dozen installs and know enough to unset Numlock. What I'm afraid of is the buyer setting the machine to ask for the password upon waking, then not being able to log in because the Numlock setting doesn't impact the login screen. This little thing can become a major problem. At the least the login screen should follow the user setting. But if there are multiple users, the login screen needs to be controlled independently in this regard, as is possible in Windows.

[torreydale]

@paul1149,

For now, consider creating a Systemback Live system image with the number lock set the way you want, and use that as the image for the laptops you sell. 

[paul1149]

The default numlock setting has been the worst part of the LL install for me. I work almost exclusively on laptops. I'm to the point where I know what to expect, but the people I sell laptops to don't. The last install I had a problem syncing the numlock setting between the user session and the login screen, so when the unit went into screen lock and required a password to come out it was a nightmare. I don't know if I found a solution to that. The workaround to turn off passwording on awakening is not a solution.

Numlock is one of the first things I turn on in a new install of any OS - if there is a separate Numpad. But if not, it stays off, as it must. It shouldn't be on by default.

[Tegid]

A default setting of number lock switched on when installing and then on first boot is probably OK for a keyboard with a separate number pad, but where the numeric keypad is embedded into the querty keyboard (typically laptops) it can be confusing for a good while (i.e., figuring out what is going on).

The default boot configuration can be set with the lite-tweak tool - the problem being knowledge of which is only serendipitously acquired.