#19 Keymap problem when using VMware Workstation guest over xrdp

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am using xrdp/xvnc to allow students to access an x-session on an experiment-server (it's the practical part of an it-security lecture at our university). After accessing the server they can then work inside VMware Workstation and do some exercises.

The problem is, that almost any character (except alphanummerical ones) is broken. Most of my students are using german keyboard layout. Whats interesting is the way it is broken. Some example:

When I press "-" I get "ß". The german key "ß" is the one, where "-" is on english keyboards.
When I press ":" I get "ö". The german key "ö" is the one, where ":" is on english keyboards.
When I press "#" I get "3". The german key "3" is the one, where "#" is on english keyboards.

Sadly this is not reversible :)

The keys are only broken inside VMware guests. When typing into a terminal (or even VMware's "File open" dialog) every key is working as expected.
Also when I test physically at the server (plug keyboard and monitor in, log into xsession and start VMware) everything works as expected. No broken keys neither inside nor outside VMware guests.
The problem only appears when logging in remotely and then working inside VMware guests.

I am using
- VMware Workstation 7.0.1-build-227600 32bit (also tested with VMware Workstation 8)
- Debian 5.0.8
- xrdp 0.5.0~20100303cvs-6
- vnc4server 4.1.1+X4.3.0-31
- Server locales: en_us/UTF-8

If you need further information please let me know.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Sven Reissmann.