Keyboard input doesn't work on X clients started from WSL bash, but keyboard input is working fine for WSL itself in power shell or cmd.

[bruce-keats]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.2605]

WSL Version

2.3.26.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.167.4-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu-24.04

Other Software

konsole, wireshark or any other X client

Repro Steps

install WSL on windows 11. Launch WSL bash.
$ sudo apt install wireshark -y
$ sudo apt install konsole -y

Expected Behavior

Konsole window starts up just find. Bash starts. I can type commands and see them echoed back. If I hit enter, the command is executed as expected.

Actual Behavior

Konsole window starts up just find. I am unable to type in the window. Some control characters work such as CTRL-C and CTRL-D. Carriage return works. I can also cut and paste commands into the konsole, hit return and commands are executed.

I see the same behaviour in all other X clients.

Even more bizarre, if I ssh -Y linux then run konsole, the konsole window pops up on windows 11 desktop, but I see the exact same behaviour in that I can't type, but CTRL-C and CTRL-D. Carriage return works. I can also cut and paste commands into the konsole, hit return and commands are executed.

I have tried lots of google searches, but I am unable to find anything that helps.

Multiple reboots didn't fix the issue.

I tried removing and re-installing WSL and ubuntu, but it did not solve the issue.

Problem seems to be something related the X server that is running on windows.

Diagnostic Logs

I am not sure what logs to capture. I followed the guide, but the command failed.

PS C:\Users\bruce> collect-wsl-logs.ps1
collect-wsl-logs.ps1 : The term 'collect-wsl-logs.ps1' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script
file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct
and try again.
At line:1 char:1

• collect-wsl-logs.ps1

•   + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (collect-wsl-logs.ps1:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
  
  

PS C:\Users\bruce>

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions here

Once completed please upload the output files to this Github issue.

Click here for more info on logging
If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching to the bug, please send them to [email protected] with the number of the github issue in the subject, and in the message a link to your comment in the github issue and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

View similar issues

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it!

Open similar issues:

• Keyboard input not working altogether (#12020), similarity score: 0.73
• Wrong or no keyboard input into X11 applications via remote desktop (#9571), similarity score: 0.70

Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

[bruce-keats]

I was using remote desktop from mac. After changing to scancode, problem is resolved.