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Dead keys used to work as they should until months ago but since whatever update of my debian/gnome/whatever I fail to both type ñ and to find a solution. I live in Viña, Chile, so it's not so uncommon that I need this :( Typing ´ and e is é as it should. Typing altGr and S gives me Ş as it should but typing altGr and n gives ~n and not ñ as it should. It worked before and I can't find any setting and neither can I believe this is not a huge issue to others.

My keyboard layout is "German". gnome-control-center -> Keyboard has very limited settings. Typing (Repeat Keys and Cursor Blinking) and Shortcuts. There is nothing on 3rd level key as suggested by terdon.

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  • What is your keyboard layout set as? I get ß for AltGr+S but still get ñ for AltGr+n. Using US layout with dead keys. Also check your keyboard settings in Gnome, there are some relevant choices in the "Options" (such as which key chooses the 3rd level etc).
    – terdon
    Feb 18, 2014 at 14:50
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    Can you please be more precise? In my task-bar I see "de" and clicking on it I can click on keyboard layout where it says "German". Switching to "es" I have the ñ where there is the ö printed on my German keyboard and yeah, this is actually one way to type this letter but it worked with dead key before. If I type AltGr+ I get ~ directly. It is not dead this key although `¸ and ´ are dead so I can type éè and Ş. As ¸ is reached through AltGr´ I'm especially confused about what's wrong. I can't find any "3rd level" settings.
    – Giszmo
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:33
  • If I go to settings->keyboard I see settings named "cursor blinking" and "repeat keys" but no "3rd level key".
    – Giszmo
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:34
  • Can't really be more specific cause I don't know. However, please edit your question to add your current keyboard layout. I take it you are using a german layout with dead keys? You should be able to find the 3rd level stuff in ControlCenter=>Keyboard=>options
    – terdon
    Feb 18, 2014 at 15:35
  • In my Keyboard dialog, there is a Layout Settings link at the bottom left. Does your dialog have that?
    – Tom Zych
    Jun 25, 2014 at 10:51

2 Answers 2

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I don't use Gnome but I had a look at gnome-control-center and it looks like this is yet another useful function that the Gnome developers in their infinite wisdom decided to do away with.

It looks like you need to go to "Region and Language" => "Input Sources" and there, you add Spanish. Don't ask me why a keyboard layout (or a language) is considered an "Input Source". Anyway, once you've done so, you should be able to switch layouts with Super + Space.

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    Thank you but this is not what I want. I want to type ñ with my German keyboard typing ~ + n for those occasions that I need it but I don't want to get the rest of my layout be screwed up Spanish way. Not before my last German keyboard here in Chile dies.
    – Giszmo
    Jun 30, 2014 at 19:53
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    As I said, I want to configure my keyboard such that typing ~ does not actually produce the tilde until I press it again and such that if I press n after it, I get an ñ. All this was the case half a year ago and all of a sudden this dead key behaviour disappeared. I still have dead keys like í, ì, ḿ etc. but not the ~.
    – Giszmo
    Jun 30, 2014 at 19:58
  • AH! Sorry, I had not understood you.
    – terdon
    Jun 30, 2014 at 20:04
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Check out the Compose Key, configurable in many systems. The default key combination is Compose~n

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  • I switched to a Spanish keyboard long ago but for the sake of evaluating your answer I searched my Compose key but couldn't find any setting or key that looks like a designated Compose key.
    – Giszmo
    Jul 12, 2020 at 18:01

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