How do I get a virtual keyboard to work on MX Linux KDE tablet?

[Goatmilk]

Hi everybody,

After a failed first attempt, I finally got myself a working Linux tablet, a Fujitsu Stylistic Q616. It's actually supposed to be a 2in1, but I got the old dear as tablet/screen only. And here's my problem. I installed my favorite MX Linux 25.1 KDE - the very same system I run on my desktop and the laptop - and there seems to be no way to get a virtual keyboard to run. It works well with both the USB keyboard and an old bluetooth keyboard, but that's not really helpful when it's supposed to work like a tablet somewhere out in the woods.

I have Maliit and IBusWayland installed, and additionally got Onboard - none of those work. On the log in screen, when I click the "virtual keyboard" link in the bottom left corner, the screen content hops up a bit - as if to make room for something - but nothing appears.

Also, while the pen that came with the tablet works fine as far as pointing, clicking, drawing and moving stuff around, it won't produce a "right-click" menu, even though I put its buttons on "right mouse button" in system settings. The web advice to select and then tap and hold doesn't do anything - it selects alright, but that's it. No menu.

Since everything else seems to work just fine, I'm thinking that I probably missed something, but I cannot figure out what it might be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KGIII]

There's a post missing and an account sent to the spam-bucket.

I'm going to do something unusual. We like it when people spot spam and smash the report button. That helps us out a great deal. It's definitely appreciated!

But spammers can be tricky.

This is what was in this post:

Note how it's 'below the fold'.

Sometimes, they'll try to match the color of the link, changing it to black to match the default theme. Those are harder to spot if you're using the default theme -- but they stand out like a sore thumb if you're using one of the other themes.

Anyhow, I thought I'd show you an example of the spam we get. Why? Because we are humans and can't spot everything. We miss things, especially when we don't have as much time as we'd like to have.

 

[Goatmilk]

So my only answer was a spam bot?? And the answer itself gibberish? At least there is no option to choose Virtual Keyboard under System Settings > Accessibility and no System Settings > Hardware...

Bummer...

 

[KGIII]

So my only answer was a spam bot??

Yup. We get spam. It sometimes slips through the filters.

Alas, I don't know if their answer would help. This is a topic that I know nothing about.

Though I do kind of like the idea of a modern tablet that runs a Linux version other than Android.

 

[Goatmilk]

Though I do kind of like the idea of a modern tablet that runs a Linux version other than Android.

That was the whole idea. I still haven't got the virtual keyboard to work, and no way to emulate a right mouse click or a mouse scroll, and I'm still looking for help. Maybe I should ask an AI or something.

On the other hand, there are very limited purposes that little 11.6" tablet is used for: Reading pdf books in the garden that don't look good on the eBook reader, or schlep it around to hear news or podcasts while working in the house or garden, or watch YouTube videos in the kitchen while cooking. I rarely use the keyboard at all, except for login, update and cleaning stuff or the occasional titles in a search box. For all other purposes that Stylus pen suffices.

Still, it irks me that I don't have a virtual keyboard and don't get it to work the way a tablet should work.

 

[KGIII]

Still, it irks me that I don't have a virtual keyboard and don't get it to work the way a tablet should work.

I would be curious if things went better if you started with something that ran Windows. They'd possibly have more 'mainstream' components that are more easily used in Linux. The cheap Android tablets are just that. They're usually bodged together with the cheapest stuff they could find -- that was available at the time.

I know that some people have had a bunch of success with the Surface tablets. Given the price difference and the development time, I'd expect a Windows-based tablet not to be the cheapest stuff that fell off the back of a truck in a back alley.

 

[Mike-BTU]

Maybe this will help. Perhaps not.
This is the text I'm greeted with when I first boot into Debian 13, KDE Plasma.

---

IBus should be called from the desktop session in Wayland.

For KDE, you can launch 'systemsettings5' utility and go to "Input Devices" -> "Virtual Keyboard" section and select "IBus Wayland" icon and click "Apply" button to configure IBus in Wayland.

For other desktop sessions, you can copy the 'Exec=' line in org.freedesktop.IBus.Panel.Wayland.Gtk3.desktop file to a configuration file of the session.

Please refer each document about the "Wayland input method" configuration.

Before you configure the "Wayland input method", you should make sure that QT_IM_MODULE and GTK_IM_MODULE environment variables are unset in the desktop session.

---

At my Debian 13 boot (login) screen, there is a little keyboard icon in the lower left-hand corner, which when clicked displays a large monochrome on-screen keyboard. This is intended to enter the password and log in without using the keyboard.

I really can't help you any more than this. Perhaps someone else here can.