Shortcut Key to Exit 0 A.D.?

[Thales]

Well it had to happen. O A..D. crashed and partially locked up my computer. Is there a shortcut key to force 0 A.D. to close?

Given the fact my computer was partially locked-up, a shortcut key to close 0 A.D. may not have worked anyway. Furthermore, 0 A.D., in partially locking-up my computer made my system monitor unavailable, so I could not "kill" 0 A.D. by that approach. I was able to "kill" 0 A.D. by switching to a different workspace and using the command line.

[sarcoma]

If the system hangs, you may restart xorg with ctrl-alt-bksp but it's no longer on by default, you have to write custom xork.conf kb module

[andy5995]

Generally, if a program is frozen, it can't accept any input, so if a program had a shortcut key combination to kill it in that case, it wouldn't be "seen" by the program.

What operating system are you using?

On Linux, from your desktop settings, you could add a keyboard settting (application shortcut) to run "xkill". You can see what happens if you run xkill at the command line. So if you add a keyboard shortcut to execute xkill with CTRL+Alt+K, for example, that should give you the ability to kill any program simply by clicking on it (You'll see the mouse cursor change into a skull and crossbones icon).

Edited October 1, 2021 by andy5995

[Thales]

31 minutes ago, andy5995 said:

Generally, if a program is frozen, it can't accept any input, so if a program had a shortcut key combination to kill it in that case, it wouldn't be "seen" by the program.

Yes, I already acknowledge that point. "... a shortcut key to close 0 A.D. may not have worked anyway..."

 

31 minutes ago, andy5995 said:

What operating system are you using?

Linux Mint.

 

31 minutes ago, andy5995 said:

On Linux, from your desktop settings, you could add a keyboard settting (application shortcut) to run "xkill".

Had tried "xkill". did not work.  While "xkill" did not work, I was able, through the command line, to find the process ID for 0 A.D. and kill it, thereby ending 0 A.D. and also restoring my ability to use the graphical interface.

  

2 hours ago, sarcoma said:

If the system hangs, you may restart xorg with ctrl-alt-bksp but it's no longer on by default, you have to write custom xork.conf kb module

Hadn't heard of that one. Will have to keep it in mind.

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Thales

[dave_k]

Thales,

I have posted advice on forcing 0ad to quit in Linux here. Executive summary: kill "main" from the command line or use the Magic-SysRq key to send a signal to all processes on the virtual console or else all processes (commands k or i). It might be necessary to change a config file in order to enable the necessary functionality from the Magic-SysRq key.

[Ceres]

But that would kill all processes, rendering the system unstable, or wouldn't it?

Switching to a different Linux console (Ctrl+Fx function key, if I remember correctly) should always work.

EDIT:

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Ceres

[dave_k]

Yes, my advice about using the Magic-SysRq key to send a signal to all processes on the virtual console or else all processes would kill a lot of processes. And yes, the system might be unstable as a result. It's a last resort before resetting the computer if it's so locked up that even switching to a virtual console doesn't work.

Yes, switching to a virtual console SHOULD always work. Except that it often doesn't for me. Believe me, I've tried. I think that it depends on the video hardware, the video drivers, the distro, the window manager, desktop environment, etc.

[Ceres]

Then maybe ssh'ing into your machine might help, if sshd is running and you have another device, even a smartphone, as client. If I remember correctly, top or htop would be the tool to find the PID of the 0ad 'main' task to kill.