Hello,

> But if I want to get back to, say, virtual console 1
> while being logged into Gnome, I can't, at least not by the usual
> means.

Did you try other virtual consoles? With systemd, GDM runs on VT1, so
there won't be a text virtual console there if you use GDM. In that
scenario, it's likely VT2 is your logged in user GNOME session, unless
you had agetty opened up there before logging in.

> I'm wondering if anyone has encountered this and, if so, if they've
> managed to fix it. I'm wondering if it could be a keyboard map issue.
> I also discovered that alt + F10 doesn't pull up the Gnome menu

Alt+F10 is the shortcut to toggle between maximized and restored (non-
maximized) state. Super+F10 is for global application menu, while F10
is for normal menu opening (gear menu for new HIG apps and menubar in
old-style stuff).
Super is the key between Ctrl and Alt.

> and numlock is
> always on; pressing it doesn't seem to turn it off. In fact, I've
> only been
> able to use alt + F2 to open the command dialogue where I can then
> run
> things like my browser or, to log out, gnome-session-quit. If it is
> my
> keymap, can anyone advise me on resetting or changing that?

The whole interface is changed compared to GNOME 2, and I suspect
that's what you are experiencing here. There is no global "Start Menu"
or Application tree menu. Hitting Super (and releasing it without
pressing anything else besides the modifier) will open up the
activities overview. In there you can launch application by starting to
type the name, or browse the installed applications. There are
extensions that restore the old thing a bit, but I'm not sure how
accessible they are.


Best,
Mart