system does not adhere the num lock key

["Ulrich Scholz" <d4@thispla.net>]

Hi everybody,

I'm still new to my new Debian system.  My problem now: What shall I do
such that Num_Lock is adhered?

xmodmap says "mod2        Num_Lock (0x4d)" and the little light is
toggled when the Num_Lock key is pressed.  Unfortunately, this modifier
is not adhered.

For example, I get "7" when pressing the corresponding key at my
keypad, regardless whether the Num_Lock light is on or not.  Likewise,
the emacs command <Ctrl>-h k gives
"7 runs the command self-insert-command" in both cases.

How to get the desired behavior?  I'm willing to read man-pages and
FAQ's but please give me some pointers.

Thank you, Uli