[CentOS] setxkbmap not accepting layout "de"

Fri Jun 28 10:13:36 UTC 2013
John Doe <jdmls at yahoo.com>

From: Dirk <dirk.schulz at kinzesberg.de>

> when I try to use Xnest with setxkbmap to force a Germany keyboard 
> layout, I get the error
>>  Error loading new keyboard description
> The complete command I am using is
>>  ssh -X -C -l $USER $HOST -n "Xnest :1 -ac -geometry 1440x850 -once 
>>  -query localhost & setxkbmap -layout de"
> I also tried with "setxkbmap de" in the end, but no difference.

A shot in the dark but, maybe try the "USING WITH xkbcomp" 
section of setxkbmap's man page?
Or use strace to try to see what files he tries/fails to access...

JD