I promised to post this piece that Sylvain OBEGI did on how to switch back
and forth between Linux and Mac keymaps:
--------------------------------- snip -------------------------------
Keymaps/keycodes with Mandrake Linux Cooker/8.2 PPC [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Historically, Linux on PowerPC hardware uses ��mac keycodes��, a ��keycode��
is the code returned to the Operating System by the keyboard when a key is
pressed. Mac keycodes and x86 (PS/2) keycodes are different, so they need
different keymaps. A keymap is a file storing the information which character
matches which keycode.
Pro : the keymap is really adapted to the mac keyboard.
Con : there are only few mac keymaps available (currently : us, fr and de)
Mandrake Linux 8.0 PPC uses the mac keycodes.
But there is another way to do things : the ��linux keycodes�� way. This
options makes a mac keyboard acts as a pc keyboard, and so gives access to
all the traditionnal pc keymaps. But, (of course there is a ��but��) this
can shake the keyboard a little. Let me explain : some Mac keyboards (I'm
especially talking of foreign language keyboards) are not the same as their
PC equivalent, the place of some keys are differents, some other keys are
missing (��\�� for example on mac fr keyboard, which is a bit annoying when
dealing with Wind*ws stuff). With Mac keycodes (and specific keymaps), the
character you see on a key is the one you get when pressing this key.. with
Linux keycodes you get the one the PC keyboard has on it, which is better
when you want some key missing on the standard Mac keyboard, and if you know
where it is..
As of today (02/13/2002) Cooker-PPC uses Linux keycodes.
Both ways have pros and cons, you can test by yourself and choose the one you
prefer by following theses instructions :
in /etc/sysctl.conf
dev.mac_hid.keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes=
1 (default) : Linux keycodes
0 : mac keycodes
in /etc/sysconfig/keyboard
KEYTABLE=
default : a pc keymap matching your language setting
to change to mac keycodes, choose a keymap in /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/mac
(in /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/i386/xxxx for Linux keycodes)
in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
Option ��XkbModel��
pc105 (default) : Linux keycodes
macintosh : mac keycodes
Option ��XkbLayout��
xx (default) : keymap for Linux keycodes
macintosh/xx : keymap for mac keycodes (is it exists, see
/etc/X11/xkb/symbols/macintosh/)
And then reboot. Key style should have been changed. Happy tweaking.
Join us live on irc.openprojects.net #cooker-ppc !
---------------------------- snip -----------------------------
You can probably avoid the reboot, by creating a small script. Run this
with X shut down (runlevel 3), as root (call it swapkeys.sh or whatever
you like), after you've edited the files mentioned above.
#!/bin/sh
if [ -z "$1" ];then
echo "usage: $0 mac or $0 linux...."
exit 1
else
if [ $1 = "mac" ]; then
NEWCODE=0
fi
if [ "$1" = "linux" ]; then
NEWCODE=1
fi
if [ -n "$NEWCODE" ]; then
echo $NEWCODE > /proc/sys/dev/mac_hid/keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes
service keytable restart
else
echo "usage: $0 mac or $0 linux...."
exit 1
fi
fi
--------------------------- snip ---------------------------
Thanks again Sylvain!
Stew Benedict
--
MandrakeSoft OH/TN, USA http://people.mandrakesoft.com/~sbenedict/
PPC FAQ: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos/PPC/FAQ/
