Tiny Core Linux
Tiny Core Extensions => TCE Q&A Forum => Topic started by: core-user on August 21, 2018, 09:56:33 AM
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I used to try to use TC 5 & 6, but gave up because there was no uk.kmap, the one in kmap.tcz is a copy of the us.kmap.
Having had another try with Tiny Core, (version 9), I find that the uk.kmap is still a copy of the us.kmap - after all these intervening years!?
Where can I get a proper uk.kmap that actually configures to a UK QWERTY keyboard?
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It was script-generated from the kbd package's keymap; the info file also says the last update was in 2010. So it's likely that whatever is wrong was/is also wrong in the kbd keymap.
The md5sums show they're not the exact same:
$ md5sum uk.kmap us.kmap
f382207ec4ae389e22b706ba5872bad5 uk.kmap
212fd6afbb3e68258ba3013adb268ad2 us.kmap
Patches welcome - if you have a better uk.kmap, please send it so we can put it in. Nobody else has complained about uk.kmap, this is the first time.
edit: Google says the uk and us keyboards mainly differ in " and @ being swapped. Testing this, they are indeed swapped, so it looks correct.
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The kbd package's latest source releases are listed on this page : https://github.com/legionus/kbd/releases
and the corresponding Arch Linux Binary Package contains many uk. keymap files, as listed on this page : https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core/x86_64/kbd/files/ ( Please do Ctrl+F for uk. )
Hope this info serves some purpose.
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I reported the same problem in these forums back when I was trying to use versions 5 & 6, several years ago.
I am very surprised that no one else has mentioned it, because i quit trying to use Tiny Core back then because of it.
I would have expected it to have been reported quite a few times in the intervening years.
The @ & " are reversed, # is where the correct pound sign should be, there are others, \ is where the # should be., etc
So, no one has a true uk.kmap available to download & install?
Edit: I've downloaded the source files to have a look to see if there might be something I may be able to do.
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Hi core-user,
I have extracted the UK Keymap files from the Arch Linux kbd Binary Package and enclosed it as a zip file here. Please check, if this works at your end.
Regards,
Nathan SR
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in continuation, of my previous post :
As specified in the FAQ, we can easily load our own latest custom keymap, as follows : ( please change the path/file name, to where you have extracted the zip file, from above )
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My keyboard is not US. How to add a keymap?
The extension "kmaps.tcz" was created just for this. It includes all keymaps from the kbd package. Keymaps have to be changed in the console, not in X.
So, for a quick test, load the extension, exit to prompt, and type:
sudo loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/qwerty/fi-latin9.kmap
To make this permanent, add the extension kmaps.tcz to your persistent tce directory, and then either use the bootcode kmap=qwerty/fi-latin9, or add the command to /opt/bootlocal.sh (missing the sudo, since bootlocal is executed as root):
loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/qwerty/fi-latin9.kmap
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Hi core-user,
I have extracted the UK Keymap files from the Arch Linux kbd Binary Package and enclosed it as a zip file here. Please check, if this works at your end.
Regards,
Nathan SR
Many thanks, have just downloaded it & will try it out ASAP.
Edit: Yesterday, I installed kmaps.tcz, & put it in /opt/bootlocal.sh (loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/qwerty/uk.kmap).
Today, I just exited the GUI to a terminal, & ran sudo loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/qwerty/uk.kmap - restarted the GUI, & it worked correctly in a terminal, so I shutdown, with backup enabled, then started up again. - Wrong keymap again. :(
I must be doing something wrong, then, as the correct keymap did install when i went to a VT & used sudo to install it - before shuting down & restarting.
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So, I tried adding it into my .profile, & restarting, but that didn't work either. Seems the system just isn't loading the right kmap when it starts up. :-\
Edit: Added sudo loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/qwerty/uk.kmap to my .profile - & it booted up with the right keymap!
Dare I shut down & restart....... :)
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Well, almost perfect, I get a ? where I should get a pound sign, I can live with that. ;D
So, for any other Brit having problems this seems to be the solution for us. ::)
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Maybe one of the developers wants to investigate this problem(?).
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Thanks for your help, a good nights sleep seems to have let the brain mull this over. ;)
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Sorry, forgot to say - add it to the line before startx in your .profile. 8)
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Hi core-user,
Your efforts will certainly help others too, who are viewing this thread. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity :
1. Was the new keymap, that I enclosed in the zip file, any better than the earlier one ?
2. For pound symbol, solution given on the internet:
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I managed to fix this same problem by setting the LC_CTYPE variable as follows:
echo $LC_CTYPE
export LC_CTYPE=en_GB.ISO8859-15
This was previously set to en_US.UTF-8
If this does not work to get the pound symbol, then try:
export LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8
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3. While I was searching for a keymap solution on the net, I came across this discussion, which talks about Swapping Keys easily : https://superuser.com/questions/290115/how-to-change-console-keymap-in-linux
Will this help you to get back the Pound sign and also share the improved keymap file with us ?
Regards,
Nathan SR
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On 64 bit XFCE, with the loading of xfce4-xkb-plugin and after reading the info to set up
your compose key (and optionally your layout key) you could try
compose-key (then) l (then) (minus symbol)........for me I changed compose key to right alt
so its right alt l -
ref
https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.7/doc/libX11/i18n/compose/en_US.UTF-8.html
this outputs the pound symbol for me on an US keyboard layout
and I can display it in FF or leafpad
£
2) I just noticed that the locale for that kb package provides
en_GB let me see if that makes a diff
ahh £ is above the 3....but now I have loaded the locale. Will have to reboot to see if I need that locale or not
EDIT
reboot without loading the locale package.....
swap the layout....as per the info......£ works
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OK, I've been experimenting this morning, sorry I hadn't seen the above posts until now.
I was experimenting with the already installed kmap file, so, no, sorry, I haven't tried your one.
Whilst it was working from my .profile OK, if no one else has reported problems, it had to be something I wasn't doing right - & I found the proper solution - setting kmap=uk in the boot loader line was wrong, it should be kmap=qwerty/uk. Now it works from the off. :)
(Seemed strange that the /opt/bootlocal.sh entry didn't work though, maybe it does need sudo in the kmap line.)
Anyway, I'm going to have another read of the above to see if I can indeed get my pound sign. 8)
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Hi core-user
... (Seemed strange that the /opt/bootlocal.sh entry didn't work though, maybe it does need sudo in the kmap line.) ...
Since /opt/bootlocal.sh runs as root you don't need sudo there. Maybe it's because it's running asynchronously in the
background. You could try putting the command in /opt/bootsync.sh before it calls /opt/bootlocal.sh.
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Thanks Rich, it was just a thought, I have my keyboard set up OK from the boot loader line in extlinux.
@Nathan_SR - Just had a go at loading the keymap out of your .zip file, but loadkmap doesn't recognise its format.
As I am set up OK, & I've also found an alternative way, to use the supplied uk.kmap, I'll call it a day on the experimentation. ;)
Thanks for your help & your time.
I need to go & re read my Into The Core book again, to get things back into my brain.
I've already remastered TC for my other laptop, installed nicely, just had this little problem, & we found out that it was down to me - again thanks for your time. 8)
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@Nathan_SR - Just had a go at loading the keymap out of your .zip file, but loadkmap doesn't recognise its format.
Did you gunzip the qwerty-uk.map.gz file, before trying to load it with the loadkmap command ?
Hope and wish it gives you the pound symbol back in no time ! This is a latest release from the kbd package. If it does not work, then we may need to look at the LANG and the LC_CTYPE environment variable and set it, as given in my post earlier.
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Hi Nathan_SR
The .map files supplied by Tinycores kmaps.tcz are binary based. The .map files you supplied are text based.