change the keyboard

[jls]

How can I use my italian keyboard?

legalize cannabis, coke, ero.

[^thehatsrule^]

answered and done on IRC, repeating here: load the kmap extension and use loadkmap

[dmoerner]

Is there any magic to using dumpkmap?

I type colemak on most of my computers, and so I downloaded the colemak .kmap text file.  I then used dumpkmap to create a new .kmap binary files.  However, nothing changes if I run loadkmap < colemak.kmap in the virtual terminal.  Does this just suggest that dumpkmap isn't working properly/the original kmap is bad, or is there some other trick that has to be used?

[curaga]

dumpkmap can only be used if you have loaded your keymap it's own way (loadkeys from kbd, if it's that format)

There is a FAQ entry already done, but the document format is still not certain.

[dmoerner]

dumpkmap can only be used if you have loaded your keymap it's own way (loadkeys from kbd, if it's that format)

There is a FAQ entry already done, but the document format is still not certain.

Thanks for the hint.  I used a Debian system to create the file.  It loads fine from the command line with sudo.  I have attached it if anyone else uses colemak or if you want to distribute it as part of kmaps.tce.  Colemak is the third-most common English keyboard layout, behind Dvorak and QWERTY.

[curaga]

kmaps.tce updated with your kmap, thanks

[tetonca]

Dvorak example

load the kmap:

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~$ sudo su
root@myhost:~# /sbin/loadkmap < dvorak.kmap


Prove the (now loaded) binary kmap file (requires an aterm in X11):

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ xmodmap -pke | head -55 > proof.txt

This command line (above) proves the binary keymap (dvorak.kmap).  It generates (part of) a working xmodmap file, which is human-readable.

The first 55 lines are captured for analysis.


create the kmap:

--kludge--

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ cp /usr/share/kmap/us.kmap  ./dvorak.kmap

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ vim -b dvorak.kmap

Use vim (in binary edit mode; the -b switch) to modify a working kmap.  A hexdump of a success follows.

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ hexdump -C dvorak.kmap | head -29
00000000  62 6b 65 79 6d 61 70 01  01 01 00 01 01 01 00 01  |bkeymap.........|
00000010  01 01 00 01 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000020  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
00000100  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  02 1b 00 31 00 32 00 33  |...........1.2.3|
00000110  00 34 00 35 00 36 00 37  00 38 00 39 00 30 00 5b  |.4.5.6.7.8.9.0.[|
00000120  00 5d 00 7f 00 09 00 27  0b 2c 0b 2e 0b 70 0b 79  |.].....'.,...p.y|
00000130  0b 66 0b 67 0b 63 0b 72  0b 6c 0b 2f 00 3d 00 01  |.f.g.c.r.l./.=..|
00000140  02 02 07 61 0b 6f 0b 65  0b 75 0b 69 0b 64 0b 68  |...a.o.e.u.i.d.h|
00000150  0b 74 0b 6e 0b 73 00 2d  00 60 00 00 07 5c 00 3b  |.t.n.s.-.`...\.;|
00000160  0b 71 0b 6a 0b 6b 0b 78  0b 62 0b 6d 0b 77 00 76  |.q.j.k.x.b.m.w.v|
00000170  00 7a 00 00 07 0c 03 03  07 20 00 07 02 00 01 01  |.z....... ......|
00000180  01 02 01 03 01 04 01 05  01 06 01 07 01 08 01 09  |................|
00000190  01 08 02 09 02 07 03 08  03 09 03 0b 03 04 03 05  |................|
000001a0  03 06 03 0a 03 01 03 02  03 03 03 00 03 10 03 06  |................|
000001b0  02 00 02 3c 00 0a 01 0b  01 00 02 00 02 00 02 00  |...<............|
000001c0  02 00 02 00 02 00 02 0e  03 02 07 0d 03 0e 02 01  |................|
000001d0  07 05 02 14 01 03 06 18  01 01 06 02 06 17 01 00  |................|
000001e0  06 19 01 15 01 16 01 1a  01 0c 01 0d 01 1b 01 1c  |................|
000001f0  01 10 01 11 03 1d 01 00  02 00 02 00 02 00 02 00  |................|
00000200  02 00 02 00 02 00 02 00  02 1b 00 21 00 40 00 23  |...........!.@.#|
00000210  00 24 00 25 00 5e 00 26  00 2a 00 28 00 29 00 7b  |.$.%.^.&.*.(.).{|
00000220  00 7d 00 7f 00 09 08 22  0b 3c 0b 3e 0b 50 0b 59  |.}.....".<.>.P.Y|
00000230  0b 46 0b 47 0b 43 0b 52  0b 4c 0b 3f 00 2b 00 01  |.F.G.C.R.L.?.+..|
00000240  02 02 07 41 0b 4f 0b 45  0b 55 0b 49 0b 44 0b 48  |...A.O.E.U.I.D.H|
00000250  0b 54 0b 4e 0b 53 00 5f  00 7e 00 00 07 7c 00 3a  |.T.N.S._.~...|.:|
00000260  0b 51 0b 4a 0b 4b 0b 58  0b 42 0b 4d 0b 57 00 56  |.Q.J.K.X.B.M.W.V|
00000270  00 5a 00 00 07 0c 03 03  07 20 00 07 02 0c 01 0d  |.Z....... ......|
00000280  01 0e 01 0f 01 10 01 11  01 12 01 13 01 1e 01 1f  |................|
tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$

AltGR with any alpha key continues to generate QWERTY (if us.kmap was the basis of the new binary kmap) while an unmodified (by a shift-state) key generates dvorak.

Continue past line 29 of the hexdump to include AltGR mappings (all-dvorak, no hidden QWERTY).



Preparation (prior to the efforts, above)

Follows is an earlier effort, to shape the X11 environment, in preparation for the procedure described (above).

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ cat dvorak.xmodmap | head -55
keycode   8 =
keycode   9 = Escape
keycode  10 = 1 exclam
keycode  11 = 2 at
keycode  12 = 3 numbersign
keycode  13 = 4 dollar
keycode  14 = 5 percent
keycode  15 = 6 asciicircum
keycode  16 = 7 ampersand braceleft
keycode  17 = 8 asterisk bracketleft
keycode  18 = 9 parenleft bracketright
keycode  19 = 0 parenright braceright
keycode  20 = bracketleft braceleft
keycode  21 = bracketright braceright asciitilde
keycode  22 = BackSpace
keycode  23 = Tab
keycode  24 = apostrophe quotedbl
keycode  25 = comma less
keycode  26 = period greater
keycode  27 = p P p
keycode  28 = y Y y
keycode  29 = f F
keycode  30 = g G g
keycode  31 = c C
keycode  32 = r R r
keycode  33 = l L l
keycode  34 = slash question
keycode  35 = equal plus
keycode  36 = Return
keycode  37 = Control_L
keycode  38 = a A
keycode  39 = o O o
keycode  40 = e E
keycode  41 = u U u
keycode  42 = i I i
keycode  43 = d D
keycode  44 = h H h
keycode  45 = t T t
keycode  46 = n N n
keycode  47 = s S s
keycode  48 = minus underscore backslash
keycode  49 = grave asciitilde
keycode  50 = Shift_L
keycode  51 = backslash bar
keycode  52 = semicolon colon
keycode  53 = q Q q
keycode  54 = j J j
keycode  55 = k K k
keycode  56 = x X x
keycode  57 = b B
keycode  58 = m M m
keycode  59 = w W w
keycode  60 = v V v
keycode  61 = z Z z
keycode  62 = Shift_R

Above generated (in an aterm) using output of 'xmodmap -pke' as a starting point.  Then redefine (in a text editor) by sorting according to the new keyboard layout ordering.

Apply the changed xmodmap:

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~/dvorak.d$ xmodmap dvorak.xmodmap

SUMMARY

Without a detailed understanding of how binary .kmap files are meant to be generated, I have nevertheless generated a useful .kmap file for my TC installation, that handles my dvorak keyboard.

Note: once a .kmap is loaded (possibly in the Linux Virtual Console) the xmodmap method (X11 only) becomes redundant.


--edited 26 Feb 0841z --

Code: [Select]

tc@myhost:~$ sudo /sbin/loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/ANSI-dvorak.kmap

or

tc@myhost:~$ cat /opt/bootlocal.sh | grep dvorak
/sbin/loadkmap < /usr/share/kmap/ANSI-dvorak.kmap

... is pretty close to what many will need in the way of a dvorak kmap.