Alt Gr Problem with German Keyboards and XFree86
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Alt Gr Problem with German Keyboards and XFree86
started by: Knusper
Posted by Knusper on July 07 2005,02:17
Okay, first It took me several hours to figure this out... Assuming you have a german keyboard, you may have noticed that the @ key will not work in firefox, even just after you have booted into the default DSL Setup, without XFree86... This IS NOT a problem of the firefox browser, although some guys in this forum thought.Open a terminal and type the following two lines:
| Code Sample |
xmodmap -e "remove mod4 = Mode_switch" xmodmap -e "add mod5 = Mode_switch" |
Now you will notice that the @ Key works in Firefox... thanks for this tip to the forum member jls legalize
Ok, now for the more difficult part (just kidding, it is easy for you, was difficult for me). When you install XFree86 via MyDSL and configure it so that it works, you will notice that the Alt Gr Key is not working anymore... Assuming You have a German Windows Keyboard create a file in your home directory called .xmodmap-box
Copy & Paste this into the file (use a editor of your choice):
| Code Sample |
keycode 0x09 = Escape keycode 0x43 = F1 F11 keycode 0x44 = F2 F12 keycode 0x45 = F3 F13 keycode 0x46 = F4 F14 keycode 0x47 = F5 F15 keycode 0x48 = F6 F16 keycode 0x49 = F7 F17 keycode 0x4A = F8 F18 keycode 0x4B = F9 F19 keycode 0x4C = F10 F20 keycode 0x5F = F11 keycode 0x60 = F12 keycode 0x6F = Print keycode 0x4E = Mode_switch 0x1007FF01 keycode 0x6E = Pause keycode 0x31 = asciicircum degree keycode 0x0A = 1 exclam keycode 0x0B = 2 quotedbl twosuperior keycode 0x0C = 3 section threesuperior keycode 0x0D = 4 dollar keycode 0x0E = 5 percent keycode 0x0F = 6 ampersand keycode 0x10 = 7 slash braceleft keycode 0x11 = 8 parenleft bracketleft keycode 0x12 = 9 parenright bracketright keycode 0x13 = 0 equal braceright keycode 0x14 = ssharp question backslash keycode 0x15 = apostrophe grave keycode 0x16 = BackSpace keycode 0x6A = Insert keycode 0x61 = Home keycode 0x63 = Prior keycode 0x4D = Num_Lock keycode 0x70 = KP_Divide keycode 0x3F = KP_Multiply keycode 0x52 = KP_Subtract keycode 0x17 = Tab keycode 0x18 = q Q at keycode 0x19 = w W w keycode 0x1A = e E e keycode 0x1B = r R r keycode 0x1C = t T t keycode 0x1D = z Z z keycode 0x1E = u U u keycode 0x1F = i I i keycode 0x20 = o O o keycode 0x21 = p P p keycode 0x22 = udiaeresis Udiaeresis keycode 0x23 = plus asterisk asciitilde keycode 0x24 = Return keycode 0x6B = Delete keycode 0x67 = End keycode 0x69 = Next keycode 0x4F = KP_7 keycode 0x50 = KP_8 keycode 0x51 = KP_9 keycode 0x56 = KP_Add keycode 0x42 = Caps_Lock keycode 0x26 = a A a keycode 0x27 = s S s keycode 0x28 = d D d keycode 0x29 = f F f keycode 0x2A = g G g keycode 0x2B = h H h keycode 0x2C = j J j keycode 0x2D = k K k keycode 0x2E = l L l keycode 0x2F = odiaeresis Odiaeresis keycode 0x30 = adiaeresis Adiaeresis keycode 0x33 = numbersign apostrophe keycode 0x53 = KP_4 keycode 0x54 = KP_5 keycode 0x55 = KP_6 keycode 0x32 = Shift_L keycode 0x5E = less greater bar keycode 0x34 = y Y y keycode 0x35 = x X x keycode 0x36 = c C c keycode 0x37 = v V v keycode 0x38 = b B b keycode 0x39 = n N n keycode 0x3A = m M mu keycode 0x3B = comma semicolon keycode 0x3C = period colon keycode 0x3D = minus underscore keycode 0x3E = Shift_R keycode 0x62 = Up keycode 0x57 = KP_1 keycode 0x58 = KP_2 keycode 0x59 = KP_3 keycode 0x6C = KP_Enter keycode 0x25 = Control_L keycode 0x73 = NoSymbol keycode 0x40 = Alt_L Meta_L keycode 0x41 = space keycode 0x71 = Mode_switch keycode 0x74 = NoSymbol keycode 0x75 = NoSymbol keycode 0x6D = Multi_key keycode 0x64 = Left keycode 0x68 = Down keycode 0x66 = Right keycode 0x5A = KP_0 keycode 0x5B = KP_Separator clear Shift clear Lock clear Control clear Mod1 clear Mod2 clear Mod3 clear Mod4 clear Mod5 add Shift = Shift_L Shift_R add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_L add Mod1 = Alt_L add Mod2 = Num_Lock add Mod5 = Mode_switch Mode_switch |
I made this above with the wonderfull programm xkeycaps, which I installed via apt-get... But thats not the topic... Save the file x and then open a terminal again and type:
| Code Sample |
| xmodmap .xmodmap-box |
Now everything should work fine... Or did I have overseen something... I am not a Linux Freak or so, but the above solution did it for me...
Posted by Xehupatl on Sep. 03 2005,09:23
Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I tried this, and I'm happy the Umlaute work (yay!), but my "Alt Gr" key now seems to work as "Enter"!EDIT: Oh, and on the "up, down, left, right" keys, only the "right" one works!
Posted by Jörg Reuter on Jan. 08 2006,01:55
And the Umlaute dosen't work in the Email-Client Sylpheed.
Posted by Jörg Reuter on Jan. 08 2006,02:23
it is a little difficult. If I type lang=de-latin1-nodeadkeys in the Console the german Umlaute works .http://damnsmalllinux.org/iB_html/non-cgi/Skin/Default/PostIcons/icon2.gif Except in Mozilla the @ 
and very complicated is it in the Emailprogramm Sylpheed. I can see the german Umlaute if I read new mails, I can type it in the Adress and Subject and I see them 
. But if i write the text I can not see the german unlaute but if I send the text the german Umlaute was correctly in the Email. (DSL 2.0)
Posted by Udo on Jan. 25 2006,07:50
Hello Jörg,I have the same probleme mit the "ö","ä","ü" in the text, do you solve the problem?
regards
Udo
Posted by MoonMind on Jan. 29 2006,10:15
I truely admire this kind of thorough fix, but wouldn't it be easier to get the de-latin1-nodeadkeys.kmap.gz from another system (like a Debian system) and just copy it into /usr/share/keymaps/i386/qwertz/ ?Edit:
Tried it - it's not the point. The map loaded at bootup is "de" instead of "de-latin1-nodeadkeys". That seems to be it - but I've yet to locate the file from which the KEYBOARD variable is read in order to change that...
Edit2:
Loading "de-latin1-nodeadkeys" fails altogether:
| Code Sample |
| $ loadkeys de-latin1-nodeadkeys Loading de-latin1-nodeadkeys.kmap.gz loadkeys: de-latin1-nodeadkeys:4: cannot open include file de-latin1.kmap |
Isn't the include supposed to include de-latin1.kmap.gz?
Okay, but anyway, the idea doesn't seem to have been a good one...
Edit3:
loadkeys doesn't work on the live CD either - so there must be something else to load and set keymaps... I've seen a keymap.sh somewhere - is that it?
Okay, I've found /etc/sysconfig/knoppix and changed settings there - about to reboot, hopefully see you soon with some good news...
Edit4:
Nope, no joy. I consider this a but or at least a flaw in the system - even xsetup.sh isn't able to set the keymap to de-latin1-nodeadkeys (it employing loadkeys, in fact, so that's bound to happen).
Edit5:
Closing in on the issue... I tried sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales, was told that locales wasn't installed, tried sudo apt-get install locales and found broken dependencies - glibc-2.2.5-11.8 is missing. Having known DSL for a while (and loving it for its size as well as for its functionality), I guess this is intentional - any ideas on how to change this? I coulnd't get any version of glibc via apt-get using the default repositories...
Posted by freeze on Jan. 30 2006,08:40
I just found the file that you maybe need. /opt/boolocal.shthats my /opt/bootlocal.sh
| Code Sample |
| #!/bin/bash # put other system startup command here /sbin/syslogd/ loadkeys de-latin1-nodeadkeys |
Posted by Jurgen272 on Jan. 31 2006,14:03
Anyone tried "xkeycaps.dsl" ?For me it did solve a lot off problems on an azerty/Belgian keyboard.
Maybe the app will do the same for other (eg DE-keyboards)
Just find jour keyboard in the list and save.
Add "xmodmap ~/.xmodmap-`uname-n`" to your .xinitrc file to preserve the keyboard after booting.