silent keys

[tmetro-blu-5a1Jt6qxUNc at public.gmane.org (Tom Metro)]

Matthew Gillen wrote:
> Are you running gnome?

Yes.


> If so, go to the System->Preferences->Hardware->Keyboard and check the 
> "layouts" tab to see what the current layout is.

Been there, though I hadn't tried changing the layout. It was set to 
generic 104-key PC. I switched it to the correct manufacturer, with a 
subtype of laptop, but no change. This model has a larger keyboard than 
typical, and thus likely has keys that aren't in the typical laptop layout.

In the selected layouts box, I noticed nothing seemed selected. It isn't 
clear to me how the keyboard model selection differs from the keyboard 
layouts selection. Does the former select the hardware, and the latter 
specify the software mapping of the keys?

In any case, I selected the USA layout, with no change.


Jarod Wilson wrote:
> Most laptops, switching from 'us' or 'pc105' to 'us+inet' or 'pc105
> +inet' will enable the bulk of additional keys.

Inet or international? I didn't see any inet option.


> If not, it could be some goofy keys that require special handling in
> ACPI (which isn't uncommon).

You mean like a key normally intended to control the sleep/wake state of 
the machine? No, I don't think that's applicable to the keys I'm 
interested in. They are located next to the arrow keys, one having a 
Euro symbol on it, and the other a dollar sign. I've never seen such 
keys on a keyboard before, and I have no idea why you'd want such keys 
next to the arrow keys (I could see them being useful as part of the 
number pad).

It feels like I need to go a layer down to see what's going on. Is there 
a tool that will let me see the raw keyboard data from the kernel 
outside of X? Maybe a /proc or /sys file that can be viewed? I saw the 
showkey command, but it looks like it operates at a layer after keymaps, 
which won't help if it is the mapping that is the problem.

Thanks for the suggestions.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/