Re: Using a Sun type 5 keyboard on a PC

Derek Fawcus (derek@spider.com)
Tue, 25 May 1999 12:17:39 +0100

On Fri, May 21, 1999 at 12:54:56AM +1200, Sam Vilain wrote:
> Hi there.
>
> The problem is, that this keyboard seems to be cruft-free. Every key
> on the keyboard sends a different scan code, and there is no
> pause/sysRq/extended/etc nonsense.
>
> This may seem good at first, but the "F9" key and the "F10" key send
> scan codes 0x60 and 0x61, respectively. Tack on the release bit, and
> that's 0xe0 and 0xe1. Combine this with a keyboard driver expecting
> cruft, and you get into a funny state :)

I'd suggest turning of the AT->PC keyboard scan code translation that
is being done in the keyboard controller chip. You'll then get a different
set of scancodes, with key releases being proceeded by 0xf0 (if I remember
correctly).

Last time I checked all motherboards supported this, since the keyboard
controller proms seem to be fairly standard. However, don't try changing
the keyboard scancode set - not all keyboards support it.

Note - this will require rewriting the keyboard handler code. It also
means that raw scan codes will be different, but then I think XFree said
they were going to change to using the medium raw set anyway.

DF

-- 
Derek Fawcus                                                    derek@spider.com
Spider Software Ltd.                                        +44 (0) 131 475 7034


-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/