Talk:How to get special keys to work

The xmodmap step doesn't seem to work when using the "kdb" driver of xorg. Here are the changes I needed to make to my setup to get the "back" and "forward" keys to work (in diff -u format);

--- xkb/symbols/inet.oud        2004-12-01 08:36:04.000000000 +0100
+++ xkb/symbols/inet    2005-03-08 19:59:32.587636120 +0100
@@ -1875,6 +1875,16 @@
     key <I76>  {       [ XF86AudioLowerVolume  ]       };
 };
 
+// IBM ThinkPad 41 Internet Keys
+
+partial alphanumeric_keys
+xkb_symbols "tp41" {
+    name[Group1]= "IBM ThinkPad 41 Internet Keys";
+
+    key <I69>  {       [ F22           ]       };
+    key <I6A>  {       [ F21           ]       };
+};
+
 // Trust
 
 partial alphanumeric_keys

--- xkb/rules/xorg.lst.oud      2004-12-01 08:36:05.000000000 +0100
+++ xkb/rules/xorg.lst  2005-03-07 20:55:21.000000000 +0100
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@
   sven         SVEN Ergonomic 2500
   symplon      Symplon PaceBook (tablet PC)
   toshiba_s3000        Toshiba Satellite S3000
+  tp41         IBM ThinkPad 41 Internet Keys
   trust                Trust Wireless Keyboard Classic
   trustda      Trust Direct Access Keyboard
   yahoo                Yahoo! Internet Keyboard

--- xkb/rules/xorg.oud  2004-12-01 08:36:05.000000000 +0100
+++ xkb/rules/xorg      2005-03-07 20:45:59.000000000 +0100
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
               qtronix \
               samsung4500 samsung4510 \
               sk1300 sk2500 sk6200 sk7100 \
-              sven symplon toshiba_s3000 trust trustda yahoo
+              sven symplon toshiba_s3000 tp41 trust trustda yahoo

 ! model         =       symbols
   $inetkbds     =       +inet(%m)

--- xkb/rules/xorg.xml.oud      2004-12-01 08:36:05.000000000 +0100
+++ xkb/rules/xorg.xml  2005-03-07 20:52:35.000000000 +0100
@@ -975,6 +975,13 @@
     </model>
     <model>
       <configItem>
+        <name>tp41</name>
+        <description>IBM Thinkpad 41 Internet Keys</description>
+        <description xml:lang="nl">IBM ThinkPad 41 internet toetsen</description>
+      </configItem>
+    </model>
+    <model>
+      <configItem>
         <name>trust</name>
         <description>Trust Wireless Keyboard Classic</description>
         <description xml:lang="fr">clavier classique Trust Wireless</description> 

Do not forget to add something like "+inet(tp41)" to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

       (...)
       Option      "XkbLayout" "us_intl+inet(tp41)"
       (...)

Not T41 specific

These keys are hardly T41 specific, they can also be found on the T30, T40, T42 and I'm sure several other ThinkPads in the X, R and G lineup.

Actually, the above patches could be completed with the information of the other special keys found on some Thinkpads (which is listed in How_to_get_special_keys_to_work#xmodmap_configuration) and submitted as a request for enhancement with xorg's bugzilla. However, firefox doesn't yet recognize keysyms like XF86Back, XF86Forward, so then firefox still needs to be patched manually (unless an enhancement is requested for firefox too).

Fake ACPI events?

Not all keys generate ACPI events. Maybe it is feasible to have the ibm-acpi module check the CMOS (instead of having tpb checking /dev/nvram) and generate fake ACPI events for those keys. Even if it is feasible, that is probably way to hacky for a kernel module ... Still, it would be nice to only have to use scripts triggered by ACPI events and not both scripts for ACPI events and scripts for tpb.