I'm using an Apple keyboard which has some annoyances compared to other keyboards. Namely, the Alt_L and Super_L keys are swapped, and the bar and less keys are swapped ("|" and "<").
I've written an Xmodmap file to swap the keys back:
keycode 49 = less greater less greater onehalf threequarters
keycode 64 = Super_L NoSymbol Super_L
keycode 94 = bar section bar section brokenbar paragraph
keycode 108 = Super_R NoSymbol Super_R
keycode 133 = Alt_L Meta_L Alt_L Meta_L
keycode 134 = Alt_R Meta_R Alt_R Meta_R
I did this by identifying the keys using xev
and the default modmap xmodmap -pke
and swapping the keycodes. xev
now identifies all my keys as correct, which is awesome! I can also use the correct keys to type the bar and less than symbols. (I followed this answer on askubuntu: How do I remap certain keys or devices?)
But it seems the change isn't very deep. Here are some examples
- The Super key is now broken in the Compiz Settings Manager. No shortcuts involving the Super key works (but the Alt key does).
- The settings dialog for Gnome Do doesn't heed the changes in xmodmap, and I can't open the Gnome Do window anymore if I use any of the remapped keys.
- Chrome shortcuts doesn't care about the xmodman changes, I now have to use Super+D to focus the address field (Should be Alt+D)
So to summarize, everything broke.
I would like a deeper way of telling Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro for that matter) which keys are which on the keyboard. Is there a way to edit the Keyboard Layout directly? I'm using the Norwegian Bokmål keyboard layout. Does it reside in a file somewhere I could edit?
Any comments, previous experiences or relevant stray thoughts would be greatly appreciated -
Thanks