some pain from MacBook keyboard

[nitrofurano]

i'm using LXDE installed on Ubuntu 8.10, in a Macbook i386 - some keys are not working:
. monitor brightness (more and less)
. sound volume (mute, more and less)
. eject

as well, it's hard to have set default the Portuguese keyboard, specially with the right-meta key as third level shift (as AltGr, for keys like @, [, etc. )

[archibald haddock]

Apple linked the keys to OS functions, why/how should GNU/Linux know, what every freaking special key on each keyboard in the world means.
Special keys generally only work out of the box, if the are linked to the hardware direct from the BIOS.

[guidop]

I think the easisest way to get the special apple keys to work will be to install the pommed package, either from synaptic or with the command line:

Code: Select all

sudo aptitude install pommed

Look for and read the pommed documentation for how to edit the /etc/pommed.conf file, to customize the behavior for your machine, if necessary.
If you want a popup or taskbar notification of pommed actions, you may also want to install either gpomme or wmpomme, too.

If you selected a macintosh keyboard variant during the Ubuntu install process, the above may be all you need to make things work.

IF you want to experiment further with keyboard mapping, you may also wish to change some of the keyboard options in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to use a more Apple specific keymap:

Code: Select all

Section "InputDevice" 
        Identifier      "Generic Keyboard" 
        Driver          "kbd" 
        Option          "CoreKeyboard" 
        Option          "XkbRules"      "xorg" 
        Option          "XkbModel"      "macbook78" 
        Option          "XkbLayout"     "us" 
#       Option          "XkbVariant"    "mac" 
EndSection

If your keyboard is not US English, perhaps macbook79 might work better.

I'm using Debian lenny (ppc) and I am in the process of setting up lxde and pommed + gpomme on a 12" PowerBook. Pommed appears to capture the volume and eject keys as expected, and gpomme displays the actions. The brightness keys also work, but also still generate XF86* events in X. I'm still investigating what exactly pommed is doing, as this may actually be the intended behavior.

I hope this answer helps you, after 4 months of waiting.

[overkill22]

i have the same problem. i installed ubuntu minimal + lxde on a ibook dual usb, but i tried to use the third level key without success... i don't know how to config the file, i've tried with different key layout, but it doesn't work...