PPC: Keyboard Bugs

Support knowledgebase (olh_ppc_keyboard)
Applies to

SuSE Linux PowerPC: Versions since 6.4
XFree86: Versions since 3.3.6

Known Problems with the keyboard in SuSE Linux for PowerPC.

PowerPC specifics

The PowerPC architecture uses many different keyboard hardware (ADB,USB,PS/2,Amiga). Every type had different keycodes. Thus we have no default keymap config.
The installer and the setup tools decides what keymap to use via /proc/cpuinfo.
One issue is the global X11 config file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/Xmodmap. It should be essential empty. The xkb_update.tar.gz mentioned below fixes all known bugs for ADB, USB and PS/2 keyboards.
Due to some kernel bugs the standard "pc104" keycodes file for X11 can not be used on a PS/2 keyboard. Use "powerpcps2" instead as value for the "XkbModel" option in XF86Config.

The international ADB keyboards have swapped keycodes for the key "`~". International USB keyboards and US keyboards are fine.
These keyboards send different keycodes. At the console this key produce the keycode 50 on a ANSI USB and ADB keyboards, a ISO USB keyboard produces also the keycode 50. But a ISO ADB keyboard produce the keycode 10.
With kernel version 2.2.16 and later that keycode swapping is handled inside the kernel. The kernel 2.2.14 allows you to swap it manually.
enter that command as root:

cat /proc/sys/dev/mac_keyb/adbiso_conversion

you get either 0 or 1. write the opposite value back to that file:

echo X > /proc/sys/dev/mac_keyb/adbiso_conversion

If that solves your swapping problem, add this command to /sbin/init.d/boot.local

Bugs in 7.0-ppc

No known bugs, yet.

Bugs in 6.4-ppc

We had no international keymaps at the time of cd creation. The available maps was buggy.
The installer and the scripts that automate the X11 configuration misinterpret some values from /proc/cpuinfo and produce a unusable X11 keymap.

ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/a1/kbd.rpm
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/x1/xsfb.rpm
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/X/xf3_xkb_update.tar.gz
This solves these known problems:
Download the packages and install them with these commands:
su -
rpm -Uvh kbd.rpm xsfb.rpm
cd /
tar xfvz /path/to/xf3_xkb_update.tar.gz
rckbd start
rcxsfb start
If your keymap is already screwed up in X11 and you can't type anything, follow these steps to get a working keymap:

Keywords: PPC, POWERPC, MAC, APPLE, MACINTOSH, KEYBOARD, TASTATUR, RS6000

Categories: Power PC

SDB-olh_ppc_keyboard, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 21. Nov 2000
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 27. Nov 2000 by olh (sdb_gen 1.40.0)