NAME

       setkeycodes - load kernel scancode-to-keycode mapping table entries

SYNOPSIS

       setkeycodes scancode keycode ...

DESCRIPTION

       The  setkeycodes  command  reads  its  arguments  two  at  a time, each pair of arguments consisting of a
       scancode (given in hexadecimal) and a keycode (given in decimal). For each such pair, it tells the kernel
       keyboard driver to map the specified scancode to the specified keycode.

       This  command  is  useful  only  for  people  with slightly unusual keyboards, that have a few keys which
       produce scancodes that the kernel does not recognize.

THEORY

       The usual PC keyboard produces a series of scancodes for each key press and key release.  (Scancodes  are
       shown  by  showkey -s, see showkey(1).)  The kernel parses this stream of scancodes, and converts it to a
       stream of keycodes (key press/release events).  (Keycodes are  shown  by  showkey.)   Apart  from  a  few
       scancodes  with  special  meaning,  and apart from the sequence produced by the Pause key, and apart from
       shiftstate related scancodes, and apart from the key up/down bit, the stream  of  scancodes  consists  of
       unescaped  scancodes  xx (7 bits) and escaped scancodes e0 xx (8+7 bits).  To these scancodes or scancode
       pairs, a corresponding keycode can be assigned (in the range 1-127).  For example, if you  have  a  Macro
       key that produces e0 6f according to showkey(1), the command
              setkeycodes e06f 112
       will assign the keycode 112 to it, and then loadkeys(1) can be used to define the function of this key.

       Some  older kernels might hardwire a low scancode range to the equivalent keycodes; setkeycodes will fail
       when you try to remap these.

2.6 KERNELS

       In 2.6 kernels key codes lie in the range 1-255, instead of 1-127.  (It might be best to confine  oneself
       to the range 1-239.)

       In  2.6 kernels raw mode, or scancode mode, is not very raw at all.  The code returned by showkey -s will
       change after use of setkeycodes.  A kernel bug. See also showkey(1).

OPTIONS

       None.

BUGS

       The keycodes of X have nothing to do with those of Linux.  Unusual keys can be made visible under  Linux,
       but not under X.

SEE ALSO

       dumpkeys (1), loadkeys (1), showkey (1), getkeycodes (8)