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)