[9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Robert Hibberdine]

Hi,

I want to setup my new plan9 termnial with a UK keyboard. I found kbmap
but this appears to be an interactive program. Even if you do

            kbmap /sys/lib/kbmap/uk

it still acts in an interactive manner. Is this right?

A qick glance at the code reveals that

            cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap      (put into my
lib/profile)

should work too,  and it does.   But is this the 'correct' way to do it?
I just want my keyboard to be the right one when when my terminal
windows start.


TIA

Bob

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Francisco J Ballesteros]

IIRC, putting kbmap=uk
in plan9.ini should work.


On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Robert Hibberdine
<bob.hibberdine@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I want to setup my new plan9 termnial with a UK keyboard. I found kbmap but
> this appears to be an interactive program. Even if you do
>
>           kbmap /sys/lib/kbmap/uk
>
> it still acts in an interactive manner. Is this right?
>
> A qick glance at the code reveals that
>           cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap      (put into my  lib/profile)
>
> should work too,  and it does.   But is this the 'correct' way to do it? I
> just want my keyboard to be the right one when when my terminal windows
> start.
>
>
> TIA
>
> Bob
>
>

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Robert Hibberdine]

Thanks for reply.

putting kbmap=uk into plan9.ini
gives a message

          boot: can't open kbd map: 'uk' file does not exist.

So I tried    kbmap=/sys/lib//kbmap/uk in plan9.ini   This didn't work
either. I got the message

          boot: can't open kbd map: 'sys' file does not exist.

Not sure what the next step is, so any help is much appreciated

Bob



Francisco J Ballesteros wrote:
> IIRC, putting kbmap=uk
> in plan9.ini should work.
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Robert Hibberdine
> <bob.hibberdine@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I want to setup my new plan9 termnial with a UK keyboard. I found kbmap but
>> this appears to be an interactive program. Even if you do
>>
>>           kbmap /sys/lib/kbmap/uk
>>
>> it still acts in an interactive manner. Is this right?
>>
>> A qick glance at the code reveals that
>>           cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap      (put into my  lib/profile)
>>
>> should work too,  and it does.   But is this the 'correct' way to do it? I
>> just want my keyboard to be the right one when when my terminal windows
>> start.
>>
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Pietro Gagliardi]

9fat:
cp /sys/lib/kbmap/uk /n/9fat

try again with kbmap=uk and reboot.

On Jul 16, 2008, at 4:46 PM, Robert Hibberdine wrote:

> Thanks for reply.
>
> putting kbmap=uk into plan9.ini
> gives a message
>
>         boot: can't open kbd map: 'uk' file does not exist.
>
> So I tried    kbmap=/sys/lib//kbmap/uk in plan9.ini   This didn't
> work either. I got the message
>
>         boot: can't open kbd map: 'sys' file does not exist.
>
> Not sure what the next step is, so any help is much appreciated
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> Francisco J Ballesteros wrote:
>> IIRC, putting kbmap=uk
>> in plan9.ini should work.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Robert Hibberdine
>> <bob.hibberdine@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I want to setup my new plan9 termnial with a UK keyboard. I found
>>> kbmap but
>>> this appears to be an interactive program. Even if you do
>>>
>>>          kbmap /sys/lib/kbmap/uk
>>>
>>> it still acts in an interactive manner. Is this right?
>>>
>>> A qick glance at the code reveals that
>>>          cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap      (put into my  lib/
>>> profile)
>>>
>>> should work too,  and it does.   But is this the 'correct' way to
>>> do it? I
>>> just want my keyboard to be the right one when when my terminal
>>> windows
>>> start.
>>>
>>>
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Robert Hibberdine]

Pietro Gagliardi wrote:
> 9fat:
> cp /sys/lib/kbmap/uk /n/9fat
>
> try again with kbmap=uk and reboot.
>
Yes, I tried that but it didn't work either. This probably because it's
boot not 9load that's running at this point..

Francisco J Ballesteros wrote:
> I think you need to add the map to the kernel, as a root file so that
> boot could find it before reaching the file server.
>
In which case, this doesn't seem to be a very practical mechanism.
Wouldn't it be beter to attach to the server and then do the kbmap()
stuff ??


A related question:
    cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap
in my  lib/profile changes the keyboard, but when put it into
/bin/termrc (at the end) it doesn't do anything. Can anyone tell me why....

Many thanks

Bob

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[andrey mirtchovski]

>> I think you need to add the map to the kernel, as a root file so that
>> boot could find it before reaching the file server.
>>
>
> In which case, this doesn't seem to be a very practical mechanism. Wouldn't
> it be beter to attach to the server and then do the kbmap() stuff ??

not when you need to type your password at the console and that
password contains non-ascii characters. I believe this is the original
reason kbmap() was added in the boot code (by Francisco Ballesteros,
if my memory is correct).

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Robert Hibberdine]

andrey mirtchovski wrote:
> not when you need to type your password at the console and that
> password contains non-ascii characters. I believe this is the original
> reason kbmap() was added in the boot code (by Francisco Ballesteros,
> if my memory is correct).
>
Ahh yes..Good point. I confess to having a shamelessly terminal-centric
view of Plan9 at the moment...

Bob

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[erik quanstrom]

> In which case, this doesn't seem to be a very practical mechanism.
> Wouldn't it be beter to attach to the server and then do the kbmap()
> stuff ??

that's a good chicken-and-egg question.  at the stage of boot
where kbmap is run, factotum has not been run and there is no
fileserver.  the advantage to doing the mapping here is that
passwords can be entered normally.  the disadvantage is that
you can't get the file from the fileserver --- you can't authenticate
to it.

if you wait until you have auth set up, you could use files from
the fs, but you'd have one convention for entering passwords
and another for entering everything else.  (assuming all the
chars in your password are typable with your keyboard and
the standard layout interpretation.)

so the only solution is to build the kbmap into the kernel.

i'm not going to try this, so i might mess a few details up,
but this is close to what you want to do.

1. use "kbmap=/boot/uk"

2. edit your terminal configuration.  generally this is /sys/src/9/pc/pc.
in the bootdir section add "/sys/lib/kbmap/uk"

3. make your kernel "mk 'CONF=pc' install"

4. copy /386/9pc to wherever you boot from.  if you're
changing the name of your kernel, then be sure to edit
your plan9.ini, too.

5. reboot.  after booting, you can verify that you've got
it right by
	mount /srv/boot /n/boot
	lc /boot
you should see a file named "uk" in /boot.  (and your
keyboard should work correctly.)

- erik

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Robert Hibberdine]

Many thanks for this recipe.
For the moment, though, I am going to stick with my
    cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap   in my profile

Unless there is a good reason why I shouldn't....?

Bob

erik quanstrom wrote:
>> In which case, this doesn't seem to be a very practical mechanism.
>> Wouldn't it be beter to attach to the server and then do the kbmap()
>> stuff ??
>>
>
> that's a good chicken-and-egg question.  at the stage of boot
> where kbmap is run, factotum has not been run and there is no
> fileserver.  the advantage to doing the mapping here is that
> passwords can be entered normally.  the disadvantage is that
> you can't get the file from the fileserver --- you can't authenticate
> to it.
>
> if you wait until you have auth set up, you could use files from
> the fs, but you'd have one convention for entering passwords
> and another for entering everything else.  (assuming all the
> chars in your password are typable with your keyboard and
> the standard layout interpretation.)
>
> so the only solution is to build the kbmap into the kernel.
>
> i'm not going to try this, so i might mess a few details up,
> but this is close to what you want to do.
>
> 1. use "kbmap=/boot/uk"
>
> 2. edit your terminal configuration.  generally this is /sys/src/9/pc/pc.
> in the bootdir section add "/sys/lib/kbmap/uk"
>
> 3. make your kernel "mk 'CONF=pc' install"
>
> 4. copy /386/9pc to wherever you boot from.  if you're
> changing the name of your kernel, then be sure to edit
> your plan9.ini, too.
>
> 5. reboot.  after booting, you can verify that you've got
> it right by
> 	mount /srv/boot /n/boot
> 	lc /boot
> you should see a file named "uk" in /boot.  (and your
> keyboard should work correctly.)
>
> - erik
>
>
>
>

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[Francisco J Ballesteros]

I think you need to add the map to the kernel, as a root file so that
boot could find it before reaching the file server.


On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 10:46 PM, Robert Hibberdine
<bob.hibberdine@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Thanks for reply.
>
> putting kbmap=uk into plan9.ini
> gives a message
>
>         boot: can't open kbd map: 'uk' file does not exist.
>
> So I tried    kbmap=/sys/lib//kbmap/uk in plan9.ini   This didn't work
> either. I got the message
>
>         boot: can't open kbd map: 'sys' file does not exist.
>
> Not sure what the next step is, so any help is much appreciated
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> Francisco J Ballesteros wrote:
>>
>> IIRC, putting kbmap=uk
>> in plan9.ini should work.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Robert Hibberdine
>> <bob.hibberdine@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I want to setup my new plan9 termnial with a UK keyboard. I found kbmap
>>> but
>>> this appears to be an interactive program. Even if you do
>>>
>>>          kbmap /sys/lib/kbmap/uk
>>>
>>> it still acts in an interactive manner. Is this right?
>>>
>>> A qick glance at the code reveals that
>>>          cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap      (put into my
>>>  lib/profile)
>>>
>>> should work too,  and it does.   But is this the 'correct' way to do it?
>>> I
>>> just want my keyboard to be the right one when when my terminal windows
>>> start.
>>>
>>>
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> Bob
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

Re: [9fans] setting up a differnet keyboard

[erik quanstrom]

> Many thanks for this recipe.
> For the moment, though, I am going to stick with my
>     cp  /sys/lib/kbmap/uk   /dev/kbmap   in my profile
>
> Unless there is a good reason why I shouldn't....?

as long as you're happy with it, and don't mind the gotcha,
i don't see that it would be a problem.

but there are 7 characters i know aren't in your password.
and if i got out a uk keyboard, i'd know 7 more.  :-)

i do add some characters to my keyboard map with my
profile, but these are for convience, not to fix broken
mappings.  i map the otherwise-unused f keys to some
common unicode unicode characters.

- erik