.TH SETKEYCODES 8 "31 Oct 1997" "Console tools" "Linux User's Manual"
.SH NAME
setkeycodes \- load kernel scancode-to-keycode mapping table entries

.SH SYNOPSIS
.B setkeycodes
.I "scancode keycode [scancode keycode ... ]"

.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B 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.

.SH THEORY
The usual PC keyboard produces a series of scancodes for each
key press and key release. (Scancodes are shown by
\fBshowkey -s\fP, 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 \fBshowkey\fP.)
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).
It is hardwired in the current kernel that in the range 1-88
(0x01-0x58) keycode equals scancode. For the remaining scancodes
(0x59-0x7f) or scancode pairs (0xe0 0x00 - 0xe0 0x7f) 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
.RS
.BR setkeycodes " e06f 112"
.RE
will assign the keycode 112 to it, and then loadkeys(1) can be used
to define the function of this key.

.SH OPTIONS
None.

.SH 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.

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR dumpkeys (1),
.BR loadkeys (1),
.BR showkey (1),
.BR getkeycodes (8).