Keyboard hacks (part 2)
Posted by JohnnyAppleseed | Under Hardware, Software Sunday Apr 13, 2008- Keyboard hacks (part 1)
- Keyboard hacks (part 2)
In our last post we were exploring the keyboard settings in the International preference panel in the Mac OS X System Preferences. Today we’re going to look in the Keyboard & Mouse preference panel.
Under the "Keyboard" tab you can change things like Key Repeat Rate and Delay Until Repeat, but you can also change the action of the modifier keys - see the button that says "Modifier Keys?" If all you want to do is, say, swap the operation of the Control and Option (a.k.a. "Windows" on a PC-style keyboard) keys, you can do it here - you should not need to run another piece of software.
But the real action in this preference panel is under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, where you can change a multitude of settings.
Note that you can actually set up application-specific keyboard shortcuts. Click the + button, select an application you wish to control, enter the exact title of the menu command you want to add in the text field, and then in the last text field you simply depress the key combination you wish to use to invoke that command.
Normally it’s probably not a good idea to change the Mac’s defaults, BUT one exception may be the commands invoked by using the function keys. Sometimes I use iTerm to connect to a remote system that runs Linux, and I don’t want keys like F8, F9 and F10 bringing up Spaces or application windows, because those keys are used in the software I’m running on the remote system. So I either disable the combinations I don’t use, or change them to something like Control+Function Key.
Anyway, if the System Preferences do not give you enough power over the keyboard, there are free programs you can download that will give you many more options. Just be sure you don’t install both of them at the same time on the same Mac (more in that in a moment).
One rather popular program of this type is called DoubleCommand - as you can see from the screenshot below, it allows you to do several types of keyboard modification. It actually adds a new preference pane under System Preferences and by checking the appropriate boxes you can select any of the modifications shown.
However, our preference in this type of program is KeyRemap4MacBook, which we find to be far more versatile than DoubleCommand - and despite what the title may imply, it should run on any Mac using OS X (it has been confirmed to run on the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini).
Those of you that have recently switched from Windows (or who are simply more used to Windows-style keyboards) will want to pay special attention to the settings under the "For PC User" section.
KeyboardRemap4MacBook has far more available key mappings than DoubleCommand (there is a list of supported remappings on their web site), but this is a case where you should choose the program that best does what you want it to do. We will note that if you are using a PC-style keyboard and like to use the directional keys on the numeric keypad (rather than the numbers) then KeyboardRemap4MacBook is definitely the one you want.
Before we close we must give you one warning, based on experience: NEVER INSTALL BOTH DOUBLECOMMAND AND KEYREMAP4MACBOOK ON THE SAME SYSTEM!!! These two pieces of software both try to use the same "hooks" into the system and if you install both, neither will work, and more than likely your keyboard will stop working. And now you are really in a pickle, because in order to uninstall the one you don’t want, you’ll be asked to enter your password - which you can’t type in because the keyboard doesn’t work! Furthermore, even a power-down reboot will not help as long as both programs are installed. Remember our discussion of the Keyboard Viewer in part 1? That’s the only way we know of that you’ll be able to enter your password in order to uninstall one of the two programs (by clicking on the Keyboard Viewer keys with your mouse). So don’t get yourself into this mess in the first place - install only ONE of the two programs, and if you want to try the other, completely uninstall the first one before you install the second.
Subscribe to CAF
I fucked up and installed both. My keyboard went dead, and I managed to uninstall both apps with the Keyboard Viewer. That did not help me though. Do You have any idéas as what to try next?
Using Leopard on a Macbook.
Did you do a complete system shutdown after uninstalling both utilities? Once you completely power down and then come back up the keyboard should start working again. If not, try booting in safe mode and see if the keyboard works there - if it does it should continue to work after you (again) reboot.