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PowerTap

Member

Registered: 2013-01-14

Posts: 5

Laptop Function Keys

I use a Dell XPS 13 laptop and I am trying to get the display switch function key (FN+F1) to work.  Unfortunately, it appears that the key maps out as "p".

When I execute showkey -s my out puts are:

F1 key - Press

0x3b

Release

0xbb

FN+F1 -

0xe0 0x5b 0x19
0x99

F1 while holding FN (multiple presses of F1 with the FN button pressed)

0x19
0x99

"p" key

0x19
0x99

Other function keys produce a set of two hex bytes for each key press, and I'm not sure why F1 behaves differently or how to decouple the F1 button from being interpreted as a P.

When I run showkey -k both FN+F1 and the "p" key return keycode 25 press and keycode 25 release.

All I ultimately want to be able to do is run a script from i3 when I hit the key.

Help is appreciated.

bleach

Member

Registered: 2013-07-26

Posts: 264

Re: Laptop Function Keys

try

showkey -a

it show it in ascii and also show what key you pressed and is more readable. the last one is your key code in hex.

PowerTap

Member

Registered: 2013-01-14

Posts: 5

Re: Laptop Function Keys

Response for showkey -a is:

p 	112 0160 0x70

So consistent with other results.

nagaseiori

Member

Registered: 2012-09-22

Posts: 72

Re: Laptop Function Keys

That key (I have a Dell too) is sending Windows-P to the computer. Windows-P in Windows switches displays.

PowerTap

Member

Registered: 2013-01-14

Posts: 5

Re: Laptop Function Keys

@Nagaseiori,  that makes sense.  Perhaps I will just key the i3 script to key off of windows P rather than XF86Display, which would seem like the preferred behavior rather than mapping your hardware to a specific operating system command.

VikingWarrior75

Member

Registered: 2014-10-18

Posts: 12

Re: Laptop Function Keys

Hey guys, yes these funciton keys can
be an issue, Function keys seem to be less
standardized than the Volume/Playback buttons,
and therefore it can be difficult to get all of
them working properly.

Last edited by VikingWarrior75 (2014-10-22 05:36:03)

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