How to prevent keyboard layout modifications from affecting external k

ThinkPad · 2024-01-08 14:40:55

Using

/etc/vconsole.conf
----
KEYMAP=dvorak

For X Session:

.xinitrc
----
setxkbmap -layout us -variant dvorak &

Problem

For the console, it applies the dvorak layout to a firmware dvorak
keyboard, messing up the input.

When starting the X Session, I have to re-plug the keyboard in order for
it to function properly.

Re-plugging in console has no effect.

Question

How do I prevent these configurations from affecting the external
keyboard?

OR

How do I restrict these configurations to only affecting the internal
laptop keyboard?

seth · 2024-01-08 14:56:49

You rather don't w/ setxkbmap (and that's a clumsy way to persistently configure the keyboard anyway) and I doubt that the console can discrimintate outputs this way.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg/K … tion_files - you can match product and vendor to limit the impact, https://man.archlinux.org/man/extra/xor … SS_SECTION

ThinkPad · 2024-01-08 15:20:19

Thanks for the answer. I'm having trouble understanding the first part. Is that a typo? "You rather don't w/?"

seth · 2024-01-08 15:21:08

w/: "with"
w/o: "without"

ThinkPad · 2024-01-08 15:36:49

That was not the part tripping me up. It was the grammar. "You rather don't with setxkbdmap... and I doubt." I'll read this as "You can't with setxkbdmap."

You're suggestion promises to tighten up my X Session persistent configuration, but the console is where I have no workaround. Even with these settings in an X Session, I can replug the keyboard and type properly. From the console, my only recourse is to resort to the built-in laptop keyboard.

Lone_Wolf · 2024-01-09 12:10:38

for clarity :

Do the laptop keyboard and your external keyboard use the same layout ?

seth · 2024-01-09 13:35:42

I'm pretty sure the OP has two keyboards they want to use w/ a dvorak layout, but one has a regular qwerty layout, the other one has the dvorak layout in hardware (or firmware, but that's an irrelevant detail)

Arch Linux

#1 2024-01-08 14:40:55