KBD_MODE(1)            Linux User's Manual            KBD_MODE(1)

NAME
       kbd_mode - report or set the keyboard mode

SYNOPSIS
       kbd_mode [ -auks ]

DESCRIPTION
       Without  argument,  kbd_mode  prints  the current keyboard
       mode. With argument, it sets the keyboard  mode  as  indi-
       cated:

              -s: scancode mode (RAW),

              -k: keycode mode (MEDIUMRAW),

              -a: ASCII mode (XLATE),

              -u: UTF-8 mode (UNICODE).

       The  XLATE  mode  is  the traditional one, where the codes
       used can  be  any  8-bit  character  set.  Is  is  usually
       expected  that  this  character  set  matches the one used
       later to translate them  internally  into  Unicode,  after
       they are sent to the screen to be displayed, using the map
       selected by consolechars -m.

       In UNICODE mode, a 16-bit character set is  expected,  and
       these  chars  are  transmitted to the kernel as 1, 2, or 3
       bytes (following the UTF-8 coding). In  these  latter  two
       modes the key mapping defined by loadkeys(1) is used.

       WARNING:  changing  the  keyboard mode, other than between
       ASCII and Unicode, will probably make your keyboard  unus-
       able.  This  command  can  also  be useful (say via remote
       login) when some program left your keyboard in  the  wrong
       state,  to  get  the  keyboard  back into XLATE or UNICODE
       mode.

       Note that in some obsolete versions of this program the -u
       option was a synonym for -s.

SEE ALSO
       loadkeys(1), consolechars(8).

Console tools              28 Oct 1997                          1