Acer € and $ + special laptop keys: outside supported X keycode range

[Ondřej Nový]

i have Acer TravelMate 2410, and i have 2 addition keys (euro and dolar) on my keyboard. that keys is not mapped.
keycode e033 is euro sign and
keycode e034 is dolar sign

additional i have 'fn' keys
fn+F4 = keycode e028 could sleep computer (it's showed on that key), but i doesn't (but it's mapped)
fn+F5 = keycode e029 should change video output (external CRT, LCD or both)

[Ondřej Nový (onovy)]

keycode e025 would be changed to 212 (help)
on key is '?' image

[Cristian Aravena Romero (caravena)]

Many thanks for you bug.

Pliss read: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/HotkeyResearch
--
Cristian Aravena

[Ondřej Nový (onovy)]

final version:
Handle 0x0001
        DMI type 1, 25 bytes.
        System Information
               Manufacturer: Acer
               Product Name: TravelMate 2410
               Version: 0100

key map: (press and release keycode is from showkey -u command)
+-----------+-----------+---------+------------+--------------+
| press | release | key | function | text on key |
+-----------+-----------+---------+------------+--------------+
| 0xe0 0x18 | 0xe0 0x98 | fn + F1 | help | ? |
| 0xe0 0x5f | 0xe0 0xdf | fn + F4 | sleep | Zzz... |
| 0xe0 0x20 | 0xe0 0xa0 | fn + F8 | (un)mute | speaker | -- this works!
| 0xe0 0x30 | 0xe0 0xb0 | fn + UN | volume up | speaker up | -- this works!
| 0xe0 0x2e | 0xe0 0xae | fn + DN | volu. down | speaker down | -- this works!
+-----------+-----------+---------+------------+--------------+
* UN = up narrow
* DN = down narrow

unmapped keys (showkey -u doesn't not show anything, from dmesg):
scancodes:
e033 - euro sign - just write E (no, not E, but euro sign :)
e034 - dolar sign - just write $
e026 - fn + F2 - Acer eSettings - i don't know what could be mapped to this
e027 - fn + F3 - Acer ePowerManagement
e029 - fn + F5 - Display toggle - switch display output (crt, lcd, lcd+crt) - throw i810switch
e071 and e072 - fn + F7 - Touchpad toggle - this is two state key. It sends e071 if touchpad is toggled, and e072 where it's turned off. Maybe nothing is needed to be mapped

[Matthew Lange (matthewlange)]

Assigned this to the laptop team

[Matthew Lange (matthewlange)]

Actually, I'll assign this one back to nobody incase someone wants to take it.

[Daniel Hoover (daniel-hoover)]

Possible workaround for the Euro key:

Select: System - Preferences - Keyboard
      Select: 'Layout Options' tab
           Select: 'Adding the EuroSign to certain keys'
                 Select prefered key
           Select: 'Third level choosers'
                 Select prefered chooser key
now you should be able to use your chosen chooser key + chosen euro key to print the €.

This dosen't address the keymap issue but should allow users to easily type € when needed.

[Matthew Lange (matthewlange)]

Agreed, that workaround does work, using the Alt Char key and the key with the third-level euro sign on it. It still doesn't address the key map, no, but it does help with typing, as Daniel said.

[malbery (merlyn-madrid)]

I'd like to revisit Ondřej Nový's original post:

fn + F5 - Display toggle - switch display output (crt, lcd, lcd+crt) - throw i810switch

This key does not work for me either. Is there a known work-around? I'm happy with a terminal window command to toggle displays if it comes to it.

[Paul Sladen (sladen)]

malbery: could you open a separate report for your issue with the VGA toggling. This entry is about the € and $ special keys that showed up on one bunch of laptops and which we don't really have a generic answer to yet.

[parren (peter-arrenbrecht)]

I have a similar problem, but I don't get any reaction from pressing the key euro and dollar keys. Neither showkey -u nor xev nor the GNOME keyboard shortcut mapper nor /var/log/acpid shows anything. So it seems I cannot even use xmodmap to do anything with these keys (which I would very much like to as the are where Home and End should be, really).

System info is:

$ sudo dmidecode -s system-manufacturer
Acer, inc.
$ sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name
TravelMate 8200
$ sudo dmidecode -s system-version
Not Applicable

Under Windows I am able to trap the keys using a keyboard hook DLL with the following code:

long __w64 __stdcall KeyboardHook( int code, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam )

{

 if (HC_ACTION == code) {

  LPARAM scan = (lParam & 0x7F8000) >> 16;

  if (0 != scan) {

   // not simulated

   switch (lParam) {

    case 20119553: // euro symbol

     return simulate( VK_HOME, lParam );

    case 20185089: // dollar symbol

     return simulate( VK_END, lParam );

   }

  }

 }

 return CallNextHookEx( hookHnd, code, wParam, lParam );

}

[Suco (sucotronic)]

You can try a partial solution:
http://personales.ya.com/sucotronic/archives/06-01-2007_06-30-2007.html#2007-06-04

[parren (peter-arrenbrecht)]

Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately, the keys still show no reaction.
-peter

On 6/4/07, Suco <email address hidden> wrote:
> You can try a partial solution:
> http://personales.ya.com/sucotronic/archives/06-01-2007_06-30-2007.html#2007-06-04
>
> --
> Acer € and $ + special laptop keys
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/30562
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[Gabriel Mazetto (brodock)]

i'm also have an acer aspire 5630 with the same keys plus multimedia keys, that i can't even map, like the guy up me...

[Olivier Prieur (mumbly)]

Same here with an acer aspire 5024 wlmi : does not work ! :(

[Gabriel Mazetto (brodock)]

just to let you know... my acer aspire 5630 are giving me this messages on dmesg when i press euro and dollar keys:

[ 3820.756000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e033 <keycode>' to make it known.
[ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).
[ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e034 <keycode>' to make it known.
[ 3820.968000] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).

e033 is for euro
e034 is for dollar

[parren (peter-arrenbrecht)]

Great info! It does on mine too. So I'll look into this.
-peo

On 9/19/07, BrodocK <email address hidden> wrote:
> just to let you know... my acer aspire 5630 are giving me this messages
> on dmesg when i press euro and dollar keys:
>
> [ 3820.756000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e033 <keycode>' to make it known.
> [ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).
> [ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e034 <keycode>' to make it known.
> [ 3820.968000] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).
>
> e033 is for euro
> e034 is for dollar
>
> --
> Acer € and $ + special laptop keys
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/30562
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[parren (peter-arrenbrecht)]

Unfortunately, this only takes half the way. Using setkeycodes I can
enable the keys for full screen terminals, but not for X. From "man
setkeycodes":

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.

Any ideas for X anyone?

On 9/19/07, Peter Arrenbrecht <email address hidden> wrote:
> Great info! It does on mine too. So I'll look into this.
> -peo
>
> On 9/19/07, BrodocK <email address hidden> wrote:
> > just to let you know... my acer aspire 5630 are giving me this messages
> > on dmesg when i press euro and dollar keys:
> >
> > [ 3820.756000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e033 <keycode>' to make it known.
> > [ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Unknown key pressed (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).
> > [ 3820.900000] atkbd.c: Use 'setkeycodes e034 <keycode>' to make it known.
> > [ 3820.968000] atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0xb4 on isa0060/serio0).
> >
> > e033 is for euro
> > e034 is for dollar
> >
> > --
> > Acer € and $ + special laptop keys
> > https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/30562
> > You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> > of the bug.
> >
>

[K. Lange (k-lange)]

I wrote up a tutorial on how to get the € and $ working on a 5610. The scancodes are exactly the same, so you don't even need to change anything:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AcerAspire5610#head-764d126e9802bf3204689a234b42048a2b0ffb0d
They're now working perfectly for me €$€$€$€$€$€$€$€$. Nothing special is required, they are recognized by the Feisty kernel. I'll move the section later.

[K. Lange (k-lange)]

Moved it to a different heading:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AcerAspire5610#head-c32b7f7a26c28c9c6d0106485f8c4d6b2433e390

[Adam Niedling (krychek)]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AcerTravelMate2410 is outdated. Please update if you'd like.
Does this bug still exist?

[Martijn vdS (martijn)]

It does on my Aspire 1680

[Gabriel Mazetto (brodock)]

it does too on aspire 5630

[Dale (quail-linux)]

They still don't work on my Aspire 5601AWLMi

uname -a reports:
Linux quails-laptop 2.6.24-14-generic #1 SMP Wed Apr 2 03:44:27 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

[AndreK (andre-k)]

same problem on travelmate 4233 , I miss Fn+F7 (togle touhpad) and Fn+F5 - toggle display.

Solving this would help many laptops...

[Bill Hung (billhung)]

same problem. I have acer Aspire 5500Z. I have additional dollar and euro sign keys. And of course, the Fn and Windows (Super) Key

[Bill Hung (billhung)]

sorry, forgot to mention, the Windows (Super) Key also doesn't work. The dollar and Euro keys don't work. But the Fn key works.

[Bill Hung (billhung)]

I read the webpage here
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AcerAspire5610#head-c32b7f7a26c28c9c6d0106485f8c4d6b2433e390

and "sudo modprobe acerhk force_series=2020 poll=0" didn't have any output on the terminal.
and "acerhk force_series=2020 poll=0" has output
"bash: acerhk: command not found", and /etc/modules has no acerhk.

[Alkis Georgopoulos (alkisg)]

Anyone interested may see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hal-info/+bug/281951
where a solution was proposed for some of the Acer 5920 keys.

About € and $, (untested)
I think you may map them to some scancodes,
and then use loadkeys to map these scancodes to strings '€' and '$'.

[theghost (theghost)]

I have an Acer 5650, I can confirm, the € or $ Sign Key does not work but the Fn Key works perfectly.
I am using 8.10 Intrepid Ibex with 2.6.27-9-generic.

[adamos (aadamos)]

hello i have acer 5520 and i have one problem
when i do
setkeycodes e033 112
always key recive different keycode e.g. 239
sorry for my english :)

[Thea Barnes (tsbarnes)]

On Ubuntu Jaunty, on my Acer Extensa 5620, the € and $ keys to the right and left of the up arrow key do report keycodes (435 for € and 434 for $) but they are non-functional in X. Xorg.0.log shows "(WW) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: unable to handle keycode 435" and "(WW) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: unable to handle keycode 434" when I press them.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

These keys are mapped correctly in the kernel, but a limitation on the number of distinct keycodes that X can handle prevents these from being communicated to the X server.

To work around this, you can use setkeycodes to map the key to a keycode below 256 that you aren't using, then use xmodmap to map this keycode to the desired keysyms.

[Vish (vish)]

Hi,
I'm using Acer Aspire 5672WLMi laptop , I'm trying to get my $ and euro keys to work [both euro and $ keys are on either side of the Up arrow key ]

I tired to follow this wiki given on this bug report>
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/AcerAspire5610#%E2%82%AC%20and%20$%20Keys
But stopped at the xkeycaps section , since *none* of the keyboard layouts did not match my laptop keyboards , and i didnt want to mess the layout , and didnt do anything further.

Now, the weird thing is the $ key triggers a ","
- earlier it did *not* trigger *anything* , previously the $ key just did not work[no output]

I ran $ xev | sed -n 's/^.*state \([0-9].*\), keycode *\([0-9]\+\) *\(.*\), .*$/keycode \2 = \3, state = \1/p'
it returns:
$ > keycode 129 = (keysym 0xffac, KP_Separator), state = 0x0
euro > keycode 128 = (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), state = 0x0

something seems to have changed but assigned wrongly, unfortunately i dont know the keycodes/keysym before i tried the wiki

seems my keycodes are *not* outside the keycode range but are not assigned properly...

this is not probably the same bug ! or maybe it is , since i dont know the previous keycodes :(
should i file a separate bug or does anyone know how to fix this?

[Kendrick (kendrick90)]

I have this bug on an Acer Aspire 5315-2077. Is there a guide to mapping the keys somewhere?

[Benjamin Halbrock (kontakt-bennis-blog)]

I have an Acer Aspire 5930G and the same problem as Scott Barnes wrote on 2009-05-12:

why does x have this limitation and why are the keys mapped there?

[EliotBlennerhassett (eliot-blennerhassett)]

I have an Acer aspire 4315 running Ubuntu 10.04.
By default showkeys -s doesn't report anything when the euro or dollar keys are pressed. As above, the default scancodes are >255. Using "evtest", I find that the scancodes are "b3" and "b4"

I have made these usable by
1) Adding to /etc/rc.local (and making sure it is excutable):
setkeycodes b3 183
setkeycodes b4 184

2) Creating ~/.Xmodmap with
keycode 183 = XF86Launch2
keycode 184 = XF86Launch3

Reboot. (Or sudo /etc/rc.local; sudo xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap)

Probably could map them to other directly usable things like euro symbol, home end etc as well

3) Myself, I now use these keys in System/Preferences/Keyboard Shortcuts, mapped to certain special functions.

[daniel (dupauly)]

I have the same problem. When using "# showkey --scancodes" typing euro or dolar doesn't show anything, the other keys are fine.

[Paul Menzel (paulmenzel)]

If this still an issue, please check with the libinput tools.

    sudo libinput debug-events

I got the currency keys working on the Acer TravelMate 5735Z [1].

[1]: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xkeyboard-config/xkeyboard-config/-/commit/5ea031eb4998726dc5a00ba1fb2253b21cdbe366
     "Map `KEY_DOLLAR` and `KEY_EURO` to `dollar` and `EuroSign`"