keyboards and mice

Question

Level 1

9 points

keyboards and mice

Hullo
I have a macbook and I want to use my old MS bluetooth keyboard and mouse, which I used to use with Windows and Linux.

Although both "work", I have problems with both:
- the keyboard is a uk layout, but the keystrokes are not being translated properly (eg " and @ transposed,) it looks like Leopard's assuming a US keyboard layout, even tho' I have a UK macbook. How can I get the keycode mappings to match the decals on the keys?
- it would be nice to enable the 'back' button on the mouse to work.

Can anyone point me at the relevant documentation?

tia

macbook, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Jun 28, 2008 1:46 PM

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Answer 1

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Jun 28, 2008 1:58 PM in response to mtimc

you can switch to British layout as follows. go to system preferences->International->input menu and check the box next to British and uncheck the box next to US english. This should also put shortcut to input menu in the menu bar. You can switch between layouts there.

To enable the back button on your mouse you need to install the necessary drivers for your mouse. Go to the manufacturer's site and look for them.

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Answer 2

mtimc Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 30, 2008 3:37 AM in response to V.K.

That's how my international configuration is already set up - the keyboard on the laptop generates characters that correspond to the graphics on the keys. However, the external bluetooth keyboard does not (shift hash key produces | rather than tilde, backslash key produces `) oddly, <shift> 3 does produce a £ symbol.

This looks to me like it ought to be a well known issue with non-Apple keyboards (I'm extrapolating from the correct character for shift 3, and the characters on the apple keyboard on the laptop having the graphics that correspond to the characters that are produced by the Microsoft bluetooth keyboard.

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Answer 3

Aug 29, 2008 4:41 AM in response to mtimc

I am having the exact same issue with our developers. They need to run Windows and Mac, and are using a KVM switch to flip between them.

The keyboards we are using are from Microsoft ( http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd&cs=ukbsd t1&sku=A0765488) due to their cost, quality, comfort and ergonomic design. So far we've got a good way using a custom UK keyboard map ( http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2005/11/20/usingabritish.php) but even this leaves the ` and \ keys transposed.

I am looking for a way to modify the keyboard map myself but haven't found one yet. Can anyone help?

Message was edited by: Duncan Clarke

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,342 points

Aug 29, 2008 6:01 AM in response to mtimc

Have you installed Microsoft's Intellipoint/type software?
I have a US/Microsoft PC keyboard (wireless, not BT) and their Mac software works great with it--wireless is crappy, though.
Could be a stretch, but it may translate the Microsoft/Apple keyboard mappings.

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Answer 5

Sep 3, 2008 6:20 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks for the responses.

The IntelliType for Mac adds a new keyboard layout (called British - Microsoft) to the system such that all users can select it through the International settings. This is 90% there, but still has ` and \ transposed.

Ukelele looks like a great program, but with the limited time I had I could not get it to map the full keyboard. It listed most keys but some were not available so meant I could not configure them all.

I have decided to stick with installing the IntelliType and accepting the 2 swaped keys. At least this gives is a much better range of usable keyboards.

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