Apple Keyboard Command Key

9 Janvier 2021

Setup the Command Key on a Windows Keyboard Plug your keyboard into the USB port on your Mac, Macbook, iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, or whatever you've got. Go to System Preferences Keyboard.

50 Common Keyboard Shortcuts All Mac Users Should Know
Apple Command Key Windows Keyboard

Some Apple keyboard models may have swapped keys or missing functionality. This article describes how to change the settings for the keyboard so that it behaves as expected.

30 keyboard shortcuts Mac users need to know This collection of keyboard shortcuts for macOS can help users get the most from their iMacs, MacBook Pro and MacBook laptops. To start, here are the main modifier keys, which you're likely to see most often: ⌘ means Command ⌥ means Option (also called 'Alt') ⌃ means Control ⇧ means Shift. You might know that '⌘' corresponds to the Command key, since it actually appears on the keyboard key. But what's the difference between '⌃' and '⇧,' both basically up arrows? And what the heck is '⌥' supposed to be? If you're trying to learn Mac keyboard shortcuts, this is a problem, so here's a quick reference.

10Treating Apple keyboards like regular keyboards
- 10.1Use a patch to hid-apple

Numlock is on

You may find that the numlock is on. The symptoms are that only the physical keys 7,8,9,u,i,o,j,k,l and surrounding keys work and output numbers. To fix this hit Fn+F6 twice.

Alternatively, set the keycodes manually using xmodmap to avoid use Numlock:

Repeating keys on a wireless keyboard

Unpair the keyboard and then re-pair it. The trick is to hold down the power button throughout the entire pairing process.

hid_apple module options

fnmode - Mode of top-row keys

swap_opt_cmd - Swap the Option ('Alt') and Command ('Flag') keys

iso_layout - Enable/Disable hardcoded ISO-layout of the keyboard. Possibly relevant for international keyboard layouts

swap_fn_leftctrl - Swap the Fn and left Control keys

Function keys do not work

If your F keys do not work, this is probably because the kernel driver for the keyboard has defaulted to using the media keys and requiring you to use the Fn key to get to the F keys. To change the behavior temporarily, append2 to /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/fnmode.

Virus software for macbook pro. To make the change permanent, set the hid_applefnmode option to 2:

To apply the change to your initial ramdisk, in your mkinitcpio configuration (usually /etc/mkinitcpio.conf), make sure you either have modconf included in the HOOKS variable or /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf in the FILES variable. You would then need to regenerate the initramfs.

Switching Cmd and Alt/AltGr

This will switch the left Alt and Cmd key as well as the right Alt/AltGr and Cmd key.

Temporary and immediate solution:

Permanent change, taking place at next reboot:

50 Common Keyboard Shortcuts All Mac Users Should Know

You then need to regenerate the initramfs.

Swap the Fn and left Control keys

This will switch the Fn and left Control keys.

Temporary and immediate solution:

Permanent change, taking place at next reboot:

You then need to regenerate the initramfs.

< and > have changed place with § and ½

If the < and > are switched with the § and ½ keys, set the xkb optionapple:badmap, for instance by running the following command in your graphical environment:

Alternatively, set the keycodes manually using xmodmap:

If you use a Canadian multilingual layout (where the 'ù' and the '/' is switch) use this:

< and > have changed place with ^ and ° (or @ and #, or ` and ~)

With German layout, circumflex/degree symbol and are exchanged. With French layout, @/# are exchanged. With the US layout, `/~ and are exchanged.

To change the behavior temporarily, overwrite/sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/iso_layout with 0:

To make the change permanent, set the hid_appleiso_layout option to 0:

You then need to regenerate the initramfs.

PrintScreen and SysRq

Apple Keyboards have an F13 key instead of a PrintScreen/SysRq key. This means that Alt+SysRq sequences do not work, and application actions associated with PrintScreen (such as taking screenshots in many games that work under Wine) do not work. To fix this, you can add setxkbmap -option 'apple:alupckeys' to your .xinitrc. This will map PrintScreen/SysRq to F13, as well as Scroll lock to F14 and Pause to F15.

Alternatively, follow the Map scancodes to keycodes article to map the F13 scancode to the PrintScreen/SysRq keycode, where 458856 (0x070068) is the scancode of F13, and sysrq is the keycode of PrintScreen/SysRq.

Treating Apple keyboards like regular keyboards

Depending on the customisations you want to accomplish, there are two solutions available and some options that are in the kernel. You need to choose one of the other.

Use a patch to hid-apple

While the original hid-apple module does not have options to further customize the keyboard, like swapping Fn and left Ctrl keys or having Alt on the left side of Super, there is a patched version adding this functionality to the module. To use it, install the hid-apple-patched-git-dkms^AUR package. This will install the patched hid-apple and mask out the original one.

The package uses DKMS to automatically recompile the module during kernel upgrades. While the dkms will be pulled in by dependency. You still need to install an appropriate kernel header package manually. See the DKMS page for more info.

In addition to the patched kernel module, a configuration file is also provided by the package at /usr/lib/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf, which enables PC-like layout by default:

Top-row keys are normally function keys, switchable to media keys by holding Fn key, as in #Function keys do not work.
Four keys at the lower left corner act as Ctrl, Fn, Super, Alt, in this order.
Two keys at the lower right corner act as Alt, Ctrl, in this order.
If you have an Ejectcd key, it will act as Delete key.

If you wish to change the default options, copy the configuration file to /etc/modprobe.d and make desired changes:

The file under /etc/modprobe.d will completely override the one with the same name under /usr/lib/modprobe.d, and the content is NOT merged.

Alternatively, put additional options in a file with a different name if you want to keep default ones,

Note: Do not forget to update initramfs after manual changes to configuration files.

Please refer to the project README for the exact meaning of each configuration option and tweaking the configuration file to suit your needs. Learn more about modprobe.d at Kernel module#Using files in /etc/modprobe.d/.

After installation, reboot for the change to take effect, or #Change the Behavior Without Reboot.

Troubleshooting configuration not picked up by the module

First, make sure the patched version is loaded, see what parameters are provided by the module:

If you don't see new options like swap_fn_leftctrl, ejectcd_as_delete, etc., check your dkms installation.

Then, check if configuration files are correctly included in initramfs:

Check the presence and content of inintramfs/usr/lib/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf and any other relevant configuration files in inintramfs/etc/modprobe.d. If they are not there, you should check your /etc/mkinitcpio.conf to include those. By default, there shouldbe a modconf hook that automatically include those files, if not, add it to the HOOKS array after autodetect.

Alternatively, list those files in FILES array explicitly:

Refer to Mkinitcpio#BINARIES and FILES and Mkinitcpio#HOOKS for more explanation on what this means.

Finally, rebuild the initramfs Is adobe owned by apple. and reboot.

Use un-apple-keyboard

If you do not need all of these customizations and you do not want to compile a new module manually or using dkms, there is an AUR package un-apple-keyboard^AUR which does not rely on a new kernel module, but rather just to mappings. It enables the following features:

The keyboard is considered as an ISO keyboard (e.g. < and > located at the right of the Left Shift key are working like expected).
The function keys are disabled by default. You need to press the Fn key in combination to trigger them. By default, the behavior are thus keys F1 to F12
The Alt and Cmd keys are swapped.
F13 is mapped to SYSRQ, F14 to Scroll Lock and F15 to Pause.

The first 3 aforementioned features are brought to you using the default linux kernel module hid-apple.

The last one is provided by providing a mapping to keyfuzz^AUR.

Apple Command Key Windows Keyboard

Change the Behavior Without Reboot

Warning: If the builtin keyboard and touch pad are the only input device, beware that doing so might leave your computer in an inoperable state unless hard reboot when the second command failes.

To reload the kernel module without reboot, run rmmod hid_apple && modprobe hid_apple.

Magic Keyboard does not connect

If you have a magic keyboard that will not connect to the system through the built in tools, such as the Gnome 3 bluetooth menu in settings, install blueman and its dependencies and attempt to connect with it. If it still fails to connect, make sure you have bluetoothctl and hcitool installed.

Enable dvorak/dvp

By default xkb loads translation table (actually called xkb_symbols) macintosh_vndr/us for macintosh keyboard:

This translation table located in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/macintosh_vndr/us and don't contains dvorak/dvp layout. You can use default translation table from /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us and add command setxkbmap in your .profile for forced loading layout: