[Simh] LK461 keyboard on Linux

[Jan-Benedict Glaw]

On Sat, 2010-09-25 11:39:11 +0100, Peter Allan <petermallan at googlemail.com> wrote:
> I have been trying to set up my Linux PC to give the "proper VMS
> experience". I run Fedora or CentOS for preference, but I could install
> other versions of Linux if you know that they would solve my problem. I have
> built and installed SIMH and got VMS 7.3-2 running on it. I can connect the
> Linux X server to VMS on the emulated microVAX via tap. So far, so good.
> 
> However, in order to get the proper VMS experience, obviously I need a
> DEC-style keyboard. I have an LK461 keyboard (which has a PS/2 plug), but my
> problem is that there are some keys that do nothing on Linux and I hope that
> someone out there has solved this problem already.
> 
> The keys that do nothing are F13, F14, Help, Do and F18. Linux does not
> recognise these keys at the console level, never mind when running X, so I
> believe I need to address the problem at the level of the scan codes that
> the keyboard generates.

I've never played with that keyboard (that is, I'm outing myself as
the author of Linux's lkkbd.ko driver.) But I guess that it needs a
specific command to either enable that keys, or that you need
setkeycodes voodoo to make those work somehow.

> I am aware of the lkkbd kernel driver, but I have failed to get this to do
> anything useful. I have compiled it and I can load it with insmod (although
> modprobe fails to find it), but this appears to have no effect.

Right! It's a driver for those serial keyboards and you need to run
the `inputattach' program to tell the kernel "hey, there's a LK-style
keyboard on ttyS1."  However, that module is probably of little use
with a PS/2 attached keyboard, because that'll probably simply be an
PS/2-style keyboard with some additional, odd scancodes. It's a
completely different communication protocol, though.

> I can also get the standard Linux keyboard driver to translate the scan
> codes from the keys that are not recognised to whatever I want using the
> setkeycodes command, but I don't know what to set them to.

...and it's questionable if that's of real help for you.

> I feel that I am close to getting the LK461 keyboard to work properly and I
> hope that I am missing something that ought to be obvious. Can anyone help?
> If you can, please give exact details of what I need to do.

First of all, how does SIMH simulate keyboards? I've not (yet?) looked
into it's sources. And do you have some docs for that keyboard? Does
your VMS version actually support *that* keyboard (the IBM-style
variant, not the serial version)?

MfG, JBG

-- 
      Jan-Benedict Glaw      jbglaw at lug-owl.de              +49-172-7608481
Signature of:               Träume nicht von Dein Leben: Lebe Deinen Traum!
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