Kbd

For installation instructions see the Section called Installing Kbd-1.08 in Chapter 6.

Official Download Location

Kbd (1.08): 
ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux-local/utils/kbd/

Kbd Patch (1.08):
ftp://ftp.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs-packages/cvs/
http://downloads.linuxfromscratch.org/

Contents of Kbd

(Last checked against version 1.06.)

Kbd contains keytable files and keyboard utilities.

Kbd installs the following:

Program Files

chvt, deallocvt, dumpkeys, fgconsole, getkeycodes, getunimap, kbd_mode, kbdrate, loadkeys, loadunimap, mapscrn, openvt, psfaddtable (link to psfxtable), psfgettable (link to psfxtable), psfstriptable (link to psfxtable), psfxtable, resizecons, setfont, setkeycodes, setleds, setlogcons, setmetamode, setvesablank, showfont, showkey, unicode_start, and unicode_stop

Descriptions

(Last checked against version 1.06.)

Program file descriptions

chvt

chvt changes foreground virtual terminal.

deallocvt

deallocvt deallocates unused virtual terminals.

dumpkeys

dumpkeys dumps keyboard translation tables.

fgconsole

fgconsole prints the number of the active virtual terminal.

getkeycodes

getkeycodes prints the kernel scancode-to-keycode mapping table.

getunimap

getunimap prints the currently used unimap.

kbd_mode

kbd_mode reports or sets the keyboard mode.

kbdrate

kbdrate sets the keyboard repeat and delay rates.

loadkeys

loadkeys loads keyboard translation tables.

loadunimap

loadunimap loads the kernel unicode-to-font mapping table.

mapscrn

mapscrn loads a user defined output character mapping table into the console driver. Note that it is obsolete and that its features are built into setfont.

openvt

openvt starts a program on a new virtual terminal (VT).

psfaddtable, psfgettable, psfstriptable, psfxtable

These are a set of tools for handling Unicode character tables for console fonts.

resizecons

resizecons changes the kernel idea of the console size.

setfont

This lets you change the EGA/VGA fonts in console.

setkeycodes

setkeycodes loads kernel scancode-to-keycode mapping table entries.

setleds

setleds sets the keyboard LEDs. Many people find it useful to have numlock enabled by default and, by using this program, you can achieve this.

setlogcons

setlogcons sends kernel messages to the console.

setmetamode

setmetamode defines the keyboard meta key handling.

setvesablank

This lets you fiddle with the built-in hardware screensaver (not toasters, only a blank screen).

showfont

showfont displays data about a font. The information shown includes font information, font properties, character metrics and character bitmaps.

showkey

showkey examines the scancodes and keycodes sent by the keyboard.

unicode_start

unicode_start puts the console in Unicode mode.

unicode_stop

unicode_stop reverts keyboard and console from unicode mode.

Kbd Installation Dependencies

(Last checked against version 1.06.)

Bash: sh
Binutils: as, ld, strip
Bison: bison
Coreutils: cp, install, ln, mv, rm, uname
Diffutils: cmp
Flex: flex
GCC: cc1, collect2, cpp0, gcc
Gettext: msgfmt, xgettext
Grep: grep
Gzip: gunzip, gzip
Make: make
Patch: patch
Sed: sed