Talk:Linux console/Keyboard configuration

Reboot

I didn't edit the wiki, but I found that rebooting was necessary after using the localectl-command to set-keymap dvorak. Ive been in need of this solution for a _long_ time and was disappointed until rebooting. —This unsigned comment is by Addeps3 (talk) 11:42, 18 March 2017‎. Please sign your posts with ~~~~!

That's the obvious difference between a persistent and temporary configuration as the section titles indicate. -- Lahwaacz (talk) 12:39, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Colemak

Pro Tip—don't use KEYMAP_TOGGLE for colemak; just use KEYMAP=colemak. Kete (talk) 04:42, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Can you add any context? KEYMAP_TOGGLE isn't mentioned in the article. -- Alad (talk) 14:39, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, in my old system, I saw the following.

KEYMAP=us
KEYMAP_TOGGLE=colemak

In the man page, I read that us is default, so I tried with only the KEYMAP_TOGGLE which didn't work on its own. --Kete (talk) 15:15, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, systemd's vconsole.conf file supports a KEYMAP_TOGGLE variable, but it's completely undocumented and I guess nobody really knows what is the expected result. If you look at the source code, the KEYMAP_TOGGLE value is simply added to the argument list passed to loadkeys, but its documentation is just as lacking. There even isn't any definition of which combination of keys should be used for switching the layouts. Some keymaps seem to have a secondary layout built in (e.g. cz-us-qwertz with Pause key for switching). This actually works, but loadkeys is used to load a single keymap. If somebody could explain this to me, that would be great. Until then, I think the best recommendation is to not use KEYMAP_TOGGLE at all, not only for colemak. -- Lahwaacz (talk) 17:14, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

So, is that combination of variables working in your "old" system? Maybe that's using an "old" init system that was actually supporting it somehow. Anyway I'm another Colemak typer, and in an up-to-date Arch system using KEYMAP=colemak is enough, there's no need to set KEYMAP_TOGGLE — Kynikos (talk) 07:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)