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KBDCONTROL(1)		  BSD General Commands Manual		 KBDCONTROL(1)

NAME
     kbdcontrol	-- keyboard control and	configuration utility

SYNOPSIS
     kbdcontrol	[-dFKix] [-A name] [-a name] [-b duration.pitch	| belltype]
		[-r delay.repeat | speed] [-l keymap_file] [-f # string]
		[-k keyboard_device] [-L keymap_file]

DESCRIPTION
     The kbdcontrol command is used to set various keyboard related options
     for the syscons(4)	console	driver and the keyboard	drivers, such as key
     map, keyboard repeat and delay rates, bell	characteristics	etc.

     Keyboard options may be automatically configured at system	boot time by
     setting variables in /etc/rc.conf.	 See Boot Time Configuration below.

     The following command line	options	are supported:

     -A	name
	     Detach the	keyboard, specified by the keyboard device name, from
	     the keyboard multiplexer.	When using this	option,	the standard
	     input of the kbdcontrol process should be redirected from the
	     keyboard multiplexer keyboard device (if the keyboard multiplexer
	     is	not the	active keyboard) or /dev/console (if the keyboard mul-
	     tiplexer is the active keyboard and you are not working on	the
	     system console).

     -a	name
	     Attach the	keyboard, specified by the keyboard device name, to
	     the keyboard multiplexer.	When using this	option,	the standard
	     input of the kbdcontrol process should be redirected from the
	     keyboard multiplexer keyboard device (if the keyboard multiplexer
	     is	not the	active keyboard) or /dev/console (if the keyboard mul-
	     tiplexer is the active keyboard and you are not working on	the
	     system console).

     -b	duration.pitch | belltype
	     Set the bell duration in milliseconds and pitch in	hertz.	If a
	     belltype argument is specified, it	may be one of normal which
	     sets sound	parameters back	to normal values, off which disables
	     the bell entirely,	or visual which	sets the bell to visual	mode,
	     i.e., flashes the screen instead.	If belltype is preceded	by the
	     word quiet., the bell will	not be rung when the ringing process
	     is	in the background vty.	The visual bell, when chosen, applies
	     to	all vtys; other	bell types can be set individually for each
	     vty.

     -r	delay.repeat | speed
	     Set keyboard delay	(250, 500, 750,	1000) and repeat (34, 38, 42,
	     46, 50, 55, 59, 63, 68, 76, 84, 92, 100, 110, 118,	126, 136, 152,
	     168, 184, 200, 220, 236, 252, 272,	304, 336, 368, 400, 440, 472,
	     504) rates, or if a speed argument	is specified, it may be	one of
	     slow (1000.504), fast (250.34) or normal (500.126).

     -l	keymap_file
	     Install keyboard map file from keymap_file.  You may load the
	     keyboard map file from a menu-driven command, kbdmap(1).

     -d	     Dump the current keyboard map onto	stdout.	 The output may	be
	     redirected	to a file and can be loaded back to the	kernel later
	     by	the -l option above.

     -f	# string
	     Set function key number # to send string.	Refer to the man page
	     for the keyboard driver (e.g. atkbd(4)) for available function
	     keys and their numbers.

     -F	     Set function keys back to the standard definitions.

     -x	     Use hexadecimal numbers in	keyboard map dump.

     -i	     Print brief information about the keyboard.

     -K	     Disconnect	the keyboard from the console.	You need to use	the -k
	     option below to associate a keyboard with the console again.

     -k	keyboard_device
	     Use the specified device as the console keyboard.	When using
	     this option, the standard input of	the kbdcontrol process should
	     be	redirected from	/dev/console if	you are	not working on the
	     system console (see the EXAMPLES section).

     -L	keymap_file
	     Load keyboard map file from keymap_file and write the struct
	     keymap compiled from it to	stdout.	 This option is	primarily in-
	     tended for	programmers and	is probably of little use under	normal
	     circumstances.

ENVIRONMENT
     The environment variable KEYMAP_PATH can hold an alternative path to the
     keyboard map files.

KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION
   Boot	Time Configuration
     You may set variables in /etc/rc.conf or /etc/rc.conf.local in order to
     configure the keyboard at boot time.  The following is the	list of	rele-
     vant variables.

     keymap	  Specifies a keyboard map file	for the	-l option.
     keyrate	  Sets the keyboard repeat rate	for the	-r option.
     keychange	  Lists	function key strings for the -f	option.

     See rc.conf(5) for	details.

   Driver Configuration
     The keyboard device driver	may let	you change default configuration op-
     tions, such as the	default	keyboard map, so that you do not need to set
     up	the options at boot time.  See keyboard	driver manuals (e.g. atkbd(4),
     ukbd(4)) for details.

FILES
     /usr/share/syscons/keymaps/*	 keyboard map files

EXAMPLES
     The following command will	load the keyboard map file
     /usr/share/syscons/keymaps/ru.koi8-r.kbd.

	   kbdcontrol -l /usr/share/syscons/keymaps/ru.koi8-r.kbd

     So	long as	the keyboard map file resides in /usr/share/syscons/keymaps,
     you may abbreviate	the file name as ru.koi8-r.

	   kbdcontrol -l ru.koi8-r

     The following command will	make the function key 10 emit "telnet myhost".

	   kbdcontrol -f 10 "telnet myhost"

     In	order to get the visual	effect for bell, but prevent the screen	from
     flushing if the bell is to	ring in	the background screen, run the follow-
     ing command.

	   kbdcontrol -b quiet.visual

     To	change the default console keyboard to the another keyboard, for exam-
     ple the first USB keyboard	(see ukbd(4)), use the following commands.

	   kbdcontrol -k /dev/ukbd0 < /dev/console

     To	switch back to the default keyboard, use this command.

	   kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbd0

     To	allow using both the second USB	keyboard and the first AT keyboard at
     the same time on console via the kbdmux(4)	driver,	use the	following se-
     quence of commands.

	   kbdcontrol -K < /dev/console
	   kbdcontrol -a atkbd0	< /dev/kbdmux0
	   kbdcontrol -a ukbd1 < /dev/kbdmux0
	   kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbdmux0 <	/dev/console

SEE ALSO
     kbdmap(1),	vidcontrol(1), atkbd(4), kbdmux(4), keyboard(4), screen(4),
     syscons(4), ukbd(4), kbdmap(5), rc.conf(5)

AUTHORS
     Soren Schmidt <sos@FreeBSD.org>

BUGS
     Report when found.

BSD			       November	16, 2006			   BSD

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | ENVIRONMENT | KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION | FILES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | AUTHORS | BUGS

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