Mac – Mapping capslock to control on Mac OS X: works for some things, but not others

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I've mapped my capslock key to control using the Modifier Keys mapping in System Preferences: Keyboard. I've also tried mapping to "right control" instead of "left control" as per http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060825072451882 using a plist editor.

The mapping seems to work in all cases except one: I can't use capslock with left-shift to make key mappings or apparently do anything else. capslock (as control) with right-shift works. I'm primarily testing by using control-tab / control-shift-tab to switch between tabs. Using the on-screen-keyboard viewer, I can get capslock-shift-(just about anything) to work, but not capslock-leftshift-tab.

My best guess is that somehow the particular keyboard I'm working on is faulty, but I'm curious whether anyone else can reproduce this or has any ideas.

Best Answer

This is a rather common phenomenon, especially with cheap keyboard. You probably have a keyboard that is not designed to handle simultaneously pressing these three keys.

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Remap Command and Option Keys on Mac OS X with PC Keyboard

The answer was as easy as this:

Click the Apple logo in the top left of your screen
Select "System Preferences"
Select "Keyboard"
Make sure the "Keyboard" "tab" is selected
Select the "Modifier Keys..." button in the bottom right of the window
Select keyboard: "USB Keyboard" (probably - if you're like me, you're trying to configure a keyboard that's plugged in to your laptop)
Switch the "Option" and "Command" values

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Linux – How to map the left and right shift key individually

Here's what finally worked! I used xmodmap and a ~/.Xmodmap file rather than xkb configuration.

~/.Xmodmap:

clear Shift

! Key Shift+Key mode_switch+Key mode_switch+Shift+Key AltGr+Key AltGr+Shift+Key
! Key Shift_L+Key Shift_R+Key Shift_R+Shift_L+Key AltGr+Key AltGr+Shift_L+Key

keycode 10 = 1 1 exclam 1
keycode 11 = 2 2 at 2
keycode 12 = 3 3 numbersign 3
keycode 13 = 4 4 dollar 4
keycode 14 = 5 5 percent 5

keysym Shift_R = Mode_switch
add Shift = Shift_L

The 2 commented lines (staring with !) show the column headings before and after my changes. This has allowed me to specify col 2 as Shift_L and col 3 as Shift_R, as I've mapped shift_R as Mode_switch.

The changes are made by running:

 # setxkbmap us
 # xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap

setxkbmap us sets the default US map so you're working from a clean slate, and xmodmap appends the custom changes to it.

When implemented the !, @, #, $ and % characters can only be typed with the right shift key, and ^, &, *, ( and ) can only be typed with the left shift key.

I can now continue by mapping all keys on the left hand side of the keyboard to only be modified by the right shift key (i.e. the aplhabetical characters and their uppercase modifications) and vice versa; this solution means I only need to remap the left side.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Remap Command and Option Keys on Mac OS X with PC Keyboard

Linux – How to map the left and right shift key individually

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