Linux Mint Forums

I've recently purchased a DiNovo mini keyboard which does work fine in Helena with only one "but" - its multimedia keys aren't functioning at all, they don't even generate scan codes in xev so remapping them in xmodmap doesn't seem to be an option. I do know for sure that they, in fact, are perfectly OK, for everything works without a hitch in WinXP. Is there any way to solve this mystery? It really does bug me, since the mini is a perfect HTPC controller for me, though with its MM keys disabled it loses a considerable portion of its prowess.

Menu -> Control Center -> Keyboard -> Layouts tab . . . change the Keyboard make/model (there is dinovo there)

richyrich wrote:change the Keyboard make/model (there is dinovo there)

Yes, I have tried this first when I noticed the keys in question on mine wouldn't work. There's a DiNovo and a DiNovo Edge there, but no DiNovo Mini. Apparently, the former two handle somehow differently from the latter, as the presets intended for them didn't help the DiNovo Mini one bit. A pity, but that's the way it is. Maybe there's a way to make a preset like this, but so far I haven't found a clue to how could that be done.

Looks like the problem solved itself - for an unknown reason, after several connect/disconnect/system reboot cycles I went through to determine what could be wrong here, the keys started working as supposed, though nothing has changed in the system. Go figure. Might be a hardware glitch of some sort. I'm sorry I brought it up, though at the time I sure thought I'd tried everything.

This thread was especially interesting for me to read. First because I have the same exact keyboard for when I'm sitting on the couch watching the TV instead of the PC monitor, and second because to this day I have not bothered with the media keys. I keep looking at them, and wonder if I'll get off my lazy butt and actually set them up, but I never do. Every program I utilize uses regular keys for standard functions. For example smplayer uses the space bar for pause. I guess I've just never needed the media keys.

Lantesh wrote: For example smplayer uses the space bar for pause. I guess I've just never needed the media keys.

Well, that's certainly a valid way of looking at the issue . Though, even if the applications you use don't often use these keys, I imagine that launching a player with the dedicated button could sometimes be convenient even in such circumstances. Or opening a browser window. Or changing the zoom setting in the same browser (which still does not work for me, as the blue zoom buttons which are supposed to be activated with FN still don't work, just like the right Winlogo button). For some strange reason they don't even generate a scan code in xev, just as I said before. Not that it's a big problem, but I reckon someone (me, for one) might like to map some shortcuts to those, so a way of creating a keyboard model template which would accommodate them could save the day.