Multimediakeys with .Xmodmap HOWTO

Christian Weiske

Revision History
Revision 1.12006-07-30

Added global Xmodmap loading

Revision 1.22006-08-17

Getting horizontal scrolling work with my Logitech Trackball

Revision 1.32008-05-12

Adjust file locations

Abstract

This HowTo describes how to activate the extra keys (multimedia keys) like "mute", "play" and "mail" based on the ".Xmodmap" file when you are using a windowmanager based on a graphics environment like XFree86 or Xorg.


Table of Contents

Why should I do this by hand?
Getting started
Xmodmap
xev
Writing your own xmodmap
Activating the .Xmodmap at startup
Using a global Xmodmap file
Tips and scripts
play
stop
forward
rewind
Maps for Keyboards
Acer Travelmate 6000 (6003)
Logitech Internet Keyboard
Mice
Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan
Links
License

Why should I do this by hand?

KDE allows you to do the same thing I describe here with its control center, perhaps Gnome as well. So why should you bother to do this by hand?

Answer 1: You want to get some more control and knowledge over your system. If you did it by hand, you'll know what to do when it doesn't work

Answer 2: You don't use KDE and want to use Multimediakeys

Answer 3: You don't like to have an extra program running (KDE daemon) just to have the multimedia keys working.