How can I find out what the layout of my keyboard is?

Question

I just bought a new keyboard. I love it, but some of the keys don't map to the symbols they say they have. How can I find out what the layout of my keyboard is? Is there some sort of list of keyboards where I can find my keyboard?

I'm using Xubuntu.

Solution 1

in Debian/Ubuntu you can find in folders:

/usr/share/keymaps/i386/azerty
/usr/share/keymaps/i386/dvorak
/usr/share/keymaps/i386/fgGIod
/usr/share/keymaps/i386/include
/usr/share/keymaps/i386/qwerty
/usr/share/keymaps/i386/qwertz

a lot of files named NAME.kmap.gz - if you open the compressed file NAME.kmap with a text editor you'll find the mapping of each keyboard-layout.

Solution 2

If you are talking about your physical keyboard and which layout it has, there is no way to find that out using software, read the manual and find out.

If you are talking about which layout you are currently using you could run setxkbmap -query | grep layout.

Solution 3

If you use Ubuntu, you can follow this guide:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Keyboard-Layout-in-Ubuntu

If you use a KDE based distribution (kubuntu):

Press the following keys: Alt + F2, then run the executable:

kcm_keyboard

And navigate to layouts.

Comments

[ams]

What OS? Different distros do it differently. :(

[ssollinger]

You're right. Should've told you the OS: Xubuntu. And my keyboard is a Logitech MK365, layout unknown :)

[ams]

The Ubuntu instructions are rather dated.

[ssollinger]

Yes, this is nice. However, what I need is to know what my keyboard layout actually is, because I don't know which one to select from the lists :(

[ams]

I know the installer can do that, but I don't know how to do it in an already installed system. :(

[Jakob Bennemann]

Well, actually, that depends on the keyboard. Some keyboards store their layouts locally (for the purpose of having persistent custom layouts). In these cases, it's possible that you might be able to query the keyboard for its layout.