Regarding Logitech keyboards and Ubuntu 16.04

Question

I have moved from the experimental noob phase... into the "know enough to really jack things up good" phase.

So, now, I am starting to concentrate on the details. Such as: why I can't find a logitech wireless keyboard on which all the keys actually do what they are supposed to. The keys are not mapped properly on any of the layouts available in the keyboard list. I use a K800, K830 and K750 solar each on separate systems. I also use K750r (Japanese layout) on two machines. But, none of the Japanese layout choices map the keys properly. for example the YEN symbol is dead.

Really now... How to get various logitech keyboard mapping files for 16.04?

Now, I have seen many posts about "changing keyboard layout" But, that is not the issue here. I want to be able to "tell" or "teach" the system to use the symbols actually printed on the keys... There MUST be a simple method for doing this.

Ideally, there would be a repository for the specific logitech keyboard files available somewhere.

Any help is appreciated.

Solution

There is a command you may want to use:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration

It takes you through a few settings, of which the first is the keyboard model. If you scroll the list of options, you'll find quite a few various Logitech options. If you try them out, you may find one which fits better.

(Please note that changes you make this way are persistent unlike changes via the setxkbmap command.)

Comments

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

Does the command setxkbmap -model logitech_base help?

[Orian]

I want to try this. But, before I do... And in case it doesn't work, how would I Undo it.

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

You can check the initial -model value by running setxkbmap -query. Then, if it wouldn't make things better, you can set the initial value again. (Rebooting is another way, btw.)

[Orian]

OK that helped a bit. At least the capslock is functioning now. But on the JP layouts, the yen key is still dead. Any way to map those properly?

[Orian]

Ahh. I see what you mean. Non-persistent, indeed. I am cycling through the available logitech models to see what works best. There are a few "close" matches thus far. But, of course the JP layout is going to be a big problem, it seems.

[Orian]

Found a model that fixes "most" of the missing keys. Thanks.

[Giuseppe Ricupero]

Simply choosing Logitech as keyboard option after executing the above-mentioned dpkg-reconfigure command has made the fix permanent. Thank you!

[Riccardo Fagiolo]

Choosing just Logitech solved my problem too (both shift keys not being recognized). Thank you!