PowerBook G4 Onyx keyboard the right option key problem

[aurora72]

On PowerBook G4 Onyx keyboards (2001-2003) there is the enter key at the place where on the newer keyboards the right option key is found.

Its symbol is ⌅

When pressed on it it performs the same functions as the return key.

I'd lke to use this key as the right option key i.e. as the modifier key. Is it possible ?

 

[Doq]

In theory (I'm not familiar with the tools to do this) you can change the key mapping in OS X to achieve this. Try an older version of KeyRemap4MacBook (karabiner-elements.pqrs.org)-- it does support PowerBooks as well.

In OS 9 I haven't the slightest.

 

[B S Magnet]

On PowerBook G4 Onyx keyboards (2001-2003) there is the enter key at the place where on the newer keyboards the right option key is found.

Its symbol is ⌅

When pressed on it it performs the same functions as the return key.

I'd lke to use this key as the right option key i.e. as the modifier key. Is it possible ?

View attachment 1901438

All Mac laptop keyboards prior to roughly 2008 (beginning with the MacBook4,1, MacBookPro4,1 and MacBookAir1,1 models) have a secondary enter key to the left of the “inverted-T” arrow keys. I’ve never been a fan of this personally, and my Macs which came shipped like this (mostly PowerBook G4s, iBook G3s, and early MacBooks) I’ve done a pair of modifications — one essential, the other cosmetic:

1) The first one, essential, is to use a key-re-mapping utility/prefPane like DoubleCommand (for your Mac, you will probably want to grab version 1.6.9). This is how I have it configured on my laptops:

The only quirk I’ve run into (and it’s a tiny one I often forget about) is when I am wanting to advance one page “forward” by pressing the right-Command key together with the reprogrammed right-Option key and the right arrow button; for this key combination only, I do need to use two hands, pressing the left-Command and left-Option keys whilst pressing the right arrow button. Other than that, DoubleCommand works wonderfully.

2) The cosmetic solution is precisely the one you have ready to go: swap out the secondary “enter” key with a preferred “option” key. I’ve done this with all but one of my laptops (as I’m one key short of replacing one of my aluminium G4s with the “option” key).

 

[aurora72]

In theory (I'm not familiar with the tools to do this) you can change the key mapping in OS X to achieve this. Try an older version of KeyRemap4MacBook (karabiner-elements.pqrs.org)-- it does support PowerBooks as well.

In OS 9 I haven't the slightest.

I've tried the KeyRemap4MacBook it's got installed properly on PowerBook and under the settings it had both Return and Enter button. I've changed both of them to make sure that the Enter key is changed but it didn't change; it still printed the Line Feed

It had a useful feature though. It had settings for the F4 & F5 => Volume Down & Up. I've set them so I can control the volume easily now. The keyboard didn't have the Volume Up & Down buttons by default and setting the volume from the GUI screen was a hurdle.

All Mac laptop keyboards prior to roughly 2008 (beginning with the MacBook4,1, MacBookPro4,1 and MacBookAir1,1 models) have a secondary enter key to the left of the “inverted-T” arrow keys. I’ve never been a fan of this personally, and my Macs which came shipped like this (mostly PowerBook G4s, iBook G3s, and early MacBooks) I’ve done a pair of modifications — one essential, the other cosmetic:

1) The first one, essential, is to use a key-re-mapping utility/prefPane like DoubleCommand (for your Mac, you will probably want to grab version 1.6.9). This is how I have it configured on my laptops <image>
The only quirk I’ve run into (and it’s a tiny one I often forget about) is when I am wanting to advance one page “forward” by pressing the right-Command key together with the reprogrammed right-Option key and the right arrow button; for this key combination only, I do need to use two hands, pressing the left-Command and left-Option keys whilst pressing the right arrow button. Other than that, DoubleCommand works wonderfully.

2) The cosmetic solution is precisely the one you have ready to go: swap out the secondary “enter” key with a preferred “option” key. I’ve done this with all but one of my laptops (as I’m one key short of replacing one of my aluminium G4s with the “option” key).DoubleCommand

I've tried the DoubleCommand version 1.6.9 and it worked! I've set the second option as shown in the image, and after Save System, Activate, Restart that "Enter" ⌅ (projective, or line-feed or whatever) key has finally began to function as the Right Option key. Phew!

I didn't know all Apple laptops up until about 2008 came with that secondary Enter key. I describe that key as a nuisance. But to our luck, it can be remapped. That's good.

As for the cosmetic solution, I've already swapped that Enter key with a normal Option / Alt key as can be seen in the photo. It just looks as it should now. Now it's perfect.

 

[B S Magnet]

I didn't know all Apple laptops up until about 2008 came with that secondary Enter key. I describe that key as nuisance. But unfortunately, it can be remapped. That's so good.

As for the cosmetic solution, I've already swapped that Enter key with a normal Option / Alt key as can be seen in the photo. It just looks as it should now. Now it's perfect.

If you look at your particular keyboard layout (Turkish, yes?), you’ll notice how the 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, [upper] ., -, U, I, O, P, J, K, L, and M keys have a tertiary key assignment. These become active when one presses F6 (num lock) to function as a 10-key, calculator-style keypad — much as those found on the rightmost end of extended keyboards. When one activates num lock, a second green LED lights up beneath the F6. [For those with US and ISO keyboards, the tertiary keys are found on 6, 7, 8, 9, U, I, O, P, J, K, L, ;, M, ., and /. The F6 key also toggles the num lock function.]

This includes the secondary enter/⌅ (projective, or line-feed) key on pre-2008 Mac laptop keyboards. It works as an enter/⌅ key as it would on the keypad on an extended keyboard — irrespective of whether one has num lock toggled or not. For people who relied on this tertiary key set as a 10-key calculator (such as for bookkeeping and filling spreadsheets), this is why the num lock toggle on F6 lingered for as long as it did — mostly to pack legacy features onto a keyboard with limited space (much like BlackBerry keypads). After all, entering receipts and invoices was once done entirely by hand, but by 2008, doing this went the way of the typewriter and minicassette tape.

In the end, the number of users who relied on this embedded feature probably waned to a point at which Apple disposed it completely for 2008 and later laptops.

[note: 2023 edit to original 2021 reply to correct for a couple of mistakes on my behalf.]

 

[AphoticD]

I was looking for a solution to this too and came across a discovery of a simple hack of the AppleADBKeyboard.kext driver. This also applies to PowerBook and iBook G4s which use internal "USB" keyboards, like my PBG4 12" 1.5GHz running Tiger. (I doubt this will apply to the early MacBooks due to the ADB references though... TBC)

The Hunting of the Snark: ADB Keyboard hacks in Mac OSX Tiger (10.4)

www.snark.de

TL;DR
1.

edit /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext/Contents/Info.plist

(or sudo vi/pico/open -e)

2. Find the reference to "0x34" in the "ADBVirtualKeys" <string> section and replace with "0x3a" (for option/alt functionality), then Save.



3. Force a system kextcache rebuild on next boot;

sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext

4. And then reboot, or simply reload the driver without rebooting with;

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext && sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext

In theory, this should be a lower-level remap than a 3rd party software mapping and might get around the page forward shortcut issue @B S Magnet has mentioned.

 

[B S Magnet]

I was looking for a solution to this too and came across a discovery of a simple hack of the AppleADBKeyboard.kext driver. This also applies to PowerBook and iBook G4s which use internal "USB" keyboards, like my PBG4 12" 1.5GHz running Tiger. (I doubt this will apply to the early MacBooks due to the ADB references though... TBC)

I’d be curious to see whether this has any impact on the USB-based keyboard of the A1138/A1139 PowerBooks (which were the only PowerBooks to lack ADB; I can’t remember if this was also the case with mid-2005 iBooks). I should put this on my to-do list.

 

[aurora72]

If you look at your particular keyboard layout (Turkish, yes?), you’ll notice how the 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, [upper] ., -, U, I, O, P, J, K, L, and M keys have a tertiary key assignment. These become active when one presses F6 (num lock) to function as a 10-key, calculator-style keypad — much as those found on the rightmost end of extended keyboards. When one activates num lock, a second green LED lights up beneath the F6. [For those with US and ISO keyboards, the tertiary keys are found on 6, 7, 8, 9, U, I, O, P, J, K, L, ;, M, ., and /. The F6 key also toggles the num lock function.]

This includes the secondary enter/⌅ (projective, or line-feed) key on pre-2008 Mac laptop keyboards. It works as an enter/⌅ key as it would on the keypad on an extended keyboard — irrespective of whether one has num lock toggled or not. For people who relied on this tertiary key set as a 10-key calculator (such as for bookkeeping and filling spreadsheets), this is why the num lock toggle on F6 lingered for as long as it did — mostly to pack legacy features onto a keyboard with limited space (much like BlackBerry keypads). After all, entering receipts and invoices was once done entirely by hand, but by 2008, doing this went the way of the typewriter and minicassette tape.

In the end, the number of users who relied on this embedded feature probably waned to a point at which Apple disposed it completely for 2008 and later laptops.

[note: 2023 edit to original 2021 reply to correct for a couple of mistakes on my behalf.]

Well, very late reply but still a reply
Those tertiary key assignments were present on my 2002 IBM ThinkPad R31, too. Facilitating entering long list of numbers on a keyboard with limited space is basically a very good thing but where Apple changed the Alt button to ⌅ , IBM didn't. Because it wasn't strictly necessary. On R31, it reads "Alt gr" on that button. That was the right thing.

As for the question which I noticed now, yes the keyboard layout is Turkish. But it was UK English layout when I first bought it in late 2012. I later changed it to Turkish after I found a throwaway PB TI, which had Turkish specific buttons in late 2021. I used this PB for a long time with its UK English layout During then, that ⌅ key didn't bother at all because it was already a different keyboard layout

 

[aurora72]

I was looking for a solution to this too and came across a discovery of a simple hack of the AppleADBKeyboard.kext driver. This also applies to PowerBook and iBook G4s which use internal "USB" keyboards, like my PBG4 12" 1.5GHz running Tiger. (I doubt this will apply to the early MacBooks due to the ADB references though... TBC)

The Hunting of the Snark: ADB Keyboard hacks in Mac OSX Tiger (10.4)

www.snark.de

TL;DR
1.

edit /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext/Contents/Info.plist

(or sudo vi/pico/open -e)

2. Find the reference to "0x34" in the "ADBVirtualKeys" <string> section and replace with "0x3a" (for option/alt functionality), then Save.

View attachment 2145702

3. Force a system kextcache rebuild on next boot;

sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext

4. And then reboot, or simply reload the driver without rebooting with;

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext && sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBKeyboard.kext

In theory, this should be a lower-level remap than a 3rd party software mapping and might get around the page forward shortcut issue @B S Magnet has mentioned.

Thank you for the alternative solution. As you've mentioned, it is a more lower-level remap than the DoubleCommand 1.6.9 and so it's worth trying but before that I need to know if my keyboard is ADB or not. I'll check this out.

 

[Doq]

but before that I need to know if my keyboard is ADB or not.

Every PowerBook keyboard outside of the late 2005 G4 models (A1138, A1139) are ADB. Including all of the Titaniums. You're good.