Re: [Qemu-devel] [Qemu-ppc] Mac OS X on QEMU

[Programmingkid]

On Jul 10, 2013, at 3:03 PM, Scott Wood wrote:

> On 07/09/2013 10:36:37 PM, Programmingkid wrote:
>> On Jul 9, 2013, at 1:32 PM, Scott Wood wrote:
>> > On 07/04/2013 09:58:04 AM, Programmingkid wrote:
>> >> On Jul 4, 2013, at 10:51 AM, Stefan Hajnoczi wrote:
>> >> > On Thu, Jul 4, 2013 at 4:45 PM, Alexander Graf <address@hidden> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On 04.07.2013, at 16:40, Programmingkid wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>> We have made a lot of progress in the last month with making Mac OS X 
>> >> >>> run in QEMU. A lot of people are to thank for this milestone. To 
>> >> >>> everyone involved, thank you.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> There is one thing that we have to figure out. That is the command 
>> >> >>> key issue. This key is a very important on the Macintosh. It is used 
>> >> >>> to send keyboard shortcuts to applications.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> What I propose is adding a menu item to QEMU's menu called "Map 
>> >> >>> Command key to ALT". This would allow a user to be able to send 
>> >> >>> Macintosh applications command key shortcuts from both a PC and Mac 
>> >> >>> keyboard.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I welcome any and all ideas to solve this problem.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> This is the wrong mailing list for this. Your proposal would touch 
>> >> >> non-PPC code in QEMU, so this needs to go to qemu-devel.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Keep in mind that the same thing arises with x86 Mac OS X running in 
>> >> >> QEMU.
>> >> >
>> >> > When I VNC into a Mac I find that the "Windows key" becomes the
>> >> > Command key.  And the same probably happens when you plug a non-Apple
>> >> > USB keyboard into a Mac.
>> >> I was thinking about the Windows key. It would be the perfect substitute 
>> >> - if it was available on all keyboards.
>> >> >
>> >> > If you are using a keyboard with a "Windows key" then that would be
>> >> > the most natural option.  If you don't have that key then you really
>> >> > need to map something else...
>> >> >
>> >> > Stefan
>> >> Maybe there should be two menu items:
>> >> "Map command key to ALT" and "Map command key to Windows key".
>> >> They would be mutually exclusive of course.
>> >
>> > Isn't the Windows key already the same thing as the Command key, in terms 
>> > of the actual keycode generated?
>> I don't think so. The command key is equal to 0x37. The windows key is equal 
>> to 0x5B. This is my source: 
>> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd375731(v=vs.85).aspx
> 
> That says 0x37 is the 7 key.  The word "command" does not appear.

Sorry, but this is my source for a Mac keyboard: 
http://boredzo.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/imtx-virtual-keycodes.png. 

The values you see on the keys are in decimal. 55 in base 10 is equal to 37 in 
base 16. 

> 
> It also looks like that table for something that Windows produces, not the 
> raw output of the keyboard.

That could be the case.

> 
>> > And you'd still want to have an actual ALT key available...  The option 
>> > should just be whether to swap the Command/Windows and ALT keys for better 
>> > ergonomics.
>> That might not be true. The user might not mind giving up the alt or control 
>> keys. The options and control key are not used very much on Mac OS X.
> 
> I assume you mean "The alt and control key are not used very much...".
> 
> Maybe the user doesn't mind -- but maybe they do mind and would rather swap 
> the two than end up with both ALT and the OS key being Command.  When I used 
> MacOS X I use control and alt quite a bit, in console and X11 apps.

That's not a problem. The user would be free to decide which key acts as the 
command key. A function key could be used. The alt and control key can be left 
alone.

> 
>> I also want to state that I decided against the adding menu items idea. 
>> Instead I am currently planning to use a command line option. You just pass 
>> the key value you want to use to act as the command key. Here's an example:
>> qemu-system-ppc -command-key 0x37.
>> The user could pick one of the functions keys as the command key if desired.
> 
> If you're going to get into remapping keys, wouldn't it be better to have a 
> generalized mechanism so the user could do whatever remaps they want?  Other 
> targets may have their own special keys.
> 
> -Scott

That does sound like a good idea. There would be a lot of things we would have 
to consider and agree upon. This is what I think you want, a command line 
option that specifies a key what it maps to. 
Example:

qemu-system-ppc -a-key 0x0 -b-key 0x11 ... 

Basically you specify a key, then state the raw keyboard value for it. Is that 
what you mean by generalized mechanism? This way could work, but I think using 
a file might be better. 

Example:

file: keyboard-layout.txt
a                       0x0
b                       0x11
c                       0x8
command 0x37
option          0x3A
control         0x3B
....

qemu-system-ppc -keyboard-layout-file ./keyboard-layout.txt 

There is one issue that still bothers me. Should we assume an ascii keyboard is 
attached to the QEMU emulated machine? We might want to consider unicode in the 
future. Not every user speaks english. Are there any non-native english users 
who would like to see unicode support in QEMU?