[OpenBIOS] [Qemu-ppc] [Qemu-devel] Mac OS X on QEMU

[Programmingkid]

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 <agraf at suse.de> 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

> 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 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.