Librem 13v2, German keyboard & PureOS: "angle brackets & pipe" key dysfunctional

Hardware
21

Really good idea.

Unfortunately backuped only all “relevant” data. Forgot about the special fixes and settings i had to apply 7-/8ish years ago to a newly bought high-value laptop to make it work properly… :wink:

So my fault. Nevertheless kind of irritating that newly installing such a (newer) system 7, 8 years later still produces the same well known problems (that could have been solved within those years…). At least i tried every mentioned fix to realise, they don’t seem to work anymore.

But as mentioned, apart from that the Librem 13 still runs marvelously like a charme with more than 6h battery life. Premium i’d say…

1 Like
22

A fresh install of Debian solved the problem instantly. So german pipe key works properly out-of-the box with Debian, but not with PureOS.

3 Likes
23

Some background should someone stumble over the topic having problems:

  • other Distros like Debian or Arch based don’t have the pipe-key-problem
  • problem background see
    • sudo nano /lib/udev/hwdb.d/60-keyboard.hwdb
    • search for “Purism” → you’ll find KEYBOARD_KEY_56=backslash hardcoded which fits US-keyboards, but not UK, DE
  • check via TTY
    • Strg + ALT + F3
    • showkey
    • hit <>| Button → should show 86
    • hit #’ Button → should show 43
    • return after 10s of delay to finish showkey via STRG + ALT + F2
      → so KEYBOARD_KEY_56 needs to be corrected to 86 like shown in the solution of this thread → v3, v4 might differ
  • fix
    • sudo nano /etc/udev/hwdb.d/99-librem13-fix.hwdb
    • enter and save (take care of v2, v3, v4)
evdev:atkbd:dmi:bvn*:bvr*:bd*:svnPurism:*pn*Librem13v2*:*
 KEYBOARD_KEY_56=86
  • sudo systemd-hwdb update
  • sudo udevadm trigger
    → try it out → should already deliver <>|

PS: My Librem 13 used to be a v3, but it’s a v2 after being swapped 'cause of broken lid → above solution won’t work if you’re convinced to own a v3… :wink:

2 Likes