SOLVED - Shift key doesn't work. \ VOGONS

SOLVED - Shift key doesn't work.

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First post, by Peter Swinkels

Posted on 2005-11-16, 20:44

Peter Swinkels Offline

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I've just installed DosBox version 0.63 for Windows. All keys seem to be working except for the shift key. My keyboard is set to the following language: English (United States) although it's actually an English (British) keyboard, the only difference being that the @ and " characters have switched places. The problem might be related to the fact that my computer is a laptop which of course means I've a laptop keyboard.

EDIT:
Also, the # becomes a £ character and the # is where the ' is on a british keyboard...

Some system specs:
Pentium III 600mhz
Microsoft Windows 98

BTW:
Is it normal that DosBox switches my screen mode to 640 x 480 pixels and 256 colors? This way I can keep resetting my screen mode and rearranging my desktop icons. Not a big issue but still...

Last edited by Peter Swinkels on 2010-06-16, 12:37. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 8, by `Moe`

Posted on 2005-11-17, 02:07

`Moe` Offline

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DOSBox works like real DOS, i.e. unless you load a keyboard driver, you will get the US layout which differs in some more places AFAIK. You can use the "keyb" utility from the FreeDos project, it works in DOSBox.

DOSBox should reset your screen mode after it is done, though it might differ with each video driver. Try using different values for the "output" configuration setting.

Reply 2 of 8, by Peter Swinkels

Posted on 2005-11-17, 13:52

Peter Swinkels Offline

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I don't want another layout, I want the United States layout and if that's what DosBox gives me, that's great. The problem is that the keyboard works fine in DosBox except for the Shift key. Where can I get this Keyb utility and what does AFAIK mean?

I only pointed out that my keyboard actually has a British layout to provide any useful information I could think of.

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Did you read it anyway? Well, you can find all sorts of stuff I made using various programming languages over here:
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Reply 3 of 8, by wd

Posted on 2005-11-17, 13:58

wd Offline

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Keyb is from freedos (keyb2 i think, just use google).

The shift key not working is a bit odd, and won't be fixed by
using keyb. Does it work for at least some keys? Or produce
wrong results for all keys? Does the right shift key behave
any different?

Reply 4 of 8, by Peter Swinkels

Posted on 2005-11-17, 14:18

Peter Swinkels Offline

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The Shift key doesn't work at all. After some more testing I found out that the Alt and Num(ber) Lock keys don't work either. I also hooked up a United States layout keyboard to the PS/2 port of my laptop. DosBox responded in the same way as with my laptop's internal keyboard. So I don't think it's the fact I use a laptop or the keyboard layout.

Do not read if you don't like attention seeking self-advertisements!

Did you read it anyway? Well, you can find all sorts of stuff I made using various programming languages over here:
https://github.com/peterswinkels

Reply 5 of 8, by wd

Posted on 2005-11-17, 15:47

wd Offline

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Does capslock have an effect on alphabetic keys?

You could try to update directx, helped for an odd keyboard problem
some time ago.

Reply 6 of 8, by Peter Swinkels

Posted on 2005-11-18, 14:40

Peter Swinkels Offline

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Capslock does work for alphabetic keys. Did you mean that updating DirectX helped fix a problem with the keyboard in DosBox for you?

Do not read if you don't like attention seeking self-advertisements!

Did you read it anyway? Well, you can find all sorts of stuff I made using various programming languages over here:
https://github.com/peterswinkels

Reply 7 of 8, by Peter Swinkels

Posted on 2005-11-18, 14:46

Peter Swinkels Offline

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Well, I installed DirectX 9.0 and it didn't help. It should be the most recent version according the Microsoft DirectX homepage.

Do not read if you don't like attention seeking self-advertisements!

Did you read it anyway? Well, you can find all sorts of stuff I made using various programming languages over here:
https://github.com/peterswinkels

Reply 8 of 8, by wd

Posted on 2005-11-21, 12:03

wd Offline

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Dosbox receives the keys through SDL, but this seems to be working
correctly as it works on other win98 installations.
Maybe something's wrong in the key transport from the OS to SDL
(direct input i think, maybe this can be configured through some
SDL environment variables) so you could check what symkeys
and scancodes SDL receives, maybe replacing the SDL.dll with
some other version might help as well.

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