Update: Well the keyconfig extension no longer works despite hacking the install.rdf in the file. I had to follow the instructions located at this website.
On my Ubuntu laptop I did the following at a bash shell prompt:
cd /usr/share/firefox/chrome/browser/content/browser
sudo vi browser.xul
Did a search for “mainKeyset” and right after the line
<keyset id=”mainKeyset”>
I added the following two lines:
<key id=”goBackKb” keycode=”VK_F19″ command=”Browser:Back” />
<key id=”goForwardKb” keycode=”VK_F20″ command=”Browser:Forward” />
I then saved the file and the two IBM keys worked fine. This requires the lines in ~/.Xmodmap below. I’m not pleased with this solution because I have to update the main firefox package files. I will have to figure out how to do this in my home directory.
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That was way too easy.
I installed Ubuntu 6.06 from the Live/Install CD I had and ran the updater to get all the patches. I played with it for an hour or two and then ran
sudo “update-manager -c -d”
in a terminal window. This permitted me to upgrade the laptop to Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy. I added some more software using Synaptic and was good to go.
Everything worked except in Firefox the keyboard navigation keys for previous/next page did not get recognized. So I added ~/.Xmodmap and put in the following two lines
keycode 234 = F19
keycode 233 = F20
I was all set to do the keyboard macro dance of death when I located and downloaded the keyconfig firefox extension. This extension lets you remap or assign functions to keys in Firefox. That’s very cool since I only was interested in making the keys work in Firefox.
I ran “xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap” and used the extension to map Back as F19 and Forward as F20.
If you download animation or watch video clips, get and install Automatix2. All my vids work due to getting the correct codecs. I’m finding Totem to be a good player.
The real test of if this will work is Lily. She has used the laptop once or twice for browsing and I have even used this laptop to connect to my work’s remote desktop in a browser solution. It’s all working fine.
If she has no issues I’m leaving Ubuntu on this laptop.
Google’s Voice Local Search is an experimental service where you can dial their 411 information number 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) and look up businesses by voice.