You can now use all your extra function keys on a USB keyboard too. All required kernel patches are included since Linux kernel 2.6.24. Use this kernel (or a later version) in combination with keyTouch-editor 3.2.0 beta to create keyboard files for your USB keyboard. The created keyboard file can then be imported in the latest beta verion of keyTouch (version 2.4.0 beta). KeyTouch-editor 3.2.0 beta allows you to create one keyboard file for both a PS/2 and USB connection. So after you have added all the keys to the keyboard file while the keyboard was connected via USB, you can then connect the keyboard via PS/2 and set the PS/2 scancode of the key too. If discover any bugs in keyTouch-editor or keyTouch please report them.

Original message:

When your keyboard is connected via USB you may have noticed that some extra function keys don't work. Note that most keyboard files in keyTouch are for a PS/2 connection and if a keyboard file is for a USB connection the name of the keyboard file will contain "(USB)". But still even if you are using the right keyboard file, some keys may not work. This is because the current USB input driver in the Linux kernel does not allow us to get these keys working. Currently I am modifying this driver so that we can get all keys working. This modification will be applied to the Linux kernel.

So at the moment I recommend you to connect your keyboard via PS/2 and wait for a new version of the USB input driver. I will also write a new version of keyTouch that will work perfectly together with the new driver.

Check out how easy it is to configure your extra function keys with keyTouch:

There are a number of other applications that allow you to configure the extra function keys on your keyboard. So why should you use keyTouch? Well, keyTouch was developed because none of these other applications provides a simple way to configure the extra function keys. You can read below what the problems of the other programs are.
First KDE and GNOME have programs that allow you to bind actions to extra function keys. However before you can use one of these applications, you need to do some complicated things and edit some configuration files for X or write a script. So they aren't that user friendly.
Then there are applications like LinEAK. Because, like keyTouch, they use information stored in files about specific keyboard models, you do not need to do the complicated actions before using the application. The problem for those applications however, is that under Linux kernel 2.6 only a small number of extra function keys work. KeyTouch is the first and only program of its kind that works perfectly together with kernel 2.6.

KeyTouch needs information about your keyboard model to support it. If your keyboard is not supported yet, you can easily get it supported. For this purpose keyTouch provides a simple application (named keyTouch-editor) that is well documented.

KeyTouch is developed to provide a user friendly way to configure your extra function keys. This not only means that the application is user friendly, but also means that it tries to be well documented.

Can you make a package (like a RPM, .deb or autopackage) for keyTouch? View the Job.