Multiple simultaneous keyboards with unique layouts

As the title says, I'm interested in two (or more) simultaneous keyboards, each with a unique layout.

Everything I've researched indicates this should be possible, but I'm unable to get it to work. Regardless of how I set things up, all keyboards consistently operate as if they share the CoreDevice setting in xorg.conf. For example:

Code:

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Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier    "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard1"
    Option        "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier    "Keyboard0"
    Driver        "evdev"
    Option        "CoreKeyboard"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/event3"
    Option        "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option        "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option        "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier    "Keyboard1"
    Driver        "evdev"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/event4"
    Option        "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option        "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option        "XkbLayout" "ad"
EndSection

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In the above config, both keyboards behave as if they're set for the USA layout. Changing the layout in gnome-keyboard-properties affects all of the connected keyboards equally, but has no provision for altering individual devices.

Any suggestions?

Solved.

Depending on what you're trying to do, this can be two or three steps.

1.) Determine which layout will be assigned to each keyboard.

2.) [Optional] create a new keyboard layout if you're after a custom one (I recommend simply altered an existing layout).

3.) Use the setxkbmap command with the -device tag to apply your keyboard maps to the relevant devices. If you don't know your device, start with 1 and work your way up. Be prepared to undo your change by repeating it with your current layout. For example, typing

Code:

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setxkbmap -device 3 af

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sets both of my keyboards to Farsi, and typing

Code:

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setxkbmap -device 3 us

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sets them both back to US. It's probably best to have this line copied and ready to paste before every change to easily undo your changes.

In my case, I altered the Andorra keyboard layout with my custom, and applied it thusly:

Code:

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setxkbmap -device 7 ad

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And that's it! Each keyboard is operating simultaneously with a unique layout. Typing on each results in the keys I want and there is no switching or hotkeys required to make this change.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kisbey

If you don't know your device, start with 1 and work your way up.

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Another (better) solution is to use xinput to give you a list of devices:

Code:

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~# xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                          id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜  ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜  ↳ DualPoint Stick                          id=11  [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜  ↳ AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad          id=12  [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜  ↳ Logitech USB Laser Mouse                  id=14  [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜  ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                    id=15  [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                        id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard              id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                                id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                              id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard              id=10  [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Dell WMI hotkeys                          id=13  [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                    id=16  [slave  keyboard (3)]

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You can then use grep or gawk to get the id number. Here is an example:

Code:

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setxkbmap -device `xinput list | gawk '/Logitech/&&/keyboard/{match($0,/id=([[:digit:]]+)/,f);print f[1]}'` bg

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This looks for the keyboard having Logitech in its name and set its layout to bulgarian