keyboard oddities

[Klaus Heinz <k.heinz.mai.zwei%onlinehome.de@localhost>]

Hi,

I have never used the keypad very much (maybe the A1000 experience is telling).
But today I was messing around with the keyboard both on the console
and with X and I have noticed the following (NetBSD 1.5.2):

X:
  Although I see the X symbol 'Num_lock' in the output of 'xev' when I press
  'RightAlt' (the X Modeswitch) together with the key labeled 'NumL', the state
  for the keypad keys does not seem to switch. I understand that the Amiga
  keyboard has no LED to display the state of 'Num_lock' but wouldn't it
  be more convenient to have this kind of switching available? As it is
  now, we can _only_ get the alternate function of those keys by always
  pressing 'Shift' at the same time.

  There is also a deviation from the behaviour I have observed with
  X on i386: The key '5' on the keypad always produces 'KP_5', even when
  pressed together with 'Shift'. On NetBSD/i386 I get 'KP_Begin' as the
  alternate function.

Console:
  Pressing 'Shift' with any of the keypad number keys does _not_ give
  me the alternate function (e.g. SHIFT 8 = 'UP').

  The 'Backspace' key and the 'Del' key give me '^?' (ASCII 127) and
  '^H' (ASCII 8). Both erase the character left of the cursor. I remember
  faintly that I wondered about this years ago (maybe 1993 ?) and it is
  still the case. Can anyone explain why those two keys should have
  swapped their ASCII code and why both do the same ?


ciao
     Klaus

PS: is anyone using the PC keyboard adapter 'Lyra' without problems
    under NetBSD (on an A3000) ?