I've gotten hold of a laptop that is not from any locale I am familiar with. The keyboard layout is very different than the US and UK/NZ that I am used to.

The problem is that the keyboard is acting odd: the P and Ȧ keys don't register, and yet if I press them three or four times, they do strange things like launch the calculator or Evolution. Some other keys act the same way, but multiple presses adjust volume or make the screensaver activate.

I'm not sure if I'm just doing something wrong because I've never used a computer that comes with a non English keyboard before, or if something's wrong with the computer.

Any idea of either how I can discover what keyboard this is, or else make the keys act more predictably without mapping them all manually with xmodmap?

Here is a photo of the keyboard:
http://imgur.com/Ln0BWSB

that looks like a scandinavian layout; i'm using one right now.
there should be no problem using it once you have the keymap set properly.
i don't know how this is done with slackware, but some distros' installers let you configure it very precisely (what type of keyboard).
once you got it set up, you can get small stickers for the keys.

why the normal 'P' is acting strangely i cannot say.
all the normal letters should be mapped the way you're used to.

but generally, this is doable and no biggie.
maybe try different live usb's to see how the behavior changes?

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks, I'll try setting it to Scandanavian and see what happens.

It's Danish. If you don't want to put stickers on it, you can set the keyboard in xorg.conf — the Slackware guide should tell you how. But I think it's faulty, to judge by the P behaviour.

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Thanks guys, I tried both Scandanavian and Danish, and yes, I'm pretty sure it's faulty. The key that should be 93 is sending, at random, keycodes for 24 and 31 and a few others; it seems to be something different each time I press it. A few other keys in that region don't send any signal at all. I've decided that it's not me, it's the keyboard. I've ordered a replacement and assume that will fix it.

I will probably leave this thread open until I receive and replace the keyboard. Then I'll update and close.

Thanks everyone!

notklaatu,
have you tried this with different live distros?
have you tried cleaning the keyboard with compressed air? you'll be surprised & disgusted as to what kind of lint collects there.
since you have to partly disassemble the laptop anyway if you replace the keyboard, you could also try that and cleaning it even more thoroughly before buying the replacement.

what you're reporting just sounds so improbable, but i could imagine that simple dirt is causing it.

1 members found this post helpful.

You haven't said what sort of laptop it is. You can usually pick up a keyboard from Amazon for about £10.00 or equivalent. It takes about 5 minutes to swap and you fit the US, UK, or NZ one rather than the Danish one; three or four clips at the top of the keyboard, one flex cable. You'd have to set the keyboard profile to suit obviously. If you reckon the laptop's worth saving it's a small outlay.

Play Bonny!

1 members found this post helpful.

Yes, no dice.

Good point. I took off the keys that were not working, swabbed it the best I could, let it dry, reattached. No change.

Yup, that's exactly what I've done. Just waiting for it to arrive.

Ordered a $20 replacement keyboard. It arrived. I attached it. Everything works as expected.

Clearly a hardware problem from the start.

Thanks to all who helped diagnose.