[SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

sizezero · 2026-04-28 17:05:09

When in a console (terminal console, there is no desktop installed) Alt+<left arrow> and Alt + <right arrow> successfully move me between the six consoles but Alt + F1, Alt+F2, etc. don't.

I've installed a very basic system, not much more than base. There is no desktop, just the terminal. I've followed all the wiki instructions and edited /etc/systemd/logind.conf and uncommented "NAutoVTs=6". I've tried different keyboards (which work on other linux systems) with no luck.

Any ideas? Any clues on how to troubleshoot?

Last edited by sizezero (2026-04-28 18:25:13)

seth · 2026-04-28 17:08:08

Does ctrl+alt+Fx ?
Do the F-keys actually produce the F-key symbols or do they default to some media function and you'd need to press Alt+Fn+F3 ?
For clarification, "Fn" being the literal Fn key on notebooks.

Last edited by seth (2026-04-28 17:09:00)

sizezero · 2026-04-28 17:36:26

This is not a laptop, it's a desktop so I'm using a keyboard that has actual function keys (F1, F2, etc.) I also use mechanical keyboards that have custom internal mappings but that's not the issue.

I've made a tiny bit of progress. It looks like all of these things (alt+arrow, alt+F<N>, ctrl+alt+F<N>) work but only if you use the left control and/or left alt keys. If you use the right alt or right control then they don't work. Due to a quirk on my keyboard I was using left alt+<arrow> so that worked but I was using right alt+F<N> so that didn't work.

Is this a by design issue or a bug? Is there a way that I can map the right controls and right alts to work as well? I'd rather use those keys for this shortcut.

seth · 2026-04-28 17:45:50

Does the right Alt key (typically code 100, you can use "showkey" to figure) actually produce Alt or eg. AltGr?

sudo dumpkeys | grep -E 'Alt|100'

Fwiw there're also external keyboards w/ Fn key (65% or so)

sizezero · 2026-04-28 18:15:43

$ sudo dumpkeys | grep -E 'Alt|100'
keycode 56 = Alt
keycode 100 = AltGR
alt keycode 100 = Compose

(sorry, I couldn't figure out what the how to use the markdown in this forum)

So I guess the right alt is producing AltGR instead of Alt? Is the solution to figure out how to make a custom keymap?

seth · 2026-04-28 18:20:45

Pretty much, yes.

◉ zgrep 100 /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/*/* | grep -E 'Alt$'                    
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/azerty/wangbe.map.gz:keycode 100 = AltGr            # install AltGr on right Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-l.map.gz:#            keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-r.map.gz:#            keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-ru.map.gz:keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/include/linux-with-two-alt-keys.inc:keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/neo/3l.map.gz:                              keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/by.map.gz:keycode 100 =      Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/hypermap.m4:keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/ua-utf-ws.map.gz:keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/ua-ws.map.gz:keycode 100 = Alt
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwertz/de_alt_UTF-8.map.gz:keycode 100 =   Alt

Edit: See [code][/code] tags

Last edited by seth (2026-04-28 18:21:21)

sizezero · 2026-04-28 18:23:35

Oh, so there's already plenty of maps that fix the issue! I guess I won't have to make my own. Thanks!

seth · 2026-04-28 18:25:23

Yup, more:

/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/azerty/azerty.map.gz:include "linux-with-two-alt-keys"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-l.map.gz:             include "linux-with-two-alt-keys.inc"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-programmer.map.gz:include "linux-with-two-alt-keys.inc"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/dvorak/dvorak-r.map.gz:             include "linux-with-two-alt-keys.inc"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/br-latin1-us.map.gz:include "linux-with-two-alt-keys"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/jp106.map.gz:include "linux-with-two-alt-keys"
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/us1.map.gz:include "linux-with-two-alt-keys"

sizezero · 2026-04-28 20:18:45

I ended up using keymap us1 via "sudo loadkeys us1" and updating /etc/vconsole.conf

$ zcat /user/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/us1.map.gz
include "us.map"
include "linux-with-two-alt-keys"
alt keycode 15 = Meta_Tab
shift keycode 15 = F26
string F26 = "\033[Z"

I'm not sure what the tab stuff is about but it seems pretty non-intrusive.

Arch Linux

#1 2026-04-28 17:05:09

[SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#2 2026-04-28 17:08:08

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#3 2026-04-28 17:36:26

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#4 2026-04-28 17:45:50

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#5 2026-04-28 18:15:43

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#6 2026-04-28 18:20:45

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#7 2026-04-28 18:23:35

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#8 2026-04-28 18:25:23

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

#9 2026-04-28 20:18:45

Re: [SOLVED] Alt + <FN> doesn't switch console terminals

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