Re: Diskless worstations and keymapping problem -- LINUX5250

> To sum up, Trinux boots from a single floppy then loads packages from web.
> When Trinux is launched, it gets an IP address thanks to DHCP, and loads
> additional packages (such as ssh) via ftp. Then Trinux is automatically
> connected to a ssh server under Mandrake (my own workstation) to be able to
> use tn5250 installed on the Mandrake. With a single floppy, any PC in the
> shop can be automatically turned into a tn5250 station. I think it's a good
> way to use old Pentium75 with a floppy and 16mo.

I've been doing this with PicoBSD (floppy) and FreeSBIE (cd-rom) boots,
allowing me to have a floppy or CD that I can boot and have a nice little
workstation.    Mine don't need to download anything, it all fits on the
floppy or CD.  Granted, the floppy images are a bit limited in their
features, but if all you need is 5250 emulation, it works flawlessly.

> So, what's the problem? The problem is that I really have to get a key
> map as close as possible to the Client Access soft. That is to say F13
> to F24 with shift F9 to shift F12, ESC as âattentionâ (Control_a),
> Left control key as Contol_x and so on.

For my BSD-based systems, the keymaps included in the tn5250 distro work
perfectly.   I have no experience with Trinux, though.

> If xt5250 is launched on my Mandrake, no problem. If it's in a real
> console, I do not have access to the F21 to F24 keys and âattentionâ
> is C-a. So I modified my keyboard layout (keycode 1 = Control_a Escape
> instead of keycode 1 = Escape Escape and string F24 = "\033+" instead of
> string F24 = "\033[38~") and I load it with loadkeys. Then it's ok, but
> remmeber, we're here still on Mandrake.

Normally a VT100-based terminal will only have F1-F20.  Those terminals do
not have F21-F24, consequently you need to make a custom termcap or
terminfo for your system that has all 24 keys.  There's a sample of this
in the Linux directory of the tn5250 distro.    Then, of course, you have
to do: export TERM=my5250termname  to enable your new terminfo/termcap/etc
definitions.

Again, I have no experience with Trinux, so I don't know if it uses
termcap or terminfo...

> The real problem is with the trinux diskless workstations. I create a
> binary keymap file with my customized key map thanks to the dumpkmap (a
> tool included in busybox that's used in a lot of tiny distros such as
> Trinux) and load it with loadkmap. Then, guess what, ESC is
> âattentionâ, no problem, but F21 to F24 are still unusable with
> shift F9/F12 even if they are usable with âESC(â âESC)â
> âESC_â and âESC+â.

Sounds like the termcap/terminfo problem again.

>
> Finally, it may be useful to know that I'm using a French âazertyâ 
> keyboard.
> If someone can help me, please let me know. I think I'm going to lose
> patience ;)
>

I don't know anything about French keyboards :(