Re: [tlug] Two keyboards, two layouts: udev likely part of the solution

[jep200404 <jep200404@example.com>]

Josh Glover wrote:

> 1. Is it even possible to have N active keyboard layouts for N
> attached keyboards? 

Of course it is, ... 

... but I have no idea if it's easy or stupendously difficult. 

> 2. Does anyone know how to accomplish (1)? My gut tells me udev, ... 

I had some bad experiences with udev, but it had to do with 
documentation that did not match the then changing file 
formats. I get the feeling that this has stabilized, and has 
stabilized to a good grammar or format with good capabilities. 

I think udev is pretty cool stuff now. 

If you already know the magic commands to execute when a 
particular USB keyboard is plugged in, then getting udev to 
do those commands is no big deal if I recall correctly. 

When you plug in a keyboard, what does lsusb (-v -v -v) tell 
you about it? Please post the output of lsusb -v -v -v for 
your keyboards, trimming away the output for other USB devices. 
Things such as idVendor, idProduct, and serial numbers can be 
very handy for udev to associate actions with. 

If there is some crumb of info from lsusb that means UK, US, 
or JP keyboard, then you could have a more general solution. 
Looking at lsusb -v -v -v for a USB keyboard of mine, 
I do see the idVendor and idProduct values, but don't see 
anything that would indicate which layout it has. 
It might be buried in the "report descriptor"s. 
I hoped that the bCountryCode would be interesting, 
but mine is a boring 0.