Debian Keyboard Weirdness

[Martin109]

On this Linux machine, running Debian, I can only get the keyboard to work properly by holding down the 'Fn' key.

If I don't, the title of this post, for example, would appear like this: Deb5an 2eyb6ard We5rdness

This looks like some sort of toggle, as it's set to make some keys function as num keys, namely, uiop, for 456*,
jkl;, for 123-, and m, for 0.  It obviously adapts the normal keyboard to reproduce the numerical keyboard addition found on normal sized keyboards.

Any idea how I can toggle this function off, to restore normal keyboard functionality?

[Kim]

Try poking numlock, with or without the Fn key.

[hubner]

I pressed Fn and F11 together and it changed uiop to 456*.

The F11 key on my computer has a pic of a padlock with a "1", which I assume is the number lock key.

[Kim]

This is, I think, a BIOS function, rather than a Debian thing per se.  It's likely that Debian is saving the user's numlock state between sessions, though.  (On a proper^[1] keyboard, I tend to keep numlock on, because the numeric keypad is much more useful that way.)



_{[1] For non-laptop doesn't-have-a-Fn-key values of 'proper'.}

[Martin109]

Try poking numlock, with or without the Fn key.

Thanks, Kim - that worked!