Mapping Super+hjkl to arrow keys under X
I'm trying to map:
Super+h -> Left
Super+j -> Down
Super+k -> Up
Super+l -> Right
globally under X. The idea is I don't want to leave my home row that often to use the arrow keys, so I'll use the Super modifier + hjkl to emulate the arrow keys under X. Is there any way to do this?
One thing I've tried is xbindkeys + xte using this configuration:
"xte 'keydown Up' 'keyup Up'"
Mod4+k
"xte 'keydown Down' 'keyup Down'"
Mod4+j
"xte 'keydown Left' 'keyup Left'"
Mod4+h
"xte 'keydown Right' 'keyup Right'"
Mod4+l
but there seems to a large delay between me pressing the key and noticing any result, and most of the time nothing happens at all.
Is there a more elegant way of doing this that actually works with no delay?
Solution 1:
Capslock + HJKL to arrow keys
-
Create ~/.Xmodmap and put this inside:
clear Lock keycode 66 = ISO_Level3_Shift -
Add
Left,Down,Up,Rightas a third item to the h,j,k,l key entries in/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us(the first section):key { [ h, H, Left, Left ] }; key { [ j, J, Down, Down ] }; key { [ k, K, Up, Up ] }; key { [ l, L, Right, Right ] }; run
xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap
Alternative: Capslock as Control and Control_L + HJKL to arrow keys
This is my current setup. I unmapped Control_L as a control key and use it as a
special modifier (ISO_Level3_Shift), which corresponds to the third entry in
the /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us file for the hjkl mappings.
-
I modified the first stanza of /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us like before:
key { [ h, H, Left, Left ] }; key { [ j, J, Down, Down ] }; key { [ k, K, Up, Up ] }; key { [ l, L, Right, Right ] }; -
Then I put this in my ~/.Xmodmap file:
clear Control keycode 66 = Control_L add Control = Control_L add Control = Control_R keycode 37 = ISO_Level3_Shift
keycode 66 is capslock and keycode 37 is left control
- run xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap
With this setup I can use arrows keys with Control_L + hjkl as well as skip over words with Control_L + caps + hl. Easy!
Solution 2:
The above mentioned changes in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us do NOT work for me:
Error loading new keyboard description
But after looking through lots of contradicting howtos, I've come up with a solution, which maps the left super key (left windows key / Mod4) in combination with hjkl to Left, Down, Up, Right. This is a system-wide setting.
Add this block to the end of the first section (right before };) of your /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/us:
//hjkl
//AltGr + hjkl
key <AC06> { [ h, H, Left ] };
key <AC07> { [ j, J, Down ] };
key <AC08> { [ k, K, Up ] };
key <AC09> { [ l, L, Right ] };
//Super_L -> Alt Gr
key <LWIN> { [ ISO_Level3_Shift ] }; //see below!
The first key line maps AltGr+h to Left.
The last key line makes the left super key behave like AltGr.
Here you go:
Super + h -> Left
Super + j -> Down
Super + k -> Up
Super + l -> Right
In order to apply the new settings, run setxkbmap or restart your system.
Important: This obviously disables the super key, so if you're actually using your super key for other purposes (i.e. moving a window to another workspace), you shouldn't remap it like this.
In order to use Caps Lock instead of Super, change the last key line with:
key <CAPS> { [ ISO_Level3_Shift ] };
Here's the complete first section of my config file:
default
partial alphanumeric_keys modifier_keys
xkb_symbols "basic" {
name[Group1]= "English (US)";
// Alphanumeric section
key <TLDE> { [ grave, asciitilde ] };
key <AE01> { [ 1, exclam ] };
key <AE02> { [ 2, at ] };
key <AE03> { [ 3, numbersign ] };
key <AE04> { [ 4, dollar ] };
key <AE05> { [ 5, percent ] };
key <AE06> { [ 6, asciicircum ] };
key <AE07> { [ 7, ampersand ] };
key <AE08> { [ 8, asterisk ] };
key <AE09> { [ 9, parenleft ] };
key <AE10> { [ 0, parenright ] };
key <AE11> { [ minus, underscore ] };
key <AE12> { [ equal, plus ] };
key <AD01> { [ q, Q ] };
key <AD02> { [ w, W ] };
key <AD03> { [ e, E ] };
key <AD04> { [ r, R ] };
key <AD05> { [ t, T ] };
key <AD06> { [ y, Y ] };
key <AD07> { [ u, U ] };
key <AD08> { [ i, I ] };
key <AD09> { [ o, O ] };
key <AD10> { [ p, P ] };
key <AD11> { [ bracketleft, braceleft ] };
key <AD12> { [ bracketright, braceright ] };
key <AC01> { [ a, A ] };
key <AC02> { [ s, S ] };
key <AC03> { [ d, D ] };
key <AC04> { [ f, F ] };
key <AC05> { [ g, G ] };
key <AC06> { [ h, H ] };
key <AC07> { [ j, J ] };
key <AC08> { [ k, K ] };
key <AC09> { [ l, L ] };
key <AC10> { [ semicolon, colon ] };
key <AC11> { [ apostrophe, quotedbl ] };
key <AB01> { [ z, Z ] };
key <AB02> { [ x, X ] };
key <AB03> { [ c, C ] };
key <AB04> { [ v, V ] };
key <AB05> { [ b, B ] };
key <AB06> { [ n, N ] };
key <AB07> { [ m, M ] };
key <AB08> { [ comma, less ] };
key <AB09> { [ period, greater ] };
key <AB10> { [ slash, question ] };
key <BKSL> { [ backslash, bar ] };
// End alphanumeric section
//hjkl
//AltGr + hjkl
key <AC06> { [ h, H, Left ] };
key <AC07> { [ j, J, Down ] };
key <AC08> { [ k, K, Up ] };
key <AC09> { [ l, L, Right ] };
//Super_L -> Alt Gr
key <LWIN> { [ ISO_Level3_Shift ] };
};
I hope this helps somebody out there...
If anyone has a better solution, please let me know.
Edit: Tested on Fedora.