Swapping Function (Fn) and Control (Ctrl) Keys on Lenovo ThinkPad W500
- by Howiecamp
I'd like to swap the Fn and Ctrl keys on my ThinkPad W500 (like many others!). I wanted to comment on http://superuser.com/questions/35228/how-can-i-switch-the-function-and-control-keys-on-my-laptop and StackOverflow question 514781 (please Google it because I don't have enough rep to include 2 hyperlinks) but I don't have enough rep to do so to comment.
Numerous folks (in both the above questions and on other Google searches) indicate that Windows doesn't register the Fn key as a keypress but using a tool that gives the ASCII value of a keypress (visit www mihov com / eng / am.html) I see the Fn key returning FF (perhaps FF in this case means 'not registered'). I also see that keys like Ctrl register with one ASCII code when pressed alone and another when pressed in combo with another key. Fn will only register when pressed alone, so Windows definitely isn't seeing the combo. This took a solution like AutoHotKey off the table.
I ran KeyTweak (which shows you the hardware scan codes of a keypress and the Fn key registerd as 57443). Using this program I remapped Fn to the Ctrl key; this worked perfectly. However, I suspect that because of the issue in #1, the combo of, for example, Fn + C did not execute a copy.
Short of retraining my pinky I'm actually considering removing the keyboard and resoldering the connections to swap those keys.
I'd love to get some input as to the root technical issue(s) and possible solutions here.
Thanks
