Post #2308275
2026-05-08 20:01 UTC
On my work laptop (PopOS-aka-Ubuntu, previous LTS, old Gnome-based Cosmic) the F1-12 keys have their tradition effect; holding down Fn triggers the media key meaning.
On my personal laptop (MX-aka-Debian, latest stable, XFCE), F1-12 act as media keys by default, while Fn bring back their traditional meaning.
This is terrible for my muscle memory! But I can't find settings for this on either. I just want it consistent; I don't care which way. Any idea where I should look?
Replies (2)
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@raphaelp@types.pl 2026-05-08 20:11
@klara@wandering.shop with xkb i'm pretty sure you can remap F codes to media codes and vice-versa so it should be doable… i don't know if you can do it via a setting or such
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@Nentuaby@wandering.shop 2026-05-08 22:26
@klara@wandering.shop The difference there is down to your firmware, not your OS. By the time Linux gets your key strokes it's already receiving the key codes for the F or media keys. You can check in your UEFI settings for both machines if they have a fn-lock setting. Many keyboards also have fn+esc as an unadvertized toggle for fn lock. If you get no luck there and you're feeling spicy Linux can do a custom keyboard layout to swap the meaning of the keys, but that's getting advanced.