PC-Sun keyboard mapping in Rose multi-platform KVM switches

How do PC and Sun keyboards differ? See figure 1 for the main differences. When compared to a PC keyboard, the Sun keyboard has 11 extra keys on the left side and four extra keys on the upper right. Other differences are on the bottom of the keyboard. The original 101/102-key PC keyboard has Ctrl and Alt keys to the left and right of the space bar. The 104/105-key PC keyboard added a Windows key to the left and right of the space bar and an App key to the right of the space bar. The Sun keyboard has a Ctrl, Alt, and Meta key to the left of the space bar and a Meta, Compose, and Alt Graph key to the right of the space bar. Other international differences apply. European keyboards have one extra key on both keyboards to the right of the left shift. Japanese and Korean keyboards have further differences.

Figure 1.  Sun and PC keyboards differences

Which keyboard should I use?
Use the keyboard which you personally prefer, probably this is the one that matches the platforms that you are most commonly accessing. There are some limitations though. Sun does not support a wheel mouse. So if you use a Sun keyboard and mouse to go to a PC, then you will not be able to have this functionality. When you use a PC keyboard to go to a Sun computer then the Sun keys missing from the PC keyboards can still be entered, but must be entered through a two-key command. 

How do I enter the special Sun keys from a PC keyboard?
The latest firmware of the switches have added support to allow this. It uses the same command syntax as other commands to the switch. This syntax is to press and release the left control key followed by other key(s) that specify the command. The 10 keys on the left of the Sun keyboard are mapped by position to 10 of the keys on the PC numeric keypad. The remaining keys are assigned by key name such as Volume up and volume down is page up and page down. One of the most important key sequences for a Sun computer is the stop-A command.  This puts the Sun computer at the boot prompt and is similar in importance such as the Ctrl-Alt-Delete is for PCs. The correct method to enter this command is to press and release the left Control Key, then press the Pause, press and release the A key, then release the Pause key. In place of the pause key you can also use the numeric keypad / key.

PC keyboard  Left Control + Sun function Pause or Keypad / Stop Keypad * Again Keypad 8 Props Keypad 9 Undo Keypad 5 Front Keypad 6 Copy Keypad 2 Open Keypad 3 Paste Keypad 0 Find Keypad . Cut Home Help End Mute Page Up Volume Up Page Down Volume Down Delete Power

Figure 2.  PC keyboard to Sun mapping

How do I power a Sun computer on and off from the PC keyboard?
Referring to the table above, you press and release the Left control key and then press and release the delete key (not the one on the numeric keypad). This sends a power on/off signal to the Sun computer.

Can I use the Sun power key to turn a PC off and on?
Yes, we have included the latest power key scan code. This assumes that the PC is capable of supporting this function and depends upon the ACPI bios extensions. At the time of this writing many computers still do not support this function.

What happens if I send the Sun keys to a PC?
The switch accepts the Sun keys but doesn't send them to the PC.

I loaded new firmware into my switch and the Stop-A function doesn't work any more
Please refer to the new syntax for the stop-A command above. Older firmware required you to release the Pause key before entering the A key. This has been changed to holding the Pause key down while the A key is pressed and released. This was done to make the Stop-A key sequence more similar in function to how it is entered from a Sun keyboard, which is less likely to be entered by accident. This method is also required for compatibility with Sun USB.