Keyboard

This document explains how to use keyboard shortcuts in FS-UAE, how FS-UAE and system keyboard shortcuts can interfere, and how the emulated Amiga keyboard works.

FIXME Keyboard joystick emulation doc

FIXME Write about custom keyboard joystick emulation devices

FIXME Keyboard CD32 emulation doc

FIXME Reference option full_keyboard

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are listed in a separated file. You can also read about shortcut modifier keys, how to alter those, and find information specific to your operating system.

Keyboard joystick emulation

If you don't have a joystick or gamepad attached to your computer, then you can use keyboard joystick emulation instead.

Input grab

Grabbing the input means that FS-UAE asks the operating system to lock the mouse to the FS-UAE window, and to send as many key presses as possible directly to FS-UAE. This is necessary in order to:

Allow the Amiga mouse to work properly, because relative mouse motion is needed.
Allow full use of the emulated Amiga keyboard.

So, when input is grabbed, most key pressed are sent directly to FS-UAE and is not intercepted by the operating system. This is especially true when running FS-UAE in full-screen mode, but it also depends on the operating system.

Note: If you do not want to grab as many keyboard keys as possible you can disable the option keyboard_input_grab. But please note that you may be prevented from using some Amiga keys.

Multimedia keys and desktop shortcuts

Since most key presses are sent directly to FS-UAE when input is grabbed, most desktop shortcuts and multimedia keys will not work. This means that you will not be able to (for example) use the volume controls on your keyboard -- if you have those -- while FS-UAE has grabbed the input.

In order to use such keys or keyboard shortcuts, you can do one of the following:

Enter the FS-UAE menu. The input grab is released while the menu is open. You can then use the keyboard shortcuts you want, and close the FS-UAE menu afterwards.
Release the input grab using Mod+G. You can re-acquire the input grab with the same key combination.
Release the input grab by pressing the middle mouse button. You can re-acquire the input grab by pressing once more.
Disable keyboard grabbing altogether.

Alt-tab behavior (window switching)

When keyboard input is grabbed, on some operating systems (Linux, BSD), Alt-Tab while generally not work, since the key presses are sent directly to FS-UAE. In order to still allow Alt-Tab to work on these platforms, FS-UAE does the following:

When Mod is pressed, the input grab is temporarily released.
When Mod is released, the input grab is taken again, unless another Window has been switched to in the meantime.

Since the input grab is released when you press Mod, the operating system will be able to intercept Alt+Tab when you subsequently press Tab while still holding Alt as long as Alt is the modifier key in FS-UAE. If the system uses another modifier key for window switching, this workaround will not work unless FS-UAE is also configured to use the same modifier key.

Note: On Windows and OS X, the operating system always intercepts Alt+Tab and Cmd+Tab respectively, so window switching should always works regardless of input grab in FS-UAE.

Host quit keys interfering with Alt+F4 and Cmd+Q

The SDL library used by FS-UAE intercepts Alt+F4 and Cmd+Q and uses this to close the application. This means that even with full keyboard emulation enabled, you are prevented from using Amiga+F4 or Amiga+Q.

This will continue to be the case until SDL supports SDL_HINT_HANDLE_OS_HOTKEYS = 0.

FIXME: Might be outdated information by now! Double-check

Amiga keyboard mapping

Information about how the keyboard is mapping is moved to a separate file. You can also read about custom keyboard mapping there.

Additional shortcuts

The following shortcuts work, but you should be aware that the Ctrl key press will be sent to the emulated Amiga before you have completed the shortcut combination, so the key press may have side effects on the emulated Amiga:

FIXME Remove items from this list which is listed elsewhere:

Alt+Tab (or Cmd+Tab) – Switch to another window / release input grab.
Alt+F4 – Quit the emulator.
Ctrl+F10 – Toggle performance graphs / FPS display (There are two FPS numbers shown, SYS: actual video output frame rate. EMU: emulated video frame rate).

Additional Shortcuts in Net Play Mode

The following shortcuts will only have an special effect while in net play mode:

Press Tab to toggle chat function.

Other

Custom shortcuts and emulation

If you create a custom shortcut, for example:

keyboard_key_ctrl_p = action_pause

Then you should be aware that the emulated Amiga will see the Ctrl key press before you have pressed P. The Amiga will not see the P key press however, since this triggers the shortcut instead.

This may or may not be a problem for you. But it isn't possible to avoid automatically because FS-UAE cannot know if you are going to press a key combination or not. In this case, if you do not want the Amiga to see the Ctrl key presses, you can for example also add:

keyboard_key_ctrl = action_none

But then of course, you'll have no way to press the Amiga "Ctrl" key - unless you also map another host key (combination) to Amiga "Ctrl", for example:

keyboard_key_ctrl_c = action_key_ctrl

Examples

Remapping the Extra Key on the Number Row

The number row of the Amiga has one more key than on PC keyboards. By default, this key is moved to the key left of Return (two rows down), and this key again is moved to the Insert key. If you want to, you can change the mapping so the extra key is moved directly to the Insert key, while leaving the one next to Return alone:

keyboard_key_insert = action_key_backslash
keyboard_key_backslash = action_key_2b

Disabling the F12 Menu Key

You can disable the F12 menu key with the following option, but please note that it will still function as alternative modifier key:

keyboard_key_f12 = action_none

55 thoughts on “Keyboard”

Hello i want to know something how to enable number keys input because i don’t know

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2021-11-18 at 09:24 said:

Hi, is the problem that your keyboard does not have a physical numpad and you want to use “numpad keys” on the Amiga? You’re keyboard might have an option to simulate numpad keys by pressing for example Fn + 3.

Another option is to use input mapping to map some other keys in your keyboard to Amiga numpad keys. e.g. keyboard_key_q = action_key_np_1. See https://fs-uae.net/docs/input-mapping for more information.

Reply ↓

The new Macs have the very small up/down cursor keys. Tiny for my fingers and not great to use at all.
Can I replace the cursor keys to other set of keys such as I L M J for example that will be up right down left?

Easy to do? Thank you

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2020-04-19 at 01:02 said:

Hi, yes, you can override the keybindings via a text config file. See https://github.com/FrodeSolheim/fs-uae/blob/master/docs/examples/Keyboard.ini

Reply ↓
- sorry on 2021-07-22 at 02:01 said:
  
  Stupid question, but what do i name the file? Config?
  
  Reply ↓
  - FrodeSolheim on 2021-11-18 at 09:30 said:
    
    Hi, it says in the file: “This example config file, if dropped into FS-UAE/Data/Devs/Keyboards”
    So it should have the name it already has (Keyboard.ini).
    
    Reply ↓

Hi – if I need ALT + any key in an Aminga game (e.g. Silent Service II), the emulator obviously doesn’t let me use it. Could you substitute the usage of the ALT-key with e.g. the windows key for the emulator and free up the ALT for the Amiga in the process?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2020-03-15 at 10:27 said:

Don’t worry, it’s covered 🙂 Press F12 + K to enable full keyboard emulation mode, freeing up ALT for the Amiga. F12 will then be the shortcut modifier (e.g. F12 + K to switch back).

(The alt key is used as a shortcut by default because F12 is awkward to use on some computers, and because Alt-tabbing is very useful to be able to do by default).

Reply ↓

Is it possible to remap a keyboard? I use the standard Mac keyboard which lacks the block numbers 1-9 (which were on the right of the Amiga keyboard) but need them to play Ambermoon smoothly. I also need to assign the return key to another key.

Any help to this?
Thanks a lot in advance.

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2019-10-13 at 16:53 said:

Yes, see https://fs-uae.net/input-mapping 🙂

Reply ↓

Hey, I am trying to play Escape from Colditz, and one of the inputs for “grab” and “cycle through inventory” are confusing. They are arrows, but the movement keys are cursor keys as well. I don’t know what to do and I can’t figure this out.

Reply ↓

Cythes on 2018-12-26 at 04:15 said:

I figured it out, sorry.

Reply ↓
FrodeSolheim on 2019-10-13 at 17:13 said:

I’m guessing that the problem is that you use the keyboard for joystick emulation, which makes it impossible to use the “Amiga cursor keys” ingame. Please attach a real gamepad/joystick and use that as a simulated Amiga joystick, then the cursor keys will be free to work as on a real Amiga.

Reply ↓

Loving the app! Anyone tried playing Captive though? The keyboard is too sensitive. Pushing any key once does it multiple times. Keep crashing into walls or turning too much!!
Can control will using mouse on the screen direction keys but this is slow.
Any ideas on the keyboard problem?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2017-10-18 at 15:19 said:

Hi, are you by any chance running a recent Linux distribution? I have discovered that there is a bug with keyboard repeat (not an FS-UAE bug, but a system bug) when running at least on Ubuntu 17.04.

Reply ↓

Hi.
I opened the game, flood. After it loaded up, I wanted to type level passwords in, such as FROG.
I can type in FR but not O
It seems that I can only use half of the keyboard.
I’m using keyboard layout 1 with mouse.
Anyway of getting around this?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2017-10-11 at 15:39 said:

I cannot reproduce the problem. (Also, FS-UAE does not have a concept called “Keyboard layout 1”?). Have you added any advanced settings, such as using keyboard_key_o and assigned to a custom action?

Reply ↓

Is there any way to map two buttons into one action?
example: joystick_1_button_7+joystick_1_button_8 = action_quit (something like that?)

I did try that example with no luck though but haven’t found any examples in the docs.

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2017-02-17 at 18:47 said:

There is no support for mapping a combination of buttons to an action, no :-/

Reply ↓

Hi Frode,
I’m using 2.9.0dev and I can’t seem to be able to get the CD32 controller to work at all using the keyboard. The standard keys C,X,D,S don’t do anything, and nothing happens even if I try to override the inputs in the the configuration options, using

keyboard_key_lctrl = action_joy_1_cd32_green
keyboard_key_lalt = action_joy_1_cd32_yellow
keyboard_key_lshift = action_joy_1_cd32_red
keyboard_key_z = action_joy_1_cd32_blue
keyboard_key_space = action_joy_1_cd32_rwd
keyboard_key_x = action_joy_1_cd32_fwd
keyboard_key_1 = action_joy_1_cd32_play

My controller is an arcade joystick connected to an I-PAC interface that is seen by the system as a keyboard. Normal Amiga emulation works fine selecting Windows Keyboard as an input, but I would like to get CD32 input working too! Any idea?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-12-20 at 17:56 said:

Are you sure the game you are trying it with actually supports CD32 gamepad input?

Reply ↓
- james vandusen on 2019-06-14 at 02:37 said:
  
  I know this thread is old… I am running a IPAC as well with a primary keyboard connected too.
  I tried to map the following:
  joystick_port_1 = Keyboard
  keyboard_key_down = action_joy_0_dpad_down
  keyboard_key_lctrl = action_joy_0_fire_button
  keyboard_key_lalt = action_joy_0_2nd_button
  keyboard_key_left = action_joy_0_dpad_left
  keyboard_key_right = action_joy_0_dpad_right
  keyboard_key_up = action_joy_0_dpad_up
  
  rctrl on the real keyboard is the button – the above lctrl is ignored… I even tried mapping _z as fire_button and still nothing – what am I missing?.
  
  Reply ↓
  - FrodeSolheim on 2019-06-16 at 16:04 said:
    
    Hi, there is no such action as for example action_joy_0_dpad_down. See /input-actions. There is for example action_joy_0_down (though you want to use action_joy_1_down if you want to map to the joystick port on the Amiga).
    
    Reply ↓

I am desperate. I am try to play with my cousins the games we used to play 20 years ago. Yet, I can´t manage to get 2 players settings right.
I first tried to get two joysticks mapped on the keyboard. I wrote the configurations to map the two amiga joysticks (ports 0, 1) onto the aswd and arrows of the keyboard. in the configurations I set the first joystick as OS keyboard and the second one as “no device”. When I start the rom a text appears and says “port 0 switched to mouse mode” and one of the two players is controlled by the mouse.

I also bought two generic usb snes controllers and used the gui to select the correct joypad buttons. When I start the game only one joypad appears to make changes, but the buttons are all random again (only up and down, no left and right).

I know I come with two different problems, but solving either one of them would make me very happy.

I have a macbook pro 2011. OS 10.10. fs-uae version 2.8.2.

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-12-20 at 18:32 said:

Hi, the autoswitching to mouse should ideally work fine, but if you get a lot of spurious mouse movements for some reason, it could maybe cause issues. You can disable that with:
joystick_port_0_autoswitch = 0.

Please also note that you can encounter issues when trying two-player via the same keyboard. Many keyboards only supports X number of keys being pressed simultaneously (X could even depend on exactly what key combinations are pressed), so it is possible that some key presses will not be triggered correctly. Using at least one real gamepad/joystick is highly recommended to avoid this (and this is also the reason why FS-UAE does not include support for “Keyboard 2”).

Regarding the joystick(s), have you tried running the gamepad button mapping tool in FS-UAE Launcher Settings? Go to Joysticks & Gamepads and doubleclick on your device to map the buttons. Map the movement to the d-pad, the one you want as fire button as “south button”, and secondary fire as “west button”.

Reply ↓

How do I eneter in key combos such as alt-f11 etc?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-11-19 at 20:28 said:

It is not possible to trigger a key combo based on input events in FS-UAE :-/

Reply ↓

How can I use the secondary fire button? (I use the MacBook Pro, and sensible soccer game :). only the “lower” working

thank you

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-11-05 at 21:20 said:

You need to either attach a gamepad/joystick, or manually map a key to secondary fire, for example something like this:
keyboard_key_q = action_joy_1_2nd_button

Reply ↓

Any way to prevent (right or left) command+q from exiting FS-UAE, so it instead is trapped as (right or left) amiga-key+q?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-09-28 at 20:00 said:

Not yet, please see https://github.com/FrodeSolheim/fs-uae/issues/19 :-/

Reply ↓

Hi, is there something I don’t remember, or is there something weird going on? I’m finnish user and need to use at least swedish keyboard, but I’m unable to get it done? What should I do to get swedish keyboard in use? I use Linux-version of fs-uae. BTW it’s very nice piece of software. Only this problem I haven’t found solution from Google.

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-09-28 at 20:05 said:

You need to change the keyboard layout using *Workbench*, like you would on a real Amiga. The symbols won’t necessary match your host keyboard though. It will work (more or less) as if you had an “overlay” of a real Swedish Amiga keyboard on top of your real keyboard.

Reply ↓

Hi Frode, was playing battle squadron with a friend, but I can’t see any configurations for any “special button” only the fire button. But works fine on the mouse such as right mouse button. I also read a gamepad is recommended 😀 Maybe works on a gamepad?

Best Regards:
Timo

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-03-03 at 20:35 said:

According to the manual (http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/docs.php?id=166):

To fire a “Nova” smart bomb, rotate the joystick lever in a counterclockwise direction while holding down the fire button. With a mouse, press the right button to fire your “Nova.”

Reply ↓

Hi, I noticed today, that at least the last dev release 2.7.7 mixed up some keypress combinations. With the stable 2.6.2 release I used to
switch Workbench Screen in OS3.9 with left amiga + m or left amiga + n (on my Macbook Pro 2015 cmd+m, cmd+n).
With 2.7.7 i cant do this anymore, instead disk drive volume an sound volume is toggled with this.

How can I change this back to the 2.6.2 behaviour again? I hope the next stable release will not have this issue.

Thanks for your great work.

Chris

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-03-14 at 22:58 said:

Hi, the Cmd key (Alt on Windows/Linux) has been changed to a “modifier” key only by default in recent dev versions. There are reasons for this choice. However, you can disable the use of this modifier key by pressing Cmd+K (enables “full keyboard emulation”). You can also put full_keyboard = 1 in FS-UAE Launcher – Advanced Settings – if you want start FS-UAE in this mode.

Reply ↓

Is the Amiga Help key hard coded to “End”? No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get the Help key remapped. I want it mapped to my keyboard’s Help key. (yes, I have an actual Help key on my keyboard)

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2016-02-24 at 17:38 said:

Hi, if you use the latest dev version, then you can:
– enable logging of input events in FS-UAE Launcher
– start FS-UAE and press your help key several times
– quit FS-UAE, and send fs-uae.log.txt to frode@fs-uae-net

Reply ↓

Hi, found usability issue when simulating joystick using keyboard on OSX. Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right accidentally switches between spaces (Screens). AFAIK this cannot be customized in OSX. Do you have any suggestions on how to map the Ctrl and Alt keys to custom keys to avoid this to happen?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2015-11-09 at 23:31 said:

Hi, you should also be able to use the right alt key as “fire”. Does this work?

Reply ↓

I have just _installed_ this to my Macbook Pro, 13 inch, circa August 2012, UK keyboard layout, OSX 10.7.5.
Can someone tell me where the ASCII characters ‘\’ and ‘|’ are mapped to?
(That is the backslash and pipe characters.)

The ‘~’ ‘`’, (tilde and backtick characters), are remapped OK to the key below the Esc key but I cannot get at the other two no matter how I try.

IF I connect a random external USB keyboard I can find these two characters mapped to the INSERT key.

The emulator runs ADPro 2.5 admirably and ADE, UNIX gcc suite, seems good to, as does ACE Basic compiler…

Apart from this KB mapping problem it is an excellent alternative to WinUAE…

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2015-08-02 at 18:34 said:

Hi, please see the following thread for more information about this (and especially check the bottom post for a specific suggestion).

(Btw, there is also probably a Fn-combination on your Macbook which triggers the “Insert” key).

Reply ↓
FrodeSolheim on 2015-08-04 at 23:48 said:

As of 2.5.34dev, keyboard_key_backslash is mapped to action_key_backslash by default. The host insert key is mapped to Amiga keycode 0x2B (was previously on the “backslash key”).

Reply ↓

Hi. I’ve increased the key repeat speed in WB, but after around 20 repeats the tempo slows down (to normal speed, 100, it seams). This doesn’t happen in WinUAE, only in FS. Is there a setting for this or is this only ony my OSX FS-UAE?

Reply ↓

Kae on 2015-06-17 at 07:44 said:

Nevermind. Running the exact same (shared on dropbox) launcher & fs-uae on another Mac (Pro) and everything is fine. Now I’ll have to find out why it’s slowing down on my new Macbook.

Reply ↓
- FrodeSolheim on 2015-06-18 at 14:04 said:
  
  It sounds like it could be a key repeat problem of some kind. I mean, if FS-UAE gets information from the host operating system (OS X) that the key is repeatedly pressed and released, then that would control the speed. So I’m guessing the Workbench key repeat works fine while the host key is pressed, and then when the host starts key-repeating, it “stops working”. FS-UAE tries to disable host key repeat when it starts, perhaps it does not work on one of your computer for some reason… (I haven’t heard about the problem before).
  
  Reply ↓
  - kae on 2015-06-19 at 07:13 said:
    
    Thanks for tip. Don’t know why I didn’t test that. It has to do with the key repeat settings in OSX. If I slow down key repeat in OSX all kind of weird things happen in FS, even interval speed :D. To get normal behavior I have to turn off key repeat in OSX. I guess OSX have a different (weird) way to send key repeat messages to apps than Win & Linux? I can at least confirm this behavior on 2 differrent OSX versions (Mavericks & Yosemite). Only usable settings is to have Key Repeat at either off (best) or the fastest (usable) setting. Now I know how to get normal Amiga behavior at least. Makes a world of different in AsmOne. Thanks! 🙂
    
    Reply ↓
    - FrodeSolheim on 2015-08-06 at 18:10 said:
      
      Hmm, I have found a potential keyboard repeat fix, but since I have not been enable experience the problem – not on OS X either, I’m not sure. This could also be the same issue: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=77407.
      
      I’ll provide a new development release later this evening. Please test 2.5.35dev when it is released, and see if the problem goes away *without* disabling key repeat in OS X.
FrodeSolheim on 2015-08-06 at 19:42 said:

2.5.35dev released, please try this version 🙂

Reply ↓

Hi, is there a way for FS-UAE to detect if 2 gamepad controllers are connected, and automatically assign them to joystick ports? As opposed to having to go into the menu and assigning the second joystick to a port? Cheers

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2015-02-14 at 11:37 said:

Yes, FS-UAE will “auto-fill” all Amiga joystick ports with available gamepad devices. So all you need to do is to set:
joystick_port_0_mode = joystick
(so the Amiga “mouse port” is configured as a joystick port)

Reply ↓

Hi! I’m running FS-UAE by starting FS-UAE Launcher 2.4.1. It works fine, but the arrow key does not responds at all! In AmigaShell I cant press arrow-up to get last command, and in applications I cant move around the cursor by the arrow keys. Any ideas?
(Later edit: I have solved the problem. It was some default joystick setting I could remove and then it worked!)

Reply ↓

Hi, I’m having this problem with one particular game (Captive), when I press a key (eg. to move) it always gives me at least a double key press. If I hold the key down then it rapidly presses the key repeatedly. The mouse is fine. This behaviour also occurs when typing names, etc.
I also play Dungeon Master which runs perfectly.

Please help?

Reply ↓

FrodeSolheim on 2014-04-23 at 18:57 said:

Hi, are you using the online game database, or have you created a configuration for the game manually? If the latter, can you send the configuration file (.fs-uae) to frode@fs-uae.net?

Reply ↓

FS-UAE Amiga Emulator

Documentation

Keyboard

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard joystick emulation

Input grab

Multimedia keys and desktop shortcuts

Alt-tab behavior (window switching)

Host quit keys interfering with Alt+F4 and Cmd+Q

Amiga keyboard mapping

Additional shortcuts

Additional Shortcuts in Net Play Mode

Other

Custom shortcuts and emulation

Examples

Remapping the Extra Key on the Number Row

Disabling the F12 Menu Key