deskthority

Hey,

As I plan on converting an old XT keyboard, I'm curious what is up with the key mentioned in the topic title. On modern (Model M and later) keyboard they don't share a key, and aren't affected by NumLock...

If I recall correctly, NumLock has always been handled in the OS, so this means there should be a code for this key that is separate from both PrtScrn and numpad *. Does this code exist in the USB HID standard?

If not, what would be an advisable replacement function for that position? I'm thinking numpad *, or Delete...

I used to use PrtSc as my FN key, but I have moved that to scroll lock. When I made the move, I returned PrtSc to *. If you are going to use scroll lock in Excel, I would suggest using it as a FN key.

If I remember correctly from when I actually used an XT and a Model F, PrtSc was activated by Ctrl and *. The various modifier combinations we are so familiar with today such as Alt-PrtSc simply did not exist.

What that means in practical terms is that there is effectively no PrtSc key at all. There is only *, and it is expecting Ctrl-* to be interpreted as PrtSc.