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I'm trying to use a USB keyboard with my Ubuntu laptop, but when I plug in the keyboard, it is not even detected. I am trying to use the Apple Slim Aluminum Keyboard. It would also be nice if the USB ports on the keyboard could work, but I can get by without that luxury.

How can I get my Apple Slim Aluminum Keyboard to work with Ubuntu?

Update: After upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu (9.04 Jaunty), the keyboard was detected and types just fine. There are a few quirks like the clear button being used as the numlock key but that seems to be well documented on other sites.

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    Could you provide the output from dmesg when you connect & disconnect the keyboard? Nov 3, 2009 at 2:49
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    also - what version of ubuntu are you using? There are some known bugs with this keyboard in 8.04 Nov 3, 2009 at 2:52
  • DaveParillo is right. Open a console, plug in your keyboard and type <code>dmesg | tail -20</code>, then please paste the output here. Nov 3, 2009 at 7:37
  • Well, you obviously don't need the <code> tags, so just type the following: dmesg | tail -20 Nov 3, 2009 at 7:38
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    It is also helpful to run tail -f /var/log/syslog in a terminal, and then plug in your keyboard and watch what happens. (This will echo all the system log messages to your terminal.) Also, compare the output of lsusb ("list usb devices") before and after plugging in your device. Nov 3, 2009 at 8:39

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I was having problems with Ubuntu recognizing my Apple slim aluminum keyboard until I upgraded from 8.04 to a newer version of Ubuntu.

I would recommend upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu before hacking around trying to get the keyboard to work under 8.04. The problem might already be fixed in a newer version. Worked fine for me after upgrading to 9.04.

You may need to fix some other quirks.

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Take a look at InstallUSBKeyboard.

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