FUNCTION KEYS Please fix it, it has been too long

D

dghpts

Junior Member
I know this has been discussed many times in many places.
I'm thinking it needs to be in one place so that someone in the Parallels organization will see how many of us are frustrated with this issue.
But there is yet to be an answer that works.

I have been programing building automation systems for 30 years and they tend to use Windows based software exclusively.

I have seen the forum admins just reply with "use the Fn+ whatever key, see it works" more times than I can imagine.

It DOESN"T work, it causes a break in my train of thought when I have to remember a second key press to do something I have done for years.

And I do everything else (docs, drawings, spreadsheets, etc) on the Mac side, so I want my function keys in the Mac apps to behave the way they should when in those applications.

I have been using Parallels on my Mac to run windows since the Macs went to Intel processors, I have gone from P3 to P5 and now deciding whether to go to P6 or jump to another program altogether (and I'm not alone here).

In that whole time the constant complaint from EVERYONE seems to be why can't Parallels map the normal Mac functions keys to the normal Windows functions keys without resorting to expensive and troublesome outside software.

What is the problem with having the functions keys do Windows stuff when in a Windows program and Mac stuff when in a Mac application?????
Why do I have to choose one over the other???
If you are going to use the argument "some Mac people prefer their Mac keys" then make it an option check in the preferences.
Isn't that why we are running Parallels to start with???
So we can run Windows on our Mac hardware and have the best of both??
So what is the problem?
You remap the other keys, why not the function keys.

And please don't take six months to answer, there are several of these threads where there was seriously six months between the post and the less than helpful "use the fn+" answer replied.
 
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Oh, right! It's keyboard backlight. I found out they're already defined, just search "keyboard backlight" under the F1..F19 reassignments and the F5/F6 options are already there somewhere.
 
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The layouts for the regular MacBooks (with the thunderbolt ports) have been added to the latest version of KeyRemap4MacBook. No more need to fiddle with custom XML files anymore!
 
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Stopped working with Lion...

Has anyone had the issue that this fix has stopped working in Lion? F9 and Ctrl+Left Arrow seem hard-wired to Dashboard.

Thanks,
Zak
 
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Function Keys ON in OSX, Function Keys OFF in Parallels (on with fn key pressed)

RE: Macbook Air Mid 2011

Hello All,

Just thought I would follow up on the excellent post from mdrejhon3.

As stated above, my machine is the mid 2011 mba. The function keys are slightly different on this machine to the ones listed.

I followed mdrejhon3's instructions and enabled/disabled the settings in Parallels as outlined and downloaded the KeyRemap software from their website.

You should make sure that Parallels is off when you install KeyRemap as it needs to restart.

Once it installs and your machine restarts, you should see a square in the top bar. Click on this and open Preferences.

Go to Miscellaneous/uninstall and click open private.xml

This (for me) opened finder.

(two button) or (right) click on the file and open it with TextEdit

When it opens, delete all text in the window.

Copy the following text from between the lines and paste into your blank TextEdit window:

---------------------------------------------------

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<list>
<item>
<name>Macbook Air: Keyboard Preferences Configured to Standard Function Keys</name>
<list>
<item>
<name>F1,F2 to TS Brightness Adjust (except in Parallels/RDP)</name>
<appendix>F1 to Brightness Down</appendix>
<appendix>F2 to Brightness Up</appendix>
<identifier>TSremap.air_f1f2</identifier>
<not>VIRTUALMACHINE, REMOTEDESKTOPCONNECTION</not>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F1, ConsumerKeyCode::BRIGHTNESS_DOWN</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F2, ConsumerKeyCode::BRIGHTNESS_UP</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>F3,F4 to TSv3 Expose/Launchpad (except in Parallels/RDP)</name>
<appendix>F3 to Expose</appendix>
<appendix>F4 to Launchpad</appendix>
<identifier>TSv3remap.air_f3f4</identifier>
<not>VIRTUALMACHINE, REMOTEDESKTOPCONNECTION</not>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::F3, KeyCode::EXPOSE_ALL</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::F4, KeyCode::LAUNCHPAD</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>F5,F6 to TSv3 Expose/Launchpad (except in Parallels/RDP)</name>
<appendix>F3 to Expose</appendix>
<appendix>F4 to Launchpad</appendix>
<identifier>TSv2remap.air_f3f4</identifier>
<not>VIRTUALMACHINE, REMOTEDESKTOPCONNECTION</not>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::F3, KeyCode::EXPOSE_ALL</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::F4, KeyCode::LAUNCHPAD</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>F7,F8,F9 to TSv4 Music Controls (except in Parallels/RDP)</name>
<appendix>F7 to Music Prev</appendix>
<appendix>F8 to Music Play/Pause</appendix>
<appendix>F9 to Music Next</appendix>
<identifier>TSv4remap.air_f6f7f8</identifier>
<not>VIRTUALMACHINE, REMOTEDESKTOPCONNECTION</not>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F7, ConsumerKeyCode::MUSIC_PREV</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F8, ConsumerKeyCode::MUSIC_PLAY</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F9, ConsumerKeyCode::MUSIC_NEXT</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>F9,F10,F11 TS to Speaker Controls (except in Parallels/RDP)</name>
<appendix>F10 to Mute</appendix>
<appendix>F11 to Volume Down</appendix>
<appendix>F12 to Volume Up</appendix>
<identifier>TSremap.air_f9f10f11</identifier>
<not>VIRTUALMACHINE, REMOTEDESKTOPCONNECTION</not>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F10, ConsumerKeyCode::VOLUME_MUTE</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F11, ConsumerKeyCode::VOLUME_DOWN</autogen>
<autogen>--KeyToConsumer-- KeyCode::F12, ConsumerKeyCode::VOLUME_UP</autogen>
</item>
</list>
</item>
</list>
</root>
----------------------------------------------------------

After pasting....

Press cmd+s to save the document.

Go back to the "Change Key" tab and click "reloadXML"

(Hopefully) at the very top of the list there, you'll see a field called: "Macbook Air: Keyboard Preferences Configured to Standard Function Keys"

Click into this and enable the settings you've just created.

NB: this does NOT include the function keys for the keyboard backlight. This setting can be found through the menu system of the other available functions, please see the image attached.
 

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