Keyboard mapping issue with several different guest OS

[4ndi]

Hi everybody,

I have a strange keyboard mapping problem with VirtualBox on Mac (5.1.22 - currently newest): My Logitech keyboard (for mac) has the right mapping in OS X (host), but there seems to be a problem with the key mapping to VirtualBox guests. When host and guest are both set to a German keyboard layout all keys are working correct except for two combinations:

* In my guests (Linux, Windows...) the keys <> and ^° are mixed.
* In my guests (Linux, Windows...) only alt-key on the right side is working as a correct modifier (e.g. for writing an @ with alt+l)

The strange aspect: It's only a problem with the Logitech keyboard. Not with the official Apple keyboard.

Any ideas? I always tried other keyboard layouts in the guest system, e.g. German (Mac), US, UK, etc., but nothing resolves this issue.

Thanks for you help in advance,

Andreas

[erdeslawe]

Does the Mac have to have any additional Logitech software installed to fully use the Keyboard? If so, then perhaps your Guests also need to be treated in the same way.

[socratis]

The strange aspect: It's only a problem with the Logitech keyboard. Not with the official Apple keyboard.

As erdeslawe pointed out, I think you may have found the source of the problem...

[4ndi]

Thank you for your replies. Regularly the keyboard does not need any additional drivers on any OS. I have one installed on OS X to be able to adjust the functionality of the FN key, but that's not available for Windows or Linux (my guests). I'll try to found out if there are any optional drivers for the keyboard.

[socratis]

Try to "play" with the keyboard layout of your host and your guest (I believe more for your host). Is the "Z" key to the right of the Left-Shift? Is the "/" key to the left of the Right-Shift?

Maybe your native keyboard has a different layout from the Logitech one. Any help in the Apple forums?

[4ndi]

So, I tried the Logitech drivers in Windows (guest) --> no effect.

I also tried out the effects of different keyboard layouts:

Changing it on the HOST only has an effect on the host:
* DE --> z-key --> z (expected)
* US --> z-key --> y (expected)
* DE --> <-key --> < (expected)
* US --> <-key --> ` (expected)
--> everything as expected, no effect on the guest at all

Changing it on the GUEST only has an effect on the guest:
* DE --> z-key --> z (expected)
* US --> z-key --> y (expected)
* DE --> <-key --> ^ --> simply WRONG
* US --> <-key --> ` (expected)

I also played with the different German keyboard layouts in Windows --> Same problem with all of them.

PS: It's like VirtualBox does another interpretation of keyboard signals when they come not from the regular Apple keyboard but from "other" devices.