My Lenovo laptop thinks the pipe key is a > character

So, those that know me know I have a few laptops. I’m no stranger to technology.

Imagine my chagrin when I try piping a linux command to grep and my output comes out like so:

ps uawx > grep X

I know that the ps command thinks it is superior to grep, but seriously. WTF

Huzzah! You can use xmodmap to tell Linux what that key should actually do.

xmodmap -e “keycode 94 = backslash bar”

Now suppose you don’t want to actually have to hack that every time you use your system? Well, here’s a quick fix until the real fix hits the repos…


echo 'xmodmap -e "keycode 94 = backslashbar"' > kbfix.sh
chmod +x kbfix.sh


Note: ALL punctuation is necessary above (quotes and double quotes).

If using one of the common distros, open System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications and in the Startup Programs Tab, click Add.

Then put the path to your newly made executable script, give it a description and reboot. Your keyboard should be sane again.

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