ISBoxer not recognizing remapped keyboard

I have an iMac and I often bootcamp into Windows. If anyone is familiar with an apple keyboard they know that the command key is where the alt key usually is and the alt key is moved off to the left. The Command key acts as the "windows" key.

In order to maintain my old muscle memory (not to mention the command key is much larger than the alt key) - I use a program called SharpKeys to remap the "command"(aka "windows") key to "alt", and the "alt" key to "windows"

When I load up EQ normally I hold down my remapped alt key and I can use it as I always do. When I use ISBoxer though it ignores the bindings I set up with SharpKeys... but only within the game itself. For example I can use ctrl+alt+1 or 2 to switch between two windows using my rebound key, but in order for the game to recognize an alt input I have to use the alt key that I have rebound to windows key (which then causes the start menu to pop up.)

I realize this is pretty confusing with all the talk about rebinds etc, but let me know if it doesn't make any sense.

Does anyone have any suggestions to fix this?

[bob]

run SharpKeys as Admin.

if that doesn't work you may need to look into the solutions provided here.
viewtopic.php?p=32757#p32757

run SharpKeys as Admin.

if that doesn't work you may need to look into the solutions provided here.
viewtopic.php?p=32757#p32757

SharpKeys is actual just a shortcut program that rewrites the registry. I looked at that post - but the issue is (at least it appears to me) that the keyboard is not consistent. ISBoxer within the program itself has no problem recognizing the correctly remapped keys. For whatever reason, it doesn't pass this through to EverQuest (even though if I load up EverQuest on its own it has no problem recognizing the correctly remapped keys.) I don't know how I'd setup a key map to tell it alt -> alt because ISBoxer already sees that I'm pressing alt (e.g. ctrl+alt+1 works) but within the game itself the windows key becomes alt.

I'm very new to ISBoxer so I may just be misunderstanding the order that things are passed.

[bob]

ok. I think I understand what you mean. It is that ISBoxer, when sending a keypress direct to the game rather than taking it as a hotkey it is sending the native virtual key code rather than the remapped one that is present in the keyboard layout.

This is probably due to a hardcoded layout in use somewhere, or it is loading a keyboard layout in order to get the virtual key code, rather than using the current one in use by Windows. This is probably as similar issue to the one which happens with FrFr users. More than likely something that Lax needs to look at rather than me beating you down with more things to try.

That makes sense, but still a little frustrating. There is apparently nothing I can do about it (unless anyone else has come across this and knows?) besides buy a windows keyboard it appears. I'm not sure how it even knows which key I'm pressing since the registry is changed and for all intents and purposes I'm pressing alt.

One more little hitch to it that doesn't seem to make sense to me - it overloads the alt (original alt) key with both ALT and Windows functionality. It appears that the key that was originally windows and is now alt now does nothing at all.

edit: Now that I think about it... I guess it isn't overloading the original alt key. It just happens to act as alt within EverQuest (e.g. shows spell names next to the spell bar) and acts as the windows key outside of EverQuest (e.g. pops up my start menu)

[bob]

There is apparently nothing I can do about it (unless anyone else has come across this and knows?) besides buy a windows keyboard it appears.

You can do this, and I'm sure it will save Lax the headache of looking into Keyboard Layouts which seem to be a PITA.

I'm not sure how it even knows which key I'm pressing since the registry is changed and for all intents and purposes I'm pressing alt.

Because your keyboard sends a Scan Code for each key, which, in Windows, is then translated into a virtual key code (KB Layout), and that virtual key code is then acted upon or passed to the Language to output a display character. If the wrong virtual key code is used (i.e. the wrong Keyboard Layout map), then you get the wrong "input".

One more little hitch to it that doesn't seem to make sense to me - it overloads the alt (original alt) key with both ALT and Windows functionality. It appears that the key that was originally windows and is now alt now does nothing at all.
edit: Now that I think about it... I guess it isn't overloading the original alt key. It just happens to act as alt within EverQuest (e.g. shows spell names next to the spell bar) and acts as the windows key outside of EverQuest (e.g. pops up my start menu)

I have a hypothesis, but it is probably wrong (I have lots of incorrect hypothesis - but they are usually a good starting point). My suspicion is that the virtual key code is being sent to Inner Space, hence the correct interpretation there, but when it comes to passthrough to the game, it in turn is grabbing the scan code and passing that on to the game, and that game, when loaded via Inner Space is loading up with a default keyboard layout rather than the current windows layout. After a bit of reading up on it, keyboard layouts are a PITA (I may have mentioned that already).

FYI - it turns out it wasn't just ISBoxer - EQ was having some weird problems as well.

For instance, all my alt involved hotkeys were legacy and all worked BUT I could no longer set alt hotkeys myself within the game. I think at some point the way EQ was receiving the input changed too (because I set these alt hotkeys using that keyboard a couple years ago.)

Pretty odd to say the least, but I ended up buying a nice windows keyboard anyway - why not have 3 keyboards sitting around?!