Comments on: Redefine the X11 Meta Key in Mac OS X

By: Joelh

Joelh — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:21:00 +0000

Dude, you fixed it. Thank you.

By: Khalil Bey

Khalil Bey — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:31:00 +0000

It’d probably fall victim to Wikipedia’s “original research” exclusion.

By: Alt as Meta key in X11 | Let's try that again

Alt as Meta key in X11 | Let's try that again — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:36:16 +0000

[...] http://tylerkieft.com/archives/2006/10/05/redefine-the-x11-meta-key-in-mac-os-x/ [...]

By: David Strozzi

David Strozzi — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:15:59 +0000

Actually, I figured out the answer:

clear Mod1
clear Mod2
keycode 63 = Mode_switch
keycode 66 = Meta_L
keycode 69 = Meta_R
add Mod1 = Meta_L Meta_R
add Mod2 = Mode_switch

Do you think this article counts as “knowledge” for wikipedia? They have a page on the option key. Given that every episode of Anime/Star Trek count, I think this does too……

By: David Strozzi

David Strozzi — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:14:48 +0000

Hi,

I’ve used this page several times over the years, but on my most recent machine it’s falling short. I have a brand new intel macbook w/ OS 10.6.4. I generally use the most recent Xquartz app, not the X11 that ships from Apple.

The .Xmodmap file described in the article maps the left option key to the right meta behavior in emacs, but the right option key does nothing.

Any ideas?

To quote an overheard geek OS discussion, “linux is nice but I prefer emacs.”

Thanks,
Dave

By: PiotR

PiotR — Sun, 02 May 2010 05:39:19 +0000

I have tried what was suggested above and still have troubles. I am running 10.6.2. I have Alt/Option working as Meta when I use /usr/bin/emacs or xemacs. However, for /sw/bin/emacs22 or /sw/bin/emacs23 this does not work and I have to use Esc for Meta. Any help would be appreciated.

By: upi

upi — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:47:55 +0000

Any idea how to get the Apple Command key to act like escape in the terminal or xterm?
That is: in the shell you can use Command-f to move cursor forward a word or Command-b to move it back a word?

By: Leif

Leif — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:54:16 +0000

OMG, I am so happy I found your blog post. I’ve been trying (and failing) to fix this on my Macs for >2y now, and your .Xmodmap snippet totally works.

Goodbye mrxvt ! Good night, Terminal.app ! Farewell, iTerm ! Finally I can use the key to the left of the space bar as meta, locally, through ssh, using screen, in emacs, and in all combinations of those things. Thanks again for your post !

By: Mehryar

Mehryar — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:36:30 +0000

Life saver indeed! Spent an hour futzing with various options until I found this post. A copy and paste from your post into my .xmodmap fixed the issue.

By: kurt

kurt — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:00:25 +0000

thanks tons. emacs – metakey = awful.