I recently installed Lubuntu 14.04 on my HP Pavilion dv6. All of my function keys (F1-F12) have hotkeys bound to them (screen brightness, volume, etc.) but I want to be able to use the F keys without pressing Fn at the bottom of my keyboard. Basically, when I press F2, I want it to register as F2 and not as 'increase brightness.' Then I can use xbindkeys to make my own custom hotkeys. How can I do this?
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According to the HP support site, you can press F10 at some point during startup to access the BIOS settings. You should then be able to find a setting for this. The setting should be called "Action Keys Mode" and you want it to be disabled, but I can't say for sure if that's exactly how it works with your particular laptop.
There's a nice detailed guide on said support site:
Kalle Elmér
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This problem might be caused (and solved) outside of Ubuntu.
On some computers, there is a firmware setting--which may be enabled by default--to cause the numbered function keys at the top of the keyboard to take on their alternate actions when pressed by themselves (the actions ordinarily performed by pressing them while holding down Fn). If this setting is turned on, Fn must be pressed to make them act in the usual way, which appears to be the situation you're experiencing.
I don't know of the HP Pavilion dv6 is one of the machines that offers that setting and ships with it enabled. (I recently observed this on a Toshiba Satellite C55-B5298, which I mention mainly for the possible benefit of Toshiba users who may find this by searching.) However, it is worth checking, and if that is the problem, there is an easy fix.
To check, enter your firmware (BIOS/UEFI) setup. There should be key you can hold down while turning on your computer that makes the computer run its firmware setup utility. Often this is F2. If not, the manufacturer documentation should tell you how.
I believe this should work even if this is a UEFI machine that shipped with Windows 8/8.1. But if it doesn't, and you have Windows 8 or later installed, you should have another way to get into your computer's UEFI firmware setup. In Windows, click the shutdown icon, hold down Shift while clicking "Restart," and select the option to enter the setup utility. The machine will shut down and boot automatically into the firmware setup. This method of entering the setup utility is explained in detail, with screenshots, in this answer by Luis Alavarado.
Once in the firmware setup utility, search for an option about function keys performing actions characterized with terms like alternate, alternative, special, function, etc. If you find it, turn it off, save your settings (the utility should present visible instructions about how to save you settings and exit), and see if that fixed the problem.
I don't currently have access to the machine where I had this problem, to boot it back into its firmware setup utility and produce a more detailed description and/or screenshot. Anyway, that was a different brand and model from what you're using. So the more general description above might be more appropriate. In any case, anyone reading this who can improve these instructions or make them more detailed in a useful way should feel free to do so. That is the main reason I've made this answer community wiki.
Eliah Kagan
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