Japanese Macbook, English windows, reverts to US keyboard

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As the title says, I have a Japanese C2D MacBook, which means it has a Japanese keyboard. In OS X it works 100%.

However, in Windows XP SP2, Bootcamp 1.2, all windows updates, it is detected / used as a US keyboard. I.e., when you hold shift and press the number 2, on a Japanese keyboard it should come up as " but it comes up as @ which is the same as on a US keyboard. Not a major problem, as I am used to a US keyboard anyway, but there are a couple of other buttons that don't work, but should.

The "Eisuu" and "Kana" buttons which sit both sides of the space button do not work at all. Usually these are used to switch input between direct input and hiragana in the Japanese Input system on windows. Another way to switch input is Alt + Tilde (the little squiggly key, usually found to the left of the 1 key). However, that key does not exist on my keyboard! Hence changing inputs is a pain in the rear end.

Just wondering if anyone else has faced this problem? I doubt there are many people with Japanese Macs running English Windows, but thought someone might have an answer.

Thankyou
 
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Found the answer browsing the japanese help pages of apple:

I have a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a built-in JIS keyboard but the Input method keys do not work in Windows XP.

The input method keys on a built-in JIS keyboard on a MacBook or MacBook Pro are not supported in Windows XP. Use an external, localized JIS keyboard.
 
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More info, please

Howdy Plastik,

I've just installed Eng Vista on my Japanese Macbook C2D and encountered the same problem. Unfortunately, my Japanese reading level is equivalent to a Japanese 1st grader, so wading through the Japanese help pages will prove to be quite difficult for me.

If you wouldn't mind detailing what you figured out for anyone else who may have had this problem, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
 
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Sorry, a little slow. The bit about using an external JIS keyboard WAS what you found in the Japanese help pages. I tried using an external USB JIS keyboard and it didn't work, however. Vista still thinks they're laid out in the English keyboard format, so the punctuation is in the wrong place and I have to use the language bar to change input methods rather than the built in keys. QUITE frustrating, though I guess I can work with it for now until a better solution comes up. blind typing the punctuation sucks though.

I tried this with an old Mac Pro keyboard, the new slim aluminum type and a generic IBM compatible keybaord. None of them worked.
 
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Hello everybody,

After Hs of search, i just find a Solution which work perfectly !!!
The punctuation is finally at the right place on my Japanese Macbook pro keyboard in windows !

I've read the solution on a Japanese blog.
The Guy told me that i had to Use the Fujitsu 109 Japanese USB keyboard driver (its in standar windows driver list ,so, you just have to updtate driver and select it).

Hope that will help you !
 
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Screen cast of how to install Fujitsu 109 USB Japanese keyboard driver

TechSmith | Screencast.com, online video sharing, 2010-06-22_1312

Click above link for video explanation (about 3 mins)

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the great hints on this forum. I also found some complementary information about problems using a native Japanese keyboard with Windows on a MacBook (via Bootcamp) on a different site and decided to make a short screen cast of how to actually install the Fujitsu 109 USB Japanese keyboard driver following on from the previous post.

I am using Windows 7 (via Bootcamp) on a MacBook Pro and the Fujitsu driver installation works really well.

The other thing is that you can similarly change the driver for the in-built MacBook Pro keyboard so that all punctuation and keys actually work as they appear (i.e. @ = @ and does not equal [, and Shift-2 = " and not @)

Hope this helps...
Graeme Thom
 
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Finally got around to fixing the keyboard problem. I use OS X most of the time anyway.
Thanks, Graeme Thom, for the excellent tutorial!
 

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