Tag Archives: Fortnite

fixed : swap Windows-key layout on PC-gaming keyboard within macOS

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Question :

I’ve been playing online multiplayer games like Fortnite for a while now on my MacBook Pro, but the built-in keyboard is starting to cramp my hands & fingers…

So I bought an (external) keyboard, and since there are hardly any gaming-keyboards for Mac, I got myself a PC-gaming keyboard that is supposed to work with Mac also : Trust GXT860 Thura.

I love the metal housing, the mechanical keys and the huge space-bar. I could learn to work with the PC-layout of the ALT and CMD keys, but isn’t there an option to swap or remap the layout of the keys on my Mac so I can use the keyboard blindly without any practicing ?

 

Answer :

Yes, there is, and it’s even built into macOS.

To remap the keys of your (external) keyboard on macOS, do this :

  • make sure your external gaming-keyboard is connected to your MacBook using USB, RF or Bluetooth (even though a wireless connection is not recommended for gaming, it is optional)
  • if your external gaming-keyboard only has a USB-connector and your MacBook only has USB-C ports, use a USB-to-USB-C-adapter (e.g. this USB-C-connection cable or this USB-C-connection adapter or anything similar, most basic ones will do fine)
  • goto Apple-menu (top-left on your desktop)
  • select System Preferences from the pulldown menu
  • in the System Preferences window, click on the Keyboard icon
  • in the Keyboard window, click on the Keyboard tab
  • then, click on the “Modifier Keys” button (bottom right)
  • in the pulldown window, you can individually remap the function of any of the 4 keys that differ from Mac to PC
    • the standard Mac-layout (for desktop and external Mac-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : CTRL – ALT – CMD – SPACE – CMD – ALT – CTRL
    • the standard MacBook-layout (for internal MacBook-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : FN – CTRL – ALT – CMD – SPACE – CMD – ALT
    • the standard PC-layout (for desktop PCs and external Windows-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : CTRL – WIN – ALT – SPACE – ALTgr – FN – CTRL
    • the Trust GXT860 Thura keyboard-layout is from-left-to-right : CTRL – WIN – ALT – SPACE – ALTgr – FN – illumination – CTRL
    • check your PC-gaming keyboard to see it’s layout
  • in the pulldown-window, at “Select keyboard:” select your external gaming-keyboard from the list
  • then set the key-mapping to your liking : the key names (on the left side) stand for the actual keys on your keyboard, and on the right side you can choose the key-stroke they should invoke in macOS on your Mac
  • the default is everything the same on the left and the right side (of course…)
  • and if you want to blindly use the Mac-keyboard-layout on your PC-gaming keyboard, you should set it like this :
    • Caps Lock Key : Caps Lock
    • Control Key : Control
    • Option Key : Command [ connect the ALT-key to the Apple/CMD-keystroke ]
    • Command Key : Option [ connect the Windows-key to the Option/ALT-keystroke ]
  • …but you can choose any variation you like if that suits you better

That’s is !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Ethernet cable connection on USB-C only MacBook Pro

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Question :

I just bought a new MacBook Pro that has USB-C only (and WiFi & Bluetooth), nothing else… I would like to hook it up to an Ethernet-cable since I’ve heard that’s better than WiFi when playing games like Fortnite…

How do I do that ?

 

Answer :

To connect your MacBook to Ethernet using a UTP-cable, you need to have an adapter. You could use an USB-to-Ethernet-connector that you might have laying around and connect it to your MacBook using a cheap USB-to-USB-C-connector that you can get at a supermarket or discount-shop… but I would advise against that : all cheap USB-to-USB-C-connectors are USB2-only (because they are mainly for connecting USB-mouses and keyboards to modern computers)… and a lot of USB-to-Ethernet-connectors are 10/100-Ethernet compatible and USB2-only… but even if you have a USB3-to-Gigabit-Ethernet, the end result will be just USB2…

To get the best out of your MacBook, you should get a USB-C-to-Ethernet-connector that is Thunderbolt 3 compatible, like this one :

Thunderbolt 3 USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet connector (buy on Amazon US) (buy on Amazon UK) (buy on Amazon DE)

 

enjoy 😉

 

fixed : play Windows-only Steam games on Mac

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Question :

I have installed Steam on my Mac, and have played several games on it. It’s great, but now I’ve found that some of the games I want to play are Windows-only, even on Steam. I get a “not supported on this platform” error.

Is there any way to play Windows-only Steam games on my Mac ?

 

Answer :

Yes there is.

Probably the easiest way to be able to play Windows-only Steam games on your Mac is to download and install NVIDIA GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming for Mac. At this moment of writing the service is in (FREE) Beta and only available in Europe and North America, but that will change in due time.

Do do so, just do this :

  • download the NVIDIA GeForce NOW app here
  • then install it and run it on your Mac
  • first you need to login by creating an NVIDIA account (or using your Google or Facebook account, which will also share your personal user data with those parties and their associates)
  • then you will need to test the speed and reliability of your internet connection, to do so, click on your username in the upper right corner and select “Test my network” from the pulldown menu
  • only if your internet connection is reliable and fast enough you will be able to proceed (sorry… this is one of the few disadvantages of cloud-computing…)
  • if you need to optimize your internet connection, you can use a direct Ethernet/UTP-cable from your internet modem to your Mac, and adjust or shut down your Firewall (that’s about the only thing you can optimize, full instructions can be found here)
  • now, inside the NVDIA GeForce NOW app, you will be able to log into your Steam account and browse for games as usual
  • you will now see that even the Windows-only games are available for you to run on your Mac

That’s it !

enjoy 😉