How to get Menu key working on VirtualBox/Android x86 on Mac?

Question

I'm trying out using VirtualBox and Android x86 as a faster alternative to the emulator that comes with the Android SDK, which is so laggy as to be unusable on my 2GHz quad core Mac with 16GB ram.

This tutorial got me up and running and it seems pretty snappy: http://www.bobbychanblog.com/2011/07/faster-android-emulator-alternative-using-virtualbox/

Setting it up is not for the faint of heart but overall looks like a good option. Problem is, it maps the Context Menu key on PC keyboards (bottom row, often next to the Windows key) to Android's Menu key. Being a Mac user, I don't have this key.

There is apparently no way to map this to something else, nor a way to simulate it with a button or mouse click.

This thread has a lot of people asking for it, but no real solutions: http://code.google.com/p/live-android/wiki/howtouse

One person has a scheme which requires compiling squashfs tools (whatever those are), but I lost interest when they started talking about compiling on a Solaris machine :)

Answer 1

In the end I discovered that this key is also called the "Application Key" and found a way to remap TO it on the Mac. This thread lead me to the solution:

http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/new-updated-remapping-keys-your-macs-keyboard-enhance-voiceover-experience

The trick is to install PCKeyboardHack, which can remap certain keys to any keycode.

There really aren't too many good options available. I chose the enter key on the number pad, and remapped it to keycode 110, which is the PC Application Key. Works like a charm.