laptop buttons

m-jackson · 04-29-2011, 06:39 PM

hi
How does one get the keys that equals to pressing the buttons often found on laptops. I mean the ones often above the keyboard and usually labeled with labels like mail, web, and so forth. I presume that if I had these I could go somewhere like key binding and redefine them to do other things that are useful.

corp769 · 04-29-2011, 06:46 PM

Hello,

There are quite a few programs out there to try out: xev, xmodmap, showkey, xbindkeys

Cheers,

Josh

MTK358 · 04-30-2011, 01:41 PM

Use "xev". Just make sure the xev window is focused, and press the keys. Info abotu the keys will show up in the terminal you launched xev with.

And by the way, those keys aren't laptop-specific by any means. Many desktop keyboards have them.

elliott678 · 04-30-2011, 08:48 PM

Some laptop makers use ACPI for those keys instead of generating a normal key code. So you might need to use acpi_listen to identify the key, then edit your /etc/acpi/handler.sh.

Some Dell laptops don't use key codes or ACPI, they have a proprietary setup that requires another driver, i8k I believe, some other laptops might have something similar.

corp769 · 04-30-2011, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elliott678

Some laptop makers use ACPI for those keys instead of generating a normal key code. So you might need to use acpi_listen to identify the key, then edit your /etc/acpi/handler.sh.

Some Dell laptops don't use key codes or ACPI, they have a proprietary setup that requires another driver, i8k I believe, some other laptops might have something similar.

+1. My dell laptop was very simple to setup.