[SOLVED] disable keyboard temporarily so that a book on keyboard does nothing.

ununun · 12-06-2012, 08:52 AM

i sometime need to place a book on keyboard but then i also dont want it to press key randomly. so i am looking for a way to,
temporarily disable a keyboard except for few keys like up/down for scrolling and another 'control key' for enabling/disabling.

meanwhile i experiement with keymap.

thanks

Soadyheid · 12-07-2012, 09:51 AM

Humour me... Why do you need to put a book on the keyboard?

Have you tried putting the keyboard on your knees, book on the table/desk?
Putting your keyboard/system on a bigger table/desk which will also accomodate the book?
Put the book on the table/desk and the keyboard standing vertically to the left ot right of the table/desk?
Getting a separate bookstand (like a music stand)?

Then there's...

Get a pdf file of the book and display it on your left or right hand screen? Huh? You don't have two screens?
Nail the book to the wall behind your screen... (sorry becomming silly now so I'll stop.

Then again...maybe unplug the keyboard and fit a USB number keypad(much smaller)? You'd get home, pg up, arrow keys,etc.

Play bonny!

User\ Name=`echo $USER` · 12-07-2012, 01:48 PM

I agree with Soadyheid. First of all, I don't know why you would be doing such a thing, but if you have to, I'd say move it or unplug it.

Out of curiosity, is this just a hypothetical question to see if it can be done, or is it for a reason?

rknichols · 12-07-2012, 09:58 PM

s/book/cat/ and you would have my reason for wanting to disable the keyboard occasionally. (Of course, I'm not the one "placing" the cat on the keyboard.)

ununun · 12-07-2012, 10:38 PM

i have a laptop which is either or my lap or a small desk. so cant do anything suggested.

Quote:

Out of curiosity, is this just a hypothetical question to see if it can be done, or is it for a reason?

i know its bit silly, but imagine you reading from a pdf in laptop which has two usb connections and one power, now you want to take notes and moving this whole setup seems trickier than disabling the keyboard temporarily and then keyboard (of laptop) can work as support pad too. before any one say, cant close the lid either.

i am still digging though but i think an almost-null keymap with only few assigned keys (control key at least) would work. can double keystroke be assigned as a global shortcut system wide (independent of X) ?

Soadyheid · 12-09-2012, 05:15 AM

Quote:

i have a laptop which is either or my lap or a small desk.

Aha! This is a vital piece of information which you didn't supply when you originally posted the question!

The solution is therefore much clearer!

Quote:

i know its bit silly, but imagine you reading from a pdf in laptop which has two usb connections and one power, now you want to take notes and moving this whole setup...

Wrong! You don't move the laptop, you move the notes!

If the notes you are taking are on loose paper (or will be fitted into a loose leaf binder) Buy a clip board and. with the laptop on the table, hold the clip board in one hand while writing notes with the other. The clip board can be laid on your lap/the floor or wherever while you use the laptop.
Use a hard backed notebook if loose leaf is not an option.

Tah Dah!

Play Bonny!

H_TeXMeX_H · 12-09-2012, 05:20 AM

I would use xlock or xlockmore to lock the screen, that way you need to put in a password and that's unlikely to be entered with a book. It's not 100%, but the only 100% solution is to unplug the keyboard or stop putting a book on the keyboard.

ununun · 12-09-2012, 08:15 AM

got it (almost) .

it uses xmodmap so it depends on X .
the basic idea is to use different .Xmodmap .

.Xmodmap_null

Code:

keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape NoSymbol Escape 
keycode 10 =
keycode 11 =
keycode 12 =
keycode 13 =
keycode 14 =
keycode 15 =
keycode 16 =
keycode 17 =
keycode 18 =
keycode 19 =
keycode 20 =
keycode 21 =
keycode 22 =
keycode 23 = Tab ISO_Left_Tab Tab ISO_Left_Tab Tab ISO_Left_Tab
keycode 24 =
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keycode 64 = Alt_L Meta_L Alt_L Meta_L Alt_L Meta_L
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keycode 111 = Up NoSymbol Up
keycode 112 =
keycode 113 = Left NoSymbol Left
keycode 114 = Right NoSymbol Right
keycode 115 =
keycode 116 = Down NoSymbol Down
keycode 117 =
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keycode 133 = Super_L NoSymbol Super_L
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so

Code:

 xmodmap .Xmodmap_null

would temp*ly disable the keyboard. the only keys that would work is Super_L, Esc, Up, Down, Left, Right, Alt_L, Tab . so even in disable mode i would still be able to switch between windows (hence the books) and scroll . keyboard can be revert back to normal mode by assigning an executable file (here change_xmodmap.sh) to a key combination (here Super_L + Esc).

change_xmodmap.sh

Code:

#!/bin/bash

file=~/.IsXmodmapNull

if [ -e $file ] ; then
	xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap
	rm $file
	notify-send "book-xmodmap disabled"
else
	xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap_null
	touch $file
	notify-send "book-xmodmap enabled"
fi

i was wondering if double keystroke like tap can be used as key combination ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soadyheid

If the notes you are taking are on loose paper (or will be fitted into a loose leaf binder) Buy a clip board and. with the laptop on the table, hold the clip board in one hand while writing notes with the other. The clip board can be laid on your lap/the floor or wherever while you use the laptop.
Use a hard backed notebook if loose leaf is not an option.

you really want to solve the problem from another angle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

I would use xlock or xlockmore to lock the screen, that way you need to put in a password and that's unlikely to be entered with a book. It's not 100%, but the only 100% solution is to unplug the keyboard or stop putting a book on the keyboard.

i cant. i still want to read book and scroll through pages.

hope it helps rknichols.

thanks everyone.

TobiSGD · 12-09-2012, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ununun

i was wondering if double keystroke like tap can be used as key combination ?

Use a key combination that is very unlikely to be pressed by a book, like Ctrl+Alt+F12.

May be a dumb question, but if you want to make notes, why don't you just launch your favorite text editor and use the keyboard instead of disabling it? I for one can type faster that write with the hand and if your WM or DE has a scratchpad function (may be named different in other WMs/DEs as i3) it is very easy to show the editor only when needed (on any screen).

ununun · 12-09-2012, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Use a key combination that is very unlikely to be pressed by a book, like Ctrl+Alt+F12.

faster stroke is also very unlikely to be replicated by book and also its also very quick for me .

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

May be a dumb question, but if you want to make notes, why don't you just launch your favorite text editor and use the keyboard instead of disabling it? I for one can type faster that write with the hand and if your WM or DE has a scratchpad function (may be named different in other WMs/DEs as i3) it is very easy to show the editor only when needed (on any screen).

not only i like the complexity that paper-pen provides but also i am math student . i did try to take notes in lyx for a while, but i did not like it very much. however for anything programming related i am most likely to use vim.