scroll lock and its LED

RandomTroll · 08-15-2022, 04:29 PM

I cleaned the 3 keyboards I use this afternoon. I had a copy of emacs open on a non-file to avoid sending an errant command. When I tried to close emacs afterwards I couldn't. Even killing the emacs processes left it up, so I killed that /dev/tty?. When it was back at login, Linux provided the hint: 'scroll lock is on'. How was I supposed to know? It has no LED anymore.

Does anyone use scroll lock? For what?

computersavvy · 08-15-2022, 07:30 PM

I do not remember ever having a keyboard with scroll lock since things went to gui. It may have been there on the old tty terminals (vt100 and the like) but I don't remember for sure.

Potentially emacs mapped a key to that function but since I have never been a fan of emacs I have no clue about that.

RandomTroll · 08-16-2022, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

I do not remember ever having a keyboard with scroll lock since things went to gui.

I've never seen a keyboard without a scroll lock key. Sometimes they're deprecated: on my laptop it's a shifted state of INS; on my Logitech K360 it's Fn-PgDn (had to read Logitech's FAQs to find that - it's an opaque symbol, a down-arrow into a bar inside a box.) I bet it's hiding on yours.

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

Potentially emacs mapped a key to that function but since I have never been a fan of emacs I have no clue about that.

The kernel noticed and warned me about it at login, so not-just-emacs cares.

lvm_ · 08-16-2022, 07:37 AM

In my reality all desktop keyboards still have both the key and the LED, and I always set up the key to change keyboard layout and LED to indicate it.

RandomTroll · 08-17-2022, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvm_

In my reality all desktop keyboards still have both the key and the LED,

My computer, a laptop, has the key (shift-INS) but no LED, and it's 11 years old. My 2 wireless keyboards also lack the LED. So I'm surprised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvm_

I always set up the key to change keyboard layout and LED to indicate it.

? If they're there why do you have to change anything?

The Logitech FAQ says that Windows 10 disables Scroll Lock, recommends a technician (!) to enable it.

TenTenths · 08-17-2022, 11:22 AM

OFFTOPIC - Many (30+) years ago I was working with old DOS based machines doing word processing and they would totally HANG if you accidentally hit the "print screen" key (yeah, they are still around!). The solution to the problem was to attach a printer and make sure it was on-line as it really DID want to print the screen!