[Leaplist] Compaq keyboard

[patrick]

Fred Moore wrote:
> I just had my old trusty keyboard die with a stuck key.  Feels like I
> lost an old friend.  Dissemble didn't show any mechanical problems.  
> Didn't know which one was down.  So booted with a good keyboard via a
> kdm started xev switched off and replaced it with the bad keyboard. 
> When I switch back xev  shows a constant stream scan code of 68 so guess
> its the space key..  Anyway replaced the keyboard with a compaq
> keyboard.. you know the one with the special keys above the normal
> F1-F12 keys.. same keyboards we have at the school anyway I thought it
> would be nice to hook these up to things like Thunderbird, Firefox
> Openoffice etc..  My initial thought this is easy.. So reached for the
> big read Staples button.. note to Staples.. "your big red button is
> broken on some subject" 
> 
> When I run xev it shows no key codes being generated by these keys which
> leave me to believe that a  program must be loaded into keyboard ram at
> bootup to get them to work.  Most likely a Microsolop thingy.   Didn't
> see anything in the bios about this..  Couldn't find anything about this
> on Compaqs site.   Google was not my friend on this keyboard..linux xorg
> etc..  anyone have any hints or know anything about this subject.. I
> think this is most likely a dead horse, thoughts??  Thanks in advance.. Fred
> 

" What exactly is LinEAK?

    LinEAK is a utility designed to enable the use and configuration of
those special
    keys on Internet, Easy Access and Multimedia keyboards in Linux.
    It consists of three programs:
    lineakd: this is the daemon that listens for incoming key and mouse
events.
    lineakconfig: this is the GTK+ GUI, which provides easier configuration
    Klineakconfig: this is the KDE GUI which allows you to define
keyboards, and configuration mappings for easier configuration. If your
keyboard is not directly supported by lineakd, klineakconfig provides an
easy to use graphic interface to both getting your keyboard working, and
submitting your keyboard for inclusion into lineakd."


lineakd listens for those keys. plus, it toggles as in one strike is the
'play' the next strike of the key is 'pause' for a movie, or a CD...

So, you install Lineakd and define the keyboard by make/model and
activate the keys and also builds a lineak.conf file.  Plus you run the
KlinEAKconfig to run in the KDE environment!

If a keyboard is not found, it can still be mapped, plus included in the
stack!

Fred, you might look at the notes as three programs must run, and one is
a daemon.  I wonder if there is something you are missing in the
perception of the Compaq keyboards, and LinEAK.