Keyboard drivers and sound question

Dodge · #1 July 12th, 2003, 11:57 PM

I have been looking all over for Keyboard drivers for an HP multimedia keyboard. Do you all know where i can find them. I've checked HP's site and can't locate them.

Also, when i install the Riptide Sound drivers, the sound is really choppy. Is there anything I can adjust to try to make it sound better. Also, where is the volume control located?

Thanks.

**smurfy** · #2 July 13th, 2003, 02:09 PM

Keyboard: Haven't tried this myself yet.
I told Mandrake on installing that i had HP Internet Keyboard but none of the additional buttons do anything. I have the following bookmarked for when I want to try it...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lineak/
Supposedly supports
Hewlett-Packard SK-2501 Multimedia Keyboard (13 keys)
Hewlett-Packard SK-2505 Internet Keyboard (14 keys)
Mine's the SK-5302 though (21 keys)

Means I may have to manually configure it following these instructions

Sound - Don't know about your choppy sound but the mixer I use is shown here:
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~smurfy/aumix.png

Dodge · #3 July 13th, 2003, 10:55 PM

Thanks Smurfy. I'll give those drivers a try. My keyboard has Internet, Search, Help, Standby, Volume, Mute... Really a cheapy that came with my HP in 99... Hopefully one of those will work.

twistedcranium · #4 July 14th, 2003, 02:07 AM

Hey Dodge.... are ya looking for methods of utilizing the extra buttons/keys on a keyboard in linux?

If so, there is a perl script and process that I use to map the "internet keys" on my Dell keyboard to open specific applications.

Dodge · #5 July 14th, 2003, 03:33 PM

TC, thats what I'm wanting. The only thing I want to use is my Volume buttons and mute button. My speakers are HP's monitor mounted and the volume button is on the KB (push type volume control) I've never used the other buttons, never had the need.

twistedcranium · #6 July 14th, 2003, 04:40 PM

I'll post the script and the instructions later today when I get home.

Its a script that I tossed in the "AutoStart" folder of KDE that maps key codes to apps....if you're not using KDE, I'm sure there is some way to toss it into your login scripts.

Dodge · #7 July 14th, 2003, 04:46 PM

I mainly use KDE. Like it better than Gnome. Thanks TC.

**smurfy** · #8 July 14th, 2003, 11:38 PM

Well I used Lineakd last night and it's sweet.
Took me a little while as I ha to do the "FOOBAR" trick mentioned on the developer site to find 4 of the keycodes for some of the keys.
Just have to figure out some command line options for "skip forward" and "skip back" in xmms and all my 21 buttons will be custom configured.
Already drafting the email to the developer to add my keyboard to the list.

The vol control is sure easier than opening the mixer app.

e.g.
"Email" button opens Mozilla to Netscape mail login page on desktop 4.
"Connect" button launches kppp
"Shortcut 1" button launches the screen capture app
"shortcut 2" launches the kview image viewer
other "internet" buttons I have mapped to other frequently used apps)
etc etc

Dodge · #9 July 15th, 2003, 01:12 AM

I'm going to try that in a few minutes.

Problem with my sound is that it plays CD's just fine, but MP3's suck. Really choppy. Will figure that out later. Will try videos in a bit also to see how they do.

twistedcranium · #10 July 15th, 2003, 02:31 AM

At terminal prompt
xev
When xev runs look for keycode...

as in ...
keycode 116 (keysym 0xffec, Super_R)

Press any key and write down the keycode,

A total of 22 Multi Media keys can be mapped.

Then make a text file in the autostart directory of your window manager ( or put the lines in /etc/rc.d/rc.local ) that looks like...

#!/bin/bash
xmodmap -e 'keycode 116=F13'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 229=F14'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 236=F15'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 178=F16'
----->etc. ( you can use F13 - F35 )
#End script

Then use kmenuedit to edit the multi-key you want it associated with each application.

For player controls, you'll want to make menu items for them and then map the menu item to a multi-key.

You may need to adjust this procedure for your setup!!

*note, this procdeure is not my creation, I had it emailed to me via a local Linux Users Group...so if the original author is out there....let me know so you can get credit...LOL*

Dodge · #11 July 15th, 2003, 02:35 AM

Got my sound fixed. I had to go into Sound System-KDE control Module. Under the aRTs tab, I had to put a check in Start aRTs sound server at startup. Now the choppy sound in MP3's is gone and it all sounds good.

Smurfy, I got that package installed (so it said anyways) but I can't find it. Where does in go once its installed?

**smurfy** · #12 July 15th, 2003, 02:42 AM

/usr/local/bin/lineakd (executable)

Open a terminal and run it "lineakd -l" to list available models.
Then Select your model using "lineakd -c [modelname]"
Then "lineakd -v" to give you "verbose" output so you can test the keys.
Add it to KDE Autostart menu and it'' run every time you log in.

I'm sure tc's method will work too

but tc, when I tried to use xev I got command not recognised?

Dodge, a tip to find files - use package manager "file list" tab to show where each file in a package gets installed.

Dodge · #13 July 15th, 2003, 03:00 AM

TC, I will give your method a try tomorrow evening.

Smurfy, did you try Xterm?

Also, when I tried "/usr/local/bin" nothing shows up. It is completely empty. When I added the lineakd, it said no such directory.

twistedcranium · #14 July 15th, 2003, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by smurfy
I'm sure tc's method will work too
but tc, when I tried to use xev I got command not recognised?

I know it is installed in RedHat by default through XFree86 but it may not be in all distros.

There's more at....
http://igloo.its.unimelb.edu.au/Webm.../msg00468.html

**smurfy** · #15 July 15th, 2003, 02:28 PM

Dodge, if /usr/local/bin is empty then lineakd didn't install.
Which packages did you d/load and install. I was conservative and went for older 0.3 releases in RPM format. Will be backing up my configs and trying a newer version soon.

Have you done a "find' on "lineakd"?