Linux.Desktop.Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 29. Get Hotter Hotkeys with LinEAK

LinEAK turbo charges the whole concept of
customizing how your Internet/multimedia keyboard works.

This hack will show you how to adopt
the modern equivalent of Hotkeys. LinEAK is a combination of
packages, including the main daemon service and several plug-ins.
It's a bit quirky and doesn't
always launch successfully (at least in this
author's experience), but it has support for far
more keyboards than Hotkeys. And because Hotkeys
hasn't advanced much over the years, it
isn't likely to catch up unless someone regains
interest in it. LinEAK, on the other hand, is being improved on a
regular basis.

As of this writing, you can get Debian packages for some of the
programs that make up LinEAK at http://lineak.sourceforge.net/, and you can
get the source code for all the packages from the same site and
compile the programs and plug-ins yourself. I compiled my own and it
was a cinch. The RPM packages at this site are out-of-date but might
be current by the time you read this.

Until that time, you can find a variety of RPM packages for LinEAK
designed for Mandrake and other distributions at http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3?stat=3&search=lineakd&srodzaj=3.
And you can also search http://www.rpmfind.net. Make sure you have
XOSD and XOSD development libraries installed if you want to enjoy
the on-screen display feature. [Hack #26] provides more information
about XOSD. For example, the volume control shown in Figure 4-2 is one of the nice features LinEAK shares with
Hotkeys [Hack #28] .

Figure 4-2. LinEAK's on-screen volume display, which is nice-looking as long as you use the built-in volume definitions

The following programs comprise LinEAK as it stands now:

lineakd

lineak_defaultplugin

lineak_xosdplugin

lineak_kdeplugins

Media Detect

lineakconfig

Klineakconfig

At minimum, install lineakd,
lineak_defaultplugin, and
lineak_xosdplugin. If you can't
find packages for your distribution, download the source code and
then compile and install the programs using these commands (assuming
you place your source code in /usr/local/src):

# cd /usr/local/src/lineakd-0.8.1
# ./configure
# make
# make install
# cd /usr/local/src/lineak_defaultplugin-0.8.1
# ./configure
# make
# make install
# cd /usr/local/src/lineak_xosdplugin-0.8.1
# ./configure
# make
# make install

Now log in as a regular user and type the following command to get a
list of the supported keyboards:

$ lineakd -l
(The complete list is 3 pages long, this is just the first few lines)
LinEAK v0.8.1 -- supported keyboards:
[TYPE]        [Full name]
A4-KBS21        A4Tech Wireless Desktop KBS-21533RP & Office/Multimedia Keyboard
A4-KBS8        A4Tech KBS-8
A4-RFKB23    A4Tech RFKB-23
A4-RFKB25    A4Tech RFKB-25 (KBS-2548RP & KBS-2548RPC)
ACE-6512UV    Acer 6512-UV
ACE-TM290    Acer Laptop/notebook Travelmate 290LCi
ACEAKV12        Acer AirKey V (12 keys)
ADEL-9805    Adesso EL-9805
APK7        Apple Pro Keyboard (7 keys)
BEN-AM805    BenQ AM805

That kind of beats the tar out of Hotkeys support,
doesn't it?

Find your keyboard in the list. For example, the code for the
Logitech Elite keyboard is LTCElite. Now type this command to create
a default configuration file for your keyboard (substitute LTCElite
with the code for your keyboard):

$ lineakd -c LTCElite

The -c option creates a default configuration
file, lineakd.conf, for the Logitech Elite
keyboard and places the configuration file in the ~/.lineak
directory. Fire up your favorite editor, and customize
this file's settings to your
heart's content. Here's a sample
configuration I created for my Logitech Elite keyboard:

# LinEAK - Linux support for Easy Access and Internet Keyboards
#  Copyright (c) 2001,2002, 2003  Sheldon Lee Wen <>
#                  and Mark Smulders <Mark@PIRnet.nl>
#  http://lineak.sourceforge.net
#
# lineakd configuration file
#
# example key configuration:
#                 play                = "xmms --play-pause"
#                 eject                = EAK_EJECT
#
# Lineakd supports the following modifier keys:
#    control alt shift mod2 mod3 mod4 mod5
# Normally /dev/cdrom, but UDEV likes /dev/cdroms/cdrom0
CdromDevice = /dev/cdroms/cdrom0
Display_align = center
Display_color = 77FF00
Display_font = "-adobe-helvetica-bold-r-normal-*-*-240-*-*-p-*-*-*"
Display_hoffset = 0
Display_plugin = xosd
Display_pos = bottom
Display_soffset = 1
Display_timeout = 6
Display_voffset = 50
KeyboardType = LTCElite
MixerDevice = /dev/mixer
Screensaver = 
conffilename = /home/nicholas/.lineak/lineakd.conf
keystate_capslock = 
keystate_numlock = 
keystate_scrolllock = 
Arrow = 
Email = "thunderbird"
Favorites = "firefox"
Go = "firefox -remote 'openURL( )'"
Media = "cdeject"
Messenger = 
Mute = "EAK_MUTE"
MyHome = 
Next = "cdplay +"
Play = "cdplay"
Pause = "cdpause"
Previous = "cdplay -"
Search = "firefox -remote 'openURL(http://www.google.com,new-tab)'"
Shopping = 
Sleep = 
Stop = "cdstop"
VolumeDown = "EAK_VOLDOWN"
VolumeUp = "EAK_VOLUP"
Webcam = 
iTouch =

Note the use of some built-in commands, such as
EAK_MUTE, EAK_VOLUP, and
EAK_VOLDOWN. These are far more preferable when
figuring out how to configure a command-line mixer to do the same
operations. Unfortunately, LinEAK doesn't
automatically insert these as the default settings for the
Mute, VolumeUp, and
VolumeDown parameters (it leaves the definitions
empty), so unless you know these generic settings exist, you might
waste a lot of time figuring out how to create a command to mute your
sound driver or change the volume. Well, now that you know they
exist, by all means, use them!

Outside of the internal EAK_ commands, the audio
CD controls in this example are driven by a command-line package of
programs called cdtool, created by a host of
contributors but currently maintained by Max Vozeler. You can
download cdtool from http://hinterhof.net/cdtool. You can choose
any CD player that can be controlled via the command line, but
it's nice not to have an actual graphical CD player
clutter the screen when all the controls are already on the keyboard.

If you decide to try both Hotkeys and LinEAK, restart your desktop after using Hotkeys. Even if you kill the Hotkeys program, it leaves the desktop in a state that prevents LinEAK from working properly.

You can thank Mark Smulders (