We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

Map multimedia keyboard keys with hotkeys

Summary

Most multimedia keyboards come with a Windows driver disk to handle the keyboard events on the extra keys, but Linux is often left out in the cold.

Events

The 2nd InfoSecurity Summit HK 2010
17 Mar 2010

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

Most multimedia keyboards come with a Windows driver disk to handle the keyboard events on the extra keys, but Linux is often left out in the cold.

Fortunately, Linux users can now turn to the hotkeys program for help.

Hotkeys maps extra keyboard keys to user-definable functions. With a little bit of work, multimedia keyboards will work fine under Linux. The first step is to install hotkeys. Simply compile the source file or install it from your chosen distribution, if available. Next, create a configuration file for your keyboard, if one doesn't already exist.

To create a configuration file, copy an existing keyboard configuration file and paste the name of the copied file in the /etc/hotkeys configuration file. Push various buttons on the keyboard to see what events are triggered, and then make sure the keycode mappings are correct.

Verify the mapping information by opening a terminal and launching xev. The xev command listens to keyboard events and provides codes based on key presses and mouse movements, plus it displays codes on the screen. One element of the xev output is the keycode, which is part of a bigger block of output beginning with "KeyPress event." The line of particular interest to you will begin like this:

state 0x10 keycode 178

This keycode value (178) corresponds to the button pushed--in this case, the "WWW" key.

By default, the configuration file uses XMMS to play music and Mozilla to handle Web and e-mail. However, you can modify the file to launch other programs.

Once you've configured hotkeys, you can begin using the multimedia keyboard. Start hotkeys by launching the hotkeys program. It will background itself and run as a service. For ease of use, consider adding it to a startup or login script.

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

SEO Jobs in India - ZDNet Asia http://bit.ly/c2JxOH

9 hours 48 minutes ago by jagbirsinghseo on topsy

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

#Cloud #Telecom Indian IT to clock double-digit growth in 2010 - Zd Net Asia.com: ... manager of India and Sou... http://bit.ly/dilbUI #TCN

13 hours 19 minutes ago by telecomcloudnet on topsy

Temasek Holdings eyeing tech stocks, indicating optimistic outlook on IT sector. http://bit.ly/aM7VwU

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

Philippine antipiracy drive focuses on enterprises. http://bit.ly/aWryDC

Gartner: China to become world's fastest-growing enterprise software market. http://bit.ly/bqJTtb

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

16 hours 46 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

19 hours 31 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Salesforce.com is giving 5,000 developers access to its social networking and collaboration platform http://bit.ly/9dbNw5

19 hours 39 minutes ago by abhishekkatiyar on topsy

RT @zdnetasia: HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

For those with a computer science background, or interested in the high performance computing scene: http://bit.ly/9vFC3i

HP touts new products and management and productivity tools to address business computing pain points. http://bit.ly/dudgA6

** S'pore govt launches traffic Web app. http://www.zdnetasia.com/s-pore-...

the new look site is very nice @zdnetasia @zdnetaustralia

Big up to my peeps at www.ZDNet.com.au (and www.ZDNetasia.com and www.ZDNet.com.uk). Loving the redesign!

Holiday homes for sale : ZDNet Asia Blogs : by http://bit.ly/aNsfp1

1 day 34 minutes ago by moonflowerstarf on topsy

McAfee steps up cloud assurance - Zd Net Asia.com
http://www.zdnetasia.com/mcafee-...

Interesting take on social analystics. http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/w...

Very good explanation of JMX

1 day 36 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

1 day 39 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

1 day 41 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license

We at www.fifosys.com have also seen a growth in IT outsourcing and anticipate it as a growing field.

2 days 15 minutes ago by sarah Jane on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

I agree with you. The iSiVaL is super portable and TVs can't expand their image size. I recorded a video that might bring some ideas to...

2 days 45 minutes ago by Jesse B Andersen on Buying a projector? Try an LED TV instead

hermm... he deserved it.. he shud not talk abt sensitive things like tat, well, he shud think twice before saying all those things, event...

2 days 23 minutes ago by ... on Facebook user charged in Malaysia

Password manager tools are potential security threat. Criminals who hack into the computer can use the password manager to log onto any s...

2 days 23 minutes ago by ohanae on What defaults should random password generators use?

I've found the cross platform utility unetbootin to be rather handy for this kind of thing as well.

2 days 57 minutes ago by Jim on Use Live USB Creator to install Fedora 12 from a USB stick

Thanks for the article. I think the debug command has an "\" after "C:" it should say w32tm /debug /enable /file:C:\l...

2 days 58 minutes ago by Roger Biefer on Manage time accuracy with W32Tm

available in singapore now
http://www.portablemall.com.sg/goods-71-Microsoft+Zune+HD+32GB+-+Platinum.html

2 days 35 minutes ago by steve on Microsoft coy on apps for Zune HD

How about just using http://www.random.org/strings/? It is very configurable, satisfies all of the flexibility requirements you have ment...

2 days 40 minutes ago by Varun V Nair on What defaults should random password generators use?

Wi-Fi as the "Rodney Dangerfield of wireless", is a catchy metaphor, but it's already been used. In fact, it was the title of a...

3 days 39 minutes ago by Martin Suter on Selina Lo: Wired up for Wi-Fi in Asia

Dear Sir/Madam, I am Narasimha Rao.L. From bangalore India , i searching job in abroad , in electronics field, i have 6+ years exp....

4 days 41 minutes ago by Anonymous on Hot tech jobs in Singapore

Good article, computational aspect of acquired knowledge from the social platform is really questionable, given that there are a lot of p...

4 days 47 minutes ago by JN on What will social analytics say about your company?