Thinkpad Keyboard Control Tool
Project description
What is this?
It’s a tool that can be used to control features of the “Lenovo ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint”. The official User Guide can be found here: UserGuide (PDF).
Requirements and Limitations
This tool uses the hidraw driver and needs at least Linux 2.6.39 in order to work. Using hidraw it can only write settings, not read them, so you have to set everything at the same time. It also supports the hid-lenovo-tpkbd driver which was merged in Linux 3.6. This driver allows changing the settings via sysfs files, so they can also be read.
On most systems /dev/hidraw* and /sys files are writeable only by root, so you will probably have to run this as root.
Usage
Usage: tpkbdctl [options]
Options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-l, --list List all available devices
-d DEVICE, --device=DEVICE
Specify device. Format as printed with --list
-s SENSITIVITY, --sensitivity=SENSITIVITY
Set trackpoint sensitivity. Range 1-255
-S SPEED, --press-speed=SPEED
Set press-speed. Range 1-255
-p ?, --press-to-select=?
Enable press-to-select? (y/n)
-R ?, --press-right=?
Enable press-right? (y/n)
-D ?, --dragging=? Enable dragging? (y/n)
-r ?, --release-to-select=?
Enable release-to-select? (y/n)
Sensitivity
The higher the sensitivity, the less force you need to move the mouse cursor.
Press to select
If this is enabled, pressing down the trackpoint generates a click.
Press-speed
This setting determines how fast you have to press to generate a click if Press to select is enabled.
Dragging
By enabling this, you can not only click by pressing down the trackpoint, but also drag. This depends on Press to select being enabled.
Press right
This changes the Press to select feature to generate right-button clicks instead of left-button ones.
Release to select
This inaptly named option (the name was adopted from the Windows driver) enables double-clicking when using Press to select.
Building and Installing
Make sure you have pip installed. The package is usually called python-pip. Then run:
sudo pip install tpkbdctl
Permanent Setup
TODO
See also
The kernel patch provides additional functionality. It allows you to control the LEDs in the mute buttons and makes the microphone mute button usable. It was merged in Linux 3.6.
License
This tool is licensed under the GNU GPL v2.
Download files
Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.
