I wanted to give this a try, but the file linked by Denis just above (hildon-input-method-framework_2.1.41-1+0m5_armel.deb) is not there. Is that a mistake in the link, or have you taken it down for some reason?...
TIA,
Edit: nevermind, found it in the "fnlockled" subdirectory :-)
As I mentioned in the edit to my previous message, I found it in the "fnlockled" subfolder. Maybe it got moved there unintentionally ?
Anyway it works just fine, and I wanted to thank you for this extremely useful patch!
And also Denis for bringing this to TMO, as I'd managed to miss the discussion on the mailing-list...
Here is my experience so far, optimizing a US keyboard layout for a mixed French+English usage:
Accessing the 4th level without locking Fn or shift is a hit-and-miss affair (because of my clumsy fingers), but mostly works.
One very nice feature (?) is that placing an accented character there gives access to both lowercase and uppercase forms.
For example I placed "agrave" in fourth position for the "a" key.
If I press and hold Fn first, then shift, I get "à". If I press and hold shift first, then Fn, I get "À". This is really great.
The only problem I see with this method is that sometimes Fn+shift+key will output TWO characters: the one for the key, plus the one for the next key to the right...
For example I have placed the "pipe" (bar) on Fn-z, and relegated the sterling sign to Fn+shift+z. Pressing that does print the sterling sign, but also the dollar which is Fn+shift+x (the next key).
By "sometimes" I mean some keys behave like that all the time (like Z), but some others for which I have redefined the 4th level never do... haven't detected any pattern to it.
Anyway, first locking Fn or shift solves the problem, as this does not seem to cause the double-character output. The one you lock determines capitalization for normal letters, same as above.
It's really good to have everything you need for both languages (and code) on such a small keyboard, without having to resort to the on-screen charmap at last !
So thanks again to all... Matan, is there anything changed in that new package you uploaded ?...
Multiple keys - it's a hardware issue with x,z,j,k.
The version in fnlocked/ subdirectory also lights a led for fn sticky and fn locked states. But this requires replacing the led driver module (also in the same directory). If you don't replace the driver, all it does is try (and fail) to open and write to a non existent file whenever you press fn. You can see the patch himf3.diff in that directory for the details.
Multiple keys - it's a hardware issue with x,z,j,k.
Ah, good to know. I didn't change "x" but I did remap h/j/k/l (for brackets and braces), and was puzzled by the behaviour.
Originally Posted by
The version in fnlocked/ subdirectory also lights a led for fn sticky and fn locked states. But this requires replacing the led driver module (also in the same directory). If you don't replace the driver, all it does is try (and fail) to open and write to a non existent file whenever you press fn. You can see the patch himf3.diff in that directory for the details.
That sounds useful (and fun :-). So the version in the N900 directory is the same, without the LED hack ?...
rmmod leds_lp5523
insmod /path/to/leds_lp5523.ko
chown user /sys/class/leds/lp5523\:a/brightness
This will not survive reboot. You can use the modified module to overwrite the original module file in /lib/modules/current/ in which case the module will be inserted automatically, but you will still need the chown command after every boot (for the fn lock led to work).
Thanks for the detailed instructions Matan. I tried the manual method (all three lines) and got no error messages. Fn locking does not light the Led however... no pretty light shows for me :-)
edit: correction, it does have an effect, maybe not the intended one... when I lock the device the Led does glow red instead of blue. But not when I lock Fn :-)
Checklist:
Did you reboot after installing hildon-input-... with led support? It is necessary (IOW: I don't know what programs need to be restarted).
Is it really installed? What is the output from grep leds /usr/lib/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/immodules/hildon-im-module.so
Did insmod and chown run correcrtly? What is the output from ls -l /sys/class/leds/lp5523:a/brightness
It works only in gtk input fields (xterm, browser text fields, etc.) Not on the desktop.
Thanks, again. Three out of four:
- yes I rebooted after installing the hildon-input deb (else it didn't work :-)
- yes insmod worked, I had the brightness file with the correct permissions (and the Led did glow red after all :-)
- yes I tried Fn-locking in xterm
However, the 'grep leds' returns nothing, so I probably don't have the right him package installed... although I did take it from the fnlockled directory!
I don't want to pester you any further on this Led issue which I was trying out of pure curiosity... My four-level layout itself work just fine, which is the important thing, for which I am forever grateful to you :-)
