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Auto toggle keyboard back-lighting on Thinkpads (and maybe other laptops) for Linux
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saibotd/tp-auto-kbbl
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tp-auto-kbbl enables keyboard backlighting whenever you start typing. After typing ends (+ timeout), the backlight turns off automatically. It runs in the background on your Linux laptop and checks for keyboard events (default/dev/input/event3).
It should work on any ThinkPad (tested on a 470s) and probably other laptops as well.Let me know if it runs on your device.
To keep CPU/RAM usage low and portability high, I've usedRust for development.This is my first project with it, so if spot anything weird – or plain wrong – let me know! I'm thankful for any advice.
tp-auto-kbbl works similar to a keylogger (requires root to capture keyboard events system-wide). Always be sure to check the source code.
Usage: tp-auto-kbbl [options]Options: -h, --help prints this help message -v, --version prints the version -n, --no-dim don't dim before bg turns off -l, --lazy don't check actual hw brightness state -d, --device specify the device file -b, --brightness target keyboard brightness (1-2) -t, --timeout time before the bg light turns offDownload the latestrelease, or clone and build it yourself.
sudo cp tp-auto-kbbl /usr/bin/tp-auto-kbbl# You'll probably get an error like thisthread 'main' panicked at 'Permission denied (os error 13)', src/main.rs:44:74# Once more as rootsudo tp-auto-kbblInput device ID: bus 0x11 vendor 0x1 product 0x1Evdev version: 10001Input device name: "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"Phys location: isa0060/serio0/input0Setting brightness to 0Your backlight should turn off immediately. Try if it turns on when you press any button.If not, check if the input device is correct, you may adjust it via the-d parameter.
# Copy the [unit file](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/saibotd/tp-auto-kbbl/master/tp-auto-kbbl.service)sudo cp tp-auto-kbbl.service /etc/systemd/system/# (optional) Check if the parameters are correctsudo nano /etc/systemd/system/tp-auto-kbbl.service# Reload daemonssudo systemctl daemon-reload# Start the servicesudo systemctl start tp-auto-kbbl# Check if the service runs finesudo systemctl status tp-auto-kbblMär 04 14:02:06 Huffer systemd[1]: Started Auto toggle keyboard back-lighting.Mär 04 14:02:06 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Input device ID: bus 0x11 vendor 0x1 pMär 04 14:02:06 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Evdev version: 10001Mär 04 14:02:06 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Input device name: "AT Translated SetMär 04 14:02:06 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Phys location: isa0060/serio0/input0Mär 04 14:02:07 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Setting brightness to 0Mär 04 14:02:09 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Setting brightness to 2Mär 04 14:02:25 Huffer tp-auto-kbbl[343]: Setting brightness to 0# Finally enable the servicesudo systemctl enable tp-auto-kbblCopyright © 2020 Tobias Duehr
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Auto toggle keyboard back-lighting on Thinkpads (and maybe other laptops) for Linux