kbd

- manipulate the state of keyboard, or display the type of keyboard, or change the default keyboard abort sequence effect

Synopsis

kbd  [-r] [-t ] [-l] [-a enable |  disable |  alternate]
 [-c on |  off] [-d keyboard device] [-D autorepeat delay]
 [-R autorepeat rate]

kbd  [-i] [-d keyboard device]

kbd -s [language]

Description

The kbd utility manipulates the state of the keyboard, or displays the keyboard type, or allows the default keyboard abort sequence effect to be changed. The abort sequence also applies to serial console devices. The kbd utility sets the /dev/kbd default keyboard device.

Extended Description

The -i option reads and processes default values for the keyclick and keyboard abort settings from the /etc/default/kbd keyboard default file. Only keyboards that support a clicker respond to the -c option. To turn clicking on by default, add or change the value of the KEYCLICK variable in the /etc/default/kbd file to:

KEYCLICK=on

Next, run the command kbd -i to change the setting. Valid settings for the KEYCLICK variable are on and off; all other values are ignored. If the KEYCLICK variable is not specified in the default file, the setting is unchanged.

The keyboard abort sequence effect can only be changed by a super-user using the -a option. This sequence is typically Stop-A or L1-A and Shift-Pause on the keyboard on SPARC systems, F1-A and Shift-Pause on x86 systems, and BREAK on the serial console input device on most systems.

A BREAK condition that originates from an erroneous electrical signal cannot be distinguished from one deliberately sent by remote DCE. As a remedy, use the -a option with Alternate Break to switch break interpretation. Due to the risk of incorrect sequence interpretation, binary protocols such as SLIP and others should not be run over the serial console port when Alternate Break sequence is in effect.

Although PPP is a binary protocol, it has the ability to avoid using characters that interfere with serial operation. The default alternate break sequence is CTRL-m ~ CTRL-b, or 0D 7E 02 in hexidecimal. In PPP, this can be avoided by setting either 0x00000004 or 0x00002000 in the ACCM. This forces an escape for the CTRL-b or CTRL-m characters, respectively.

To do this in Solaris PPP 4.0, add:

asyncmap 0x00002000

to the /etc/ppp/options file or any of the other configuration files used for the connection. See pppd(1M).

SLIP has no comparable capability, and must not be used if the Alternate Break sequence is in use.

The Alternate Break sequence has no effect on the keyboard abort. For more information on the Alternate Break sequence, see zs(7D),se(7D), and asy(7D).

On many systems, the default effect of the keyboard abort sequence is to suspend the operating system and enter the debugger or the monitor. Some systems feature key switches with a secure position. On these systems, setting the key switch to the secure position overrides any software default set with this command.

To permanently change the software default effect of the keyboard abort sequence, first add or change the value of the KEYBOARD_ABORT variable in the /etc/default/kbd file to:

KEYBOARD_ABORT=disable

Next, run the command kbd -i to change the setting. Valid settings are enable, disable, and alternate; all other values are ignored. If the variable is not specified in the default file, the setting is unchanged.

To set the abort sequence to the hardware BREAK, set the value of the KEYBOARD_ABORT variable in the /etc/default/kbdfile to:

KEYBOARD_ABORT=enable

To change the current setting, run the command kbd -i. To set the abort sequence to the Alternate Break character sequence, first set the current value of the KEYBOARD_ABORT variable in the /etc/default/kbd file to:

KEYBOARD_ABORT=alternate

Next, run the command kbd -i to change the setting. When the Alternate Break sequence is in effect, only serial console devices are affected.

To set the autorepeat delay by default, set the REPEAT_DELAY variable in the file /etc/default/kbd to the expected value with units in milliseconds (ms). To avoid making the keyboard unusable due to a typographical error, delay values below KIOCRPTDELAY_MIN (defined in /usr/include/sys/kbio.h) are rejected with EINVAL:

REPEAT_DELAY=500

To set the autorepeat rate by default, set the REPEAT_RATE variable in the file /etc/default/kbd to the expected value with units in milliseconds. Negative and zero repeat rates will be rejected with EINVAL:

REPEAT_RATE=33

To change the current settings of delay and rate, run the command, kbd -i. When the Auto Repeat Delay and/or Auto Repeat Rate are in effect, only command line mode is affected.

To set the language by default, set the LAYOUT variable in the file /etc/default/kbd to the expected language. These languages supported in kernel can be found by running kbd -s. Other values are ignored. For example, the following sets Spanish layout to the keyboard:

LAYOUT=Spanish

Next, run the kbd -i to change the setting. When Solaris reboots, the Spanish key table is loaded into kernel. These layouts are valid for usb and ps/2 keyboards.

Options

The following options are supported:

-a enable | disable | alternate

Enables, disables, or alternates the keyboard abort sequence effect. By default, a keyboard abort sequence (typically Stop-A or L1-A on the keyboard and BREAK on the serial console device) suspends the operating system on most systems. The default keyboard behavior can be changed using this option. The -a option can only be used by a super-user.

enable

Enables the default effect of the keyboard abort sequence (suspend the operating system and enter the debugger or the monitor).

disable

Disables the default/alternate effect and ignores keyboard abort sequences.

alternate

Enables the alternate effect of the keyboard abort sequences (suspend the operating system and enter the debugger or the monitor) upon receiving the Alternate Break character sequence on the console. The Alternate Break sequence is defined by the drivers zs(7D), se(7D), asy(7D). Due to a risk of incorrect sequence interpretation, binary protocols cannot be run over the serial console port when this value is used.

-c on | off

Turns the clicking of the keyboard on or off.

on

Enables clicking

off

Disables clicking

-d keyboard device

Specifies the keyboard device being set. The default setting is /dev/kbd.

-D autorepeat delay

Sets the autorepeat delay in milliseconds.

-i

Sets keyboard defaults from the keyboard default file. With the exception of -d keyboard device, this option cannot be used with any other option. The -i option instructs the keyboard command to read and process keyclick and keyboard abort default values from the /etc/default/kbd file. The -i option can only be used by a user or role with the Device Security Rights Profile.

-l

Returns the layout code of the keyboard being used, and the autorepeat delay and autorepeat rate being used.

-r

Resets the keyboard as if power-up.

-R autorepeat rate

Sets the autorepeat rate in milliseconds.

-s [language]

Sets the keyboard layout into kernel.

If language is specified, the layout is set to language. If language is not specified, a list of available layouts are presented, prompting for the user to specify the language. See OPERANDS.

-t

Returns the type of the keyboard being used.

Operands

The following operands are supported:

language

The language specified to be set in kernel. If the language is not found, the languages supported are listed for selection. It only applies to -s option.

Examples

Example 1 Displaying the Keyboard Yype

The following command displays the keyboard type:

example% kbd -t
Type 4 Sun keyboard
example%

Example 2 Setting Keyboard Defaults

The following command sets the keyboard defaults as specified in the keyboard default file:

example# kbd -i
example#

Example 3 Displaying Information

The following command displays keyboard type and layout code. It also displays auto repeat delay and rate settings.

example% kbd -l
type=4
layout=43 (0x2b)
delay(ms)=500
rate(ms)=33
example%

Example 4 Setting Keyboard Autorepeat Delay

The following command sets the keyboard autorepeat delay:

example% kbd -D 300
example%

Example 5 Setting Keyboard Autorepeat Rate

The following command sets the keyboard autorepeat rate:

example% kbd -R 50
example%

Example 6 Selecting and Setting the Keyboard Language

The following example selects and sets the keyboard language from a list of languages specified:

example% kbd -s
1. Albanian                      16. Malta_UK
2. Belarusian                    17. Malta_US
3. Belgian                       18. Norwegian
4. Bulgarian                     19. Portuguese
5. Croatian                      20. Russian
6. Danish                        21. Serbia-And-Montenegro
7. Dutch                         22. Slove
......

To select the keyboard layout, enter a number [default n]: 

example%

The following example sets the keyboard language specified:

example% kbd -s Dutch
example%

Files

/dev/kbd

Keyboard device file.

/etc/default/kbd

Keyboard default file containing software defaults for keyboard configurations.

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

See Also

loadkeys(1), svcs(1), inetd(1M), inetadm(1M), kadb(1M), svcadm(1M), pppd(1M), keytables(4), attributes(5), smf(5), kb(7M), zs(7D), se(7D), asy(7D)

Notes

Some server systems have key switches with a secure key position that can be read by system software. This key position overrides the normal default of the keyboard abort sequence effect and changes the default so the effect is disabled. When the key switch is in the secure position on these systems, the keyboard abort sequence effect cannot be overridden by the software default, which is settable with the kbd utility.

Currently, there is no way to determine the state of the keyboard click setting.

The kdb service is managed by the service management facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:

svc:/system/keymap:default

Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(1M). Responsibility for initiating and restarting this service is delegated to inetd(1M). Use inetadm(1M) to make configuration changes and to view configuration information for this service. The service's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.