I am trying to toggle num-lock on my Raspberry Pi 2 running Raspbian jessie, I need it to run during the initial CLI boot up (before <hostname> login: or startx), I have tried numlockx and setleds but none work until logged in.
I already have a script that runs during boot and was hoping to incorporate it into the existing script.
In case you were wondering it is so I can have num-lock for my password.
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unix.stackexchange.com/search?q=numlock– Ghanima ♦Nov 30, 2015 at 14:09
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5 Answers
Yup. There's a way.
Open up
/etc/kbd/configwith your favorite editor.Search for a line that says
LEDS=+num. It should be on line 67 if I'm not mistaken.Uncomment it. I assume you know how to uncomment since I think you know scripting.
Profit.
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1It worked a charm! Now I just have to get used to not pressing numlock Dec 6, 2015 at 12:13
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2I don't have any file at
/etc/kbd/config. I triedsudo touch /etc/kbd/config, but it complained that there was "No such file or directory". Nov 16, 2017 at 22:28
While this isn't directly answering the Raspbian Jessie question, for those other Googler's who run Raspbian Stretch, which doesn't have /etc/kbd/config, here's the solution:
- Install numlockx:
sudo apt-get install numlockx - Edit this file:
sudo nano /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/01_debian.conf - At the end of that file, add this line:
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on - Save the file and reboot, and you NumLock key should still be on
Sources:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=192383
which in turn cites:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/375920/numlock-on-startup-on-linux-mint-18-2
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Good to know there is a solution for X. But sadly that does not help in Raspbian Light. :(– kwasmichMay 28, 2018 at 9:03
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1Note also this will not work, as per the question, "before <hostname> login: or startx". It will also not work at all unless you are using lightdm (the GUI login).– goldilocks ♦May 28, 2018 at 12:25
/etc/kbd/config has been removed in Raspbian Stretch, but you can set the numlock state using /usr/bin/setleds instead.
For example, to enable numlock in all VTs:
#!/bin/bash
# Turn Numlock on for the TTYs:
for tty in /dev/tty[1-6]; do
/usr/bin/setleds -D +num < "$tty";
done
You put this script in /usr/local/bin/numlock, and invoke it at boot time, for example using a systemd service (/etc/systemd/system/numlock.service):
[Unit]
Description=numlock
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/numlock
StandardInput=tty
RemainAfterExit=yes
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Enable the service with systemctl enable numlock.service.
Source: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=134006#p650222
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1Note that this will only work for CLI. It does not work on Stretch on the UI boot. Mar 22, 2019 at 16:25
On Raspbian 10 (Buster), there's a slightly easier way. In a terminal:
sudo apt install numlockx
In the default text editor, vim.tiny, or nano save the following text into the file ~/.config/autostart/NumLock.desktop:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Numlock on
Comment=Set numlock to on at logon
NoDisplay=true
Exec=numlockx on
NotShowIn=GNOME;KDE;XFCE;
That's it. This is based on how the system already configures keyboard and mouse settings.
Command line:
sed -i 's/#LEDS=+num/LEDS=+num/' '/etc/kbd/config'
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How exactly does this work? How would the OP get this to run before setting the hostname and before startx? Apr 20, 2016 at 22:28
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You just run it once, it modifies the file forever. It is the programmatic equivalent to the manual steps up there. Apr 21, 2016 at 13:53
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Most sysadmins like to know how the programs/scripts in their systems work. Serious ones audit everything that needs to run in a mission-critical environment. People also like to make sure that random scripts/commands they get online are not malicious. This is why we want to know what this does, not for us, but for the laypeople.– AlohaNov 18, 2017 at 11:59