FAQ: Enabling 'NumLock' upon Boot/Entering X

[vorte[x]]

Throw into rc.sysinit
[code:1]
for tty in /dev/tty[1-9]*; do
setleds -D +num < $tty
done
[/code:1]

Then for X, try putting this in .xinitrc
[code:1]
xset led 1
[/code:1]

[redhat71]

only "xset led 3" works for me, but it's not numlock, any idea?

[vorte[x]]

only "xset led 3" works for me, but it's not numlock, any idea?

I ran into that as well on my laptop, hence the reason I said 'try' ;) I'm not sure if xset is working properly on ANY hardware configuration! I'll let you know if I find something better.

[Linz]

Found this on http://phuzz.org/archive.php?name=linux:

To enable NumLock in the console paste this code into rc.local or make a script for to put into /etc/init.d/:
[code:1]echo "Enabling NumLock..."
for tty in /dev/tty{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12}; do
setleds -D +num < $tty
done[/code:1]

X windows is nice enough to turn this off again... so paste the following code into a file named xsetnumlock.c:
[code:1]#include <X11/extensions/XTest.h>
#include <X11/keysym.h>

int main(void)
{
Display* disp = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
if (disp == NULL) return 1;
XTestFakeKeyEvent(disp, XKeysymToKeycode(disp, XK_Num_Lock), True, CurrentTime);
XTestFakeKeyEvent(disp, XKeysymToKeycode(disp, XK_Num_Lock), False, CurrentTime);
XCloseDisplay(disp);
return 0;
}[/code:1]

Run this command to compile it:
[code:1]$ gcc -I/usr/X11R6/include -L/usr/X11R6/lib -o xsetnumlock xsetnumlock.c -lX11 -lXtst[/code:1]

Run xsetnumlock from ~/.Xclients (or any of its alternatives: .xsession, .xinitrc or whatever...)


Haven't restarted yet, but running the compiled xsetnumlock turns numlock on/off.

[vorte[x]]

Excellent tip, I'll be sure to try it.

[amazoneveryday]

it works pefectly, thank you. I put the executable in my ~/.kde/Autostart folder since I'm the only user on my box.

[mpsii]

Is there not a numlock rpm? Or can someone make one for Fedora?

mandrake rpm (http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/1087058/com/numlock-2.0-ipl9mdk.i586.rpm.html)

[ewdi]

i think there is under contrib, let me search around for it

[RuiP]

I never find a numlockx for fedora and mandrakes version fails (of course) due to dependencies not satisfied... (maybe this one (http://www.tuxfinder.com/packages/searchdl.php?name=numlockx-1.0-1ark.i586.rpm&country=US)?... in case of despair )
but thereis a good how-to here (http://www.justlinux.com/nhf/Hardware/How_to_Get_the_NumLock_Key_to_Stay_On.html) and a link to tar.gz here (http://freshmeat.net/redir/numlockx/48161/url_tgz/numlockx-1.0.tar.gz).

I solved the beginnig-at-X problem with a muuuch easier way... I just run gnome-session-properties and at 'Startup Programs' Add a new entry, a simple 'numlockx' (I have to do it for all users... only two) works great!