(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Is anyone aware of a a way to re-adjust the keyboard repeat rate while using x-vesa? I tried this once in x-org, and that doesn't work too well either. Never had this problem with earlier bios, but a real problem in any recent system. I'm using a gateway P-III/450mhz. Dingo otherwise ROCKS!
I've noticed this is a problem with ALL live CD's. Amazing nobody thinks of this when building these distros!


UPDATE: Elsewhere in this thread (my final post) I detailed an elegant solution for this.

Gxset should be in the menu for that. I'm not sure if something replaced it in Puppy 4 or what, but if you can't find anything, run `xset -h` in a terminal and it is fairly straightforward to figure out how to use.

Dingo 4.00 has a gui utility but I don't think it holds settings between reboots. A shell script placed in ~/Startup can set the delay and repeat rate on each boot.

This may not look right but it works:

xset r rate 250 32 for a delay of .250 sec and a repeat rate of 32 per sec

Check it, if you want, after Xvesa starts with xset q

Sorry, guys, but it appears you didn't pay attention to my earlier post. I'm trying to adjust the keyboard rate in X-Vesa. X-org is fine if you have a newer & faster system. It will not work reliably in slower systems than, say, 5000mhz like mine. The utillity for this is readily visable in x-org, and needs little, if any, elaboration. What I can't understand is the absolute absence of such a utility in x-vesa, where it is just as necessary as in faster systems. It is a major oversite, and I just can't understand how it always gets overlooked in virtually EVERY live cd distro I've looked at. Am I the only one that can't type that fast? And why should I have to, anyway?
That said, I appreciate the input from everyone. I'll take a look at the config files for dingo and see if I can find a way to do this here, but it looks like it won't happen.

I have setup a virtual (qemu) PC running in xvesa.

If you type Xvesa in a rxvt terminal you get a long list of options. At first quick sight I don't see anything for keyboard rate only setting for autorepeat.

But it could be your starting point.

pfffft. The double posting problem strikes again.

Varmint wrote:Sorry, guys, but it appears you didn't pay attention to my earlier post. I'm trying to adjust the keyboard rate in X-Vesa.

I did and my answer is for Xvesa.

My Xvesa virtual machine is lacking the extension "Xfree86-Misc" in Xlib.
So the xset r rate cmd isn't executed.
But should be valid for Xvesa

Béèm wrote:My Xvesa virtual machine is lacking the extension "Xfree86-Misc" in Xlib.
So the xset r rate cmd isn't executed.
But should be valid for Xvesa

Béèm,

I'm on a borrowed Win machine, so I can't do the checking and verifying I'd otherwise do.

I think it is successfully executed. You can check the truth with xset q

The problem is that its execution is good for one X session only, that's why I wrote to put the command in ~/Startup, so it runs one time for each new X(vesa) session.

Check and see if it works that way, OK?

Bruce

Ok Bruce I see what you mean.

I made this script and did put it in ~Startupand rebooted. I then executed xset q
It seems that the script did execute properly, as I didn't had the auto repeat delay: statement before.

So your idea seems to be the solution.

EDIT:
Wonder why I did get that long line.
It's just a copy/paste from the rxvt terminal.

Varmint,

By your first post, I thought you wanted to control the delay and rate. I've shown that.

If you want to simply turn it off for no autorepeat, this command:

xset -r

Bruce

Thanks Bruce, for your reply. I did modify the argument, however to reflect my intended purpose, thus:

"xset r off" which I typed in the console window. Nice. Real nice. It doesn't turn it off completely, but it sure slows it down considerably, and to my liking. I'm going to do the other command you listed, and try the script also mentioned. As far as I can tell, this should work, or some variant thereof, in just about any distro, which is almost as good as having it controlled in the system bios. The bios solution is, imho, the finest/simplest solution for this, but I'm too lazy to modify/re-burn my bios chip just to tinker with it. Not even certain if it would work on modern systems, but since this seems to work, fine with me! Thanks again!

When all is to your liking can you update your initial post and add [SOLVED] to the subject line?

Thanks for all the quick & helpful replies, gang! Works great now, and is such a simple solution for old/arthritic slow fingers like mine!

Glad you're happy with puppy.

I got into the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file and added the following line of code:

kbdrate -r 25 -d 975

Close the file and reboot. When you reboot, you'll find you can type at a normal speed, even if you have old, slow fingers like me. I entered this line in the "rc.local" file in EVERY distro I have on every PC. Works like a charm, even from the command line, unlike a lot of the earlier solutions I've seen that work only under X.

What this means to newbies and others is that when you get to your login prompt, you won't have to worry about how fast or slow you type, so you won't get so many retries. Simple and elegant.

Once upon a time when computer manufacturers were far more bright this was handled in the bios, but I suspect this was relegated to the OS once the need arose for USB and other items that needed controled from there. After all, there's only so much space in a rom chip.

Enjoy....73