kbd(1) User Commands kbd(1)NAMEkbd - manipulate the state of keyboard, or display the type of key‐
board, or change the default keyboard abort sequence effect
SYNOPSISkbd [-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]
kbd-b [keyboard | console] frequency
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 sys‐
tems.
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 inter‐
pretation. 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 Alter‐
nate 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 sys‐
tems, setting the key switch to the secure position overrides any soft‐
ware 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/kbd file 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 cur‐
rent 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 mil‐
liseconds (ms). To avoid making the keyboard unusable due to a typo‐
graphical 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 millisec‐
onds. Negative and zero repeat rates are ejected 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.
To set the keyboard beeper frequency by default, set the
KBD_BEEPER_FREQ variable in the file /etc/default/kbd to the expected
value with units in HZ. This value should be between 0 and 32767,
inclusive. Otherwise will be rejected with EINVAL:
KBD_BEEPER_FREQ=2000
To set the console beeper frequency by default, set the CON‐
SOLE_BEEPER_FREQ variable in the file /etc/default/kbd to the expected
value with units in HZ. This value should be between 0 and 32767,
inclusive. Otherwise will be rejected with EINVAL:
CONSOLE_BEEPER_FREQ=900
To change the current settings of keyboard beeper frequency and console
beeper frequency, run kbd-i.
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 suspends the operat‐
ing system on most systems. 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 device.
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 key‐
board 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.
-b keyboard | console
Sets the beeper frequency for keyboard or console.
keyboard Set the keyboard beeper frequency to the operand in HZ.
See OPERANDS.
console Sets the console beeper frequency to the operand in HZ.
See OPERANDS.
-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 properties 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 autore‐
peat delay and autorepeat rate being used.
If used with -R or -D option, this option returns the value before
the changes.
-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 lan‐
guage 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:
frequency The frequency value specified to be set in kernel. The
receiver of this value is specified by the -b option. This
value should be between 0 and 32767 otherwise will be
ejected with EINVAL.
language The language specified to be set in kernel. If the lan‐
guage is not found, the languages supported are listed for
selection. It only applies to -s option.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Displaying the Keyboard Type
The following example displays the keyboard type:
example% kbd-t
Type 4 Sun keyboard
example%
Example 2 Setting Keyboard Defaults
The following example sets the keyboard defaults as specified in the
keyboard default file:
example# kbd-i
example#
Example 3 Displaying Information
The following example 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 example sets the keyboard autorepeat delay:
example% kbd-D 300
example%
Example 5 Setting Keyboard Autorepeat Rate
The following example 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%
Example 7 Setting the Keyboard Beeper Frequency
The following example sets the keyboard beeper frequency:
example% kbd-b keyboard 1000
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:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcs │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOkmdb(1), loadkeys(1), svcs(1), inetd(1M), inetadm(1M), svcadm(1M),
pppd(1M), keytables(4), attributes(5), smf(5), kb(7M), zs(7D), se(7D),
asy(7D), virtualkm(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 posi‐
tion 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.
SunOS 5.11 29 Jan 2007 kbd(1)
