PBBUTTONSD.CNF(5)PBBUTTONSD.CNF(5)NAMEpbbuttonsd.cnf - configuration file for pbbuttonsd >= 0.8.
DESCRIPTIONpbbuttonsd.cnf tells pbbuttonsd how the user wants it to work and is
usually found as /etc/pbbuttons.cnf.
With Pbbuttonsd 0.8 the format of the configuratione file slightly
changed. It uses now the keyfile format defined by the freedesktop
organisation. It is very similar to the old format which was propri‐
etary to pbbuttonsd but is not exactly the same. The main advantage of
the new file format is that pbbuttonsd can now use code of the glib to
pare it, instead doing everything by itself.
The file format could be found on http://freedesktop.org/Stan‐
dards/desktop-entry-spec. A rough short form of the file formatcomes
here.
An option looks always like this:
keyword=value
Empty lines and lines starting with a number-sign (#) will be ignored.
Comments behind options are not allowed and lead to unwanted results.
The value contains the whole rest of the line including any white spa‐
ces. So quoting is not necessary and forbidden. Quoted strings will be
read as quoted strings and may cause unwanted results. The quotation
marks won't be filtered out.
It isn't necessary to define every option or a configfile at all
because there are useful default's built into the program.
The config file is split up into sections to group options which belong
together. The section headlines are corresponding to the pbbuttonsd
modules and group the options. It os allowed to have two options with
the same name as long as they are in different sections. Each module
has a config file section. The available options depends on the modules
functionality.
KEYCODE DEFINITIONS
Some of the options need key definitions. A key could be defined as
follows.
The key definition could have multiple parts. The first is the keycode
as it could be found in ..include/linux/input.h. This keycode at least
must be given otherwise the built-in default value will be used.
The other parts are the optional modifiers that could be combined with
the keycode to trigger the certain function. The shift, alt and ctrl
modifier are supported. They are added to the keycode with a plus-sign
(+). The sequence doesn't matter.
EXAMPLE: 225 + shift + ctrl
This means the key 225 has to be pressed together with shift
and ctrl to trigger the function.
GENERAL
userallowed = username (default: none)
Lets talk about security. PBButtonsd accepts messages through
the kernel IPC-message protokoll without verification who sent
the message. This doesn't seem to be a problem because IPC is
only used locally and can't be accessed directly over network.
Only those options which could be abused to get root rights were
protected and could only be changed by the owner of pbbuttonsd's
process.
This didn't satisfy some users so I implemented this option to
give those users more control who should be allowed to send mes‐
sages to pbbuttonsd. If this option is set only the named user
(only one possible at the moment) is allowed to change pbbut‐
tonsd's options via the IPC-interface. Messages from all other
users (root included) will be rejected. Query the current con‐
figuration is further possible for all users.
To completely disable the possibility to change options via IPC
name a user that doesn't exist. In this case no logged-in user
is allowed to change options. Setting the option in the config
file and 'kill -HUP <process-id>' would then be the only way to
change options on the fly then.
autorescan = [yes | no] (default: yes)
PBButtonsd uses the kernel input layer and its event devices to
get input from the keyboards and mice. This layer support all
types of input devices also those which will be connected or
removed later during operation. Normally pbbuttonsd scans the
event devices once at startup and uses all keyboards and mice
found at that time but most people wanted to be able to plug-in
or remove external input devices at any time.
With this option set to 'yes' pbbuttonsd would scan for new
input devices on a regular time basis. Due to the continuous
access to the /dev/input/event% device files, spin-down func‐
tions of hard disks might be influenced. If you have problems
with this, you could disable this feature and trigger a rescan
by hand when necessary.
CmdTimeout = time in seconds (default = 8)
Pbbuttonsd is able to launch user defined scripts and it uses
some external helper utilities. This scripts and utilities were
started as separate processes with their own environment inde‐
pendent from pbbuttonsd's. During a helper process is active
pbbuttonsd's process is blocked and waits for the child process
to end. Without security mechanism this could lead into an
knocked out pbbuttonsd due to a hanging script. To prevent such
a situation pbbuttonsd has an eye on its child processes and if
they consume too much time they will be killed by the parent
process.
It was very difficult in the past to define a correct timeout
value because of a huge amount of different scripts written and
used by users. With this option the individual timeout value in
seconds can be defined. Be careful with high values because an
error in your script can block pbbuttonsd for a long time. The
minimum value is 1 second. values below this will force a one
second timeout.
MODULE POWERSAVE
This module does all the hardware independent power saving stuff.
onAC_Policy = policy (default: performance)
onBattery_Policy = policy (default: powersave)
This options set the power management policies that should
become active after power source has changed. following policies
were supported:
'nochange' current policy won't be changed
'powersave' minimum power consumption
'custom' user defined
'performance' maximum system performance
The pmcs script does all actions needed to activate the options
according the selected power policy.
onAC_TimerAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
onBattery_TimerAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
After some time without user action, so called idle time, the
timer emits an event. Pbbuttonsd can connect an action to this
event that would be executed when this event occours. Four
actions are possible (see below). This option can independently
configured for AC or battery power source.
none
Nothing will be done. If onXX_TimerAction was set to 'none' the
timer event would be ignored.
suspend-to-ram
This action suspends the machine and conserves the memory con‐
tent in RAM. This mode is also known as 'sleep' and works only
if it is supported by the hardware.
suspend-to-disk
This action suspends the machine and save the memory content to
hard disk. This mode is controlled by the kernel and is sup‐
ported since kernel version 2.6. A backport for kernel 2.4 is
also available.
This action works a little bit different to suspend-to-ram. If
the event suspend-to-ram occours the PMCS script will be exe‐
cuted to perform preliminary jobs. Suspend-to-ram is then trig‐
gered by pbbuttonsd.
If the event suspend-to-disk occurs the PMCS script will also be
executed but in contrast to suspend-to-ram it has also to initi‐
ate suspend mode after all preliminary jobs are done. Pbbuttonsd
doesn't expect the script to return.
blankscreen
If this action was configured the screen would be switched off.
The computer will continue to run. This could be helpful in some
cases where for example the machine must be reachable over a
network without anyone working with it directly.
This mode is the fallback action if suspend-to-ram is not sup‐
ported by the hardware.
Attention: With a switched-off display you might not be able to
see that the computer is still running but it continues to con‐
sume power. To give you a hint the computer will play a beep
every 30 seconds as a reminder.
shutdown
This action triggers a machine shutdown. The PMCS script is
called to initiate the shutdown. Usually this is done with the
´halt´ command.
onAC_CoverAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
onBattery_CoverAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
This options define the action to perform if cover has been
closed or opened. For possible actions and it's description
please see onXX_TimerAction. It could independently configured
for AC or battery power source.
This options will only work if pbbuttonsd was compiled without
pmud support so that pbbuttonsd has control over the cover.
Attention: With a switched-off display you might not be able to
see that the computer is still running but it continues to con‐
sume power. To give you a hint the computer will play a beep
every 30 seconds as a reminder.
onAC_KeyAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
onBattery_KeyAction = action (default: suspend-to-ram)
This options define the action to perform after the sleepkey has
been triggered. For possible actions and it's decription please
see onXX_TimerAction. It could be independently configured for
AC and battery power source.
onAC_SuspendTime = value (default: 3000 = 5 minutes)
onBattery_SuspendTime = value (default: 3000 = 5 minutes)
This option sets the idle time in 1/100 seconds after the
machine should be put to sleep or the display should be switched
off. It could independently controlled for AC or battery power
source.
Set this value to 0 to disable sleep when idle.
onAC_DimTime = value (default: 600 = 1 minutes)
onBattery_DimTime = value (default: 600 = 1 minutes)
This option sets the idle time in 1/100 seconds after the dis‐
play should be dimmed to minimum level. It could independently
controlled for AC or battery power source.
Set this value to 0 to disable display dimming. The display
brightness won't change automatically and keep its value for
unlimited time.
SleepKey = key (default: 116)
Key to trigger sleep mode or blank the screen, corresponding to
the current configuration and the machine's abilities.
SleepKeyDelay = time in milliseconds (default: 0)
This option sets the delay time used for an additional validity
check of the sleep key to prevent unwillingly triggered sleeps
due to small keyboards. The key must be pressed for longer than
the given time period to trigger sleep. The value must be given
in milliseconds, for example to set a delay time of 2 seconds
set the delay time to 2000. If the given value is zero, sleep
mode would be entered immediately.
This option might be dangerous if the power key is used to trig‐
ger sleep mode, because the power key has a second hard-wired
meaning. If you press the power key for a long time, the
machine will be switched off completely. This is an emergency
feature of the Macintosh hardware. Therefore it could be very
tricky to press the power key long enough to trigger sleep and
release the key just before the hardware switched power off. Use
this option with care.
BWL_First = minutes (default: 20)
BWL_Second = minutes (default: 10)
BWL_Last = minutes (default: 3)
This options set the battery warn levels in minutes. If the
remaining time on battery falls below one of the above values
the appropriate battery warning would be displayed (gtkpbbuttons
or something similar must be running to see them).
If the time remaining reaches 'zero' the non-configurable bat‐
tery warnlevel 4 is entered, which causes the machine to shut‐
down immediately. The clients will be noticed by a message about
the coming shutdown.
Defining new warn levels be aware that you fulfill following
conditions:
- BWL_First > BWL_Second > BWM_Last > 0
- the difference of two adjacent warnlevels must be greater than
6 minutes.
Violation of this conditions will result in an error message and
fall back to default values.
EmergencyAction = [action] (default: sleep)
If the battery is critically low the machine have to be set into
a safe state. This could be done on different ways. Which way
is the right for your system could be configured with this
option. There are three actions possible:
sleep - The machine would be forced to sleep mode. This action
gives security only for a short period because also in sleep
mode the computer consumes power and continue to discharge the
battery but slower. This gives you enough time to plug in the AC
connector to recharge the battery and go on with your work.
This action could only be chosen if the machine supports sleep
mode. If not this action defaults to signal.
signal - A SIGPWR signal would be sent to the INIT process. The
further actions depend on your system configuration in
/etc/inittab. Please check your installation to be sure the SIG‐
PWR does what you want. Pbbuttonsd won't do anything else to
prevent data losses due to battery voltage collapse.
Pbbuttons tried first to send the init process the signal with
the new init request through /dev/initctl. If that fails it
tried the old method through /etc/powerstatus. If that fails too
and the machine supports sleep mode this action defaults to
sleep, otherwise it defaults to command.
command - This is the former standard action in case of criti‐
cally battery power. a command would be executed which usually
shut down the computer safely. The script_pmcs (see below) will
be called with argument 'emergency' in this case.
HeartbeatBeep = [yes | no] (default: yes)
Pbbuttonsd can be configured to switch off the display instead
of entering sleep mode even though the lid was closed. As con‐
figured in such a way the machine only to switch off its display
after sleep timeout and continue running on full power. If in
this situation also the hard disk spun down, no sign of com‐
puter's life would exist anymore and the machine looks like a
switched off computer.
This may lead to unexpectedly drained batteries or needlessly
long idle runs because the computer looks like already switched-
off and you may then forget to switch it off really. Due to
pbbuttonsd's smart power management functions nothing harmful
can happen to the computer or to your valuable data. So this is
a convenience option.
To have always a sign of life from the computer pbbuttonsd will
play a beep every roundabout 30 seconds if the computer was
still running with switched-off display. Someone will take the
risk to get rid of this nice little beep (others called it
annoying). For those this option was implemented. It will
switch off the heartbeat beep if set to 'no'.
Usual cases when the heartbeat beep will occur are using your
PowerBook with closed lid connected to an external keyboard and
monitor or access your computer remotely via the network. In the
second case the heartbeat beep will first occur with delay of
the configured sleep timeout.
Script_PMCS = command (default: none)
This option sets the script name that should be called at fol‐
lowing events: change of power policy, change of power source,
change of suspend state and if configured at low battery (emer‐
gency). For security reasons this script should only be readable
by the user who runs pbbuttonsd (usually root) and not be
writable at all.
Up to three '%s' could be placed in the command string. The
first '%s' will be replaced with the action (see
etc/power/README for action list), the second with the current
powersource ('ac' or 'battery') and the third with an action
depending option. (for example the action 'suspend' may get the
option 'ram'. This means suspend-to-ram).
IBAM_DataDir = directory (default: /var/lib/ibam)
This directory is used to store statistical data measured during
battery charge and discharge time. This data is used by the new
IBAM algorithm for reliable and accurate battery and charge time
predictions.
This option would only be available if pbbuttonsd was compiled
with IBAM support.
CPULoad_sleeplock = [yes | no] (default: no)
With option enabled high CPU loads prevent the machine from
entering sleep mode. Every second the current CPU load will be
calculated and compared with a minimum level. Is the current CPU
load below this level for a certain period of time the sleep
lock will be opened and the machine is allowed to enter sleep
mode. Jumps the CPU load over the border line the sleep lock
will be closed immediately and the time measurement starts from
the beginning.
CPULoad_min = percent (default: 20)
With this Tag the minimum CPU load level could be set.
CPULoad_period = seconds (default: 20)
With this option the period of low CPU load time in seconds
could be set.
NETLoad_sleeplock = [yes | no] (default: no)
With option enabled high net loads prevent the machine from
entering sleep mode. Every second the current net load will be
calculated and compared with a minimum level. Is the transfer
rate in bytes per second below this level for a certain period
of time the sleep lock will be opened and the machine is allowed
to enter sleep mode. Jumps the net load over the border line the
sleep lock will be closed immediately and the time measurement
starts from the beginning.
NETLoad_min = traffic (default: 4096 Bytes/s)
With this Tag the minimum transfer rate in bytes per second
could be set.
NETLoad_period = seconds (default: 20)
With this Tag the period of low net load time in seconds could
be set.
NETLoad_device = netdevice (default: eth0)
With this option the network device to observe could be defined.
Up to now only one network device could be set and observed.
MODULE DISPLAY
This module controls the light sources inside the laptop. Mostly this
is the LCD backlight but recent computers come with an additionally
keyboard illumination which is also controlled by this module. The mod‐
ule works hardware independently.
LCD_Brightness = value (default: none)
With this option the initial brightness level of the LCD back‐
light in percent could be set. This value becomes active during
pbbuttonsds start up phase.
Was this option commented out, pbbuttonsd wouldn't change the
LCD brightness during start up. The display stays as bright as
it has been before pbbuttonsd was started. Comment this option
out if you want this behaviour.
LCD_FadingSpeed = value (default: 0)
PBButtonsd is able to dim and recover the display brightness
smoothly. Set the value to zero, blending would be disabled. In
this case PBButtonsd would work as used to.
With a value greater than null fading will be activated. Fill in
the time a full dim (from lowest to highest brightness level or
vica versa) should last. PBButtonsd will take into account that
some backlight controllers are not as fine grained controlable
as others and adjusts its internal timing to fulfill your
request as best as possible.
The time value must be given in miliseconds (1/1000th of a sec‐
ond).
LCD_AutoAdjust = mode (default: linear)
KBD_AutoAdjust = mode (default: hysteresis)
Enable automatic LCD brightness and keyboard illumination
adjustment and set the mode for the brightness contoller. the
brightness level will be automatically adjusted depending on
ambient light. Possible modes are:
off No automatic brightness adjustment
linear Linear dependency between ambient light and bright‐
ness level (see graph below)
hysteresis Brightness level toggles dependent on ambient light
thresholds (see graph below).
l�vel 2 l�vel 2
| o------ | +--<--o-----
| / | | |
| / | | |
|------o |------o-->--+
| 1 | 1
+------ambient-light-> +--------ambient-light->
linear hysteresis
Point one and point two define the characteristic of the con‐
troller. Each point is an ambient light/brightness level pair.
They could be defined with the AutoadjParm options (see descrip‐
tion below). Both points must be given to make the controller
work properly.
This option work only on laptops with an ambient light sensor as
for eg. the 17" Aluminum PowerBook or the MacBook from Apple. If
such a sensor isn't present this option will be ignored. Fur‐
thermore not every machine have an illuminated keyboard.
LCD_AutoAdjParm_onBattery = A1, L1, A2, L2 (default: 0%,1%,54%,100%)
LCD_AutoAdjParm_onAC = A1, L1, A2, L2 (default: 0%,1%,94%,100%)
KBD_AutoAdjParm_onBattery = A1, L1, A2, L2 (default: 0%,100%,28%,0%)
KBD_AutoAdjParm_onAC = A1, L1, A2, L2 (default: 0%,100%,28%,0%)
With this options the characteristic of the automatic brightness
controller could be changed. Each option has four parameters
which all four must be present to be accepted.
Each paramerterset consists out of two ambient light/brightness
level pairs called a point (A=Ambient light, L=brightness
Level). The meaning of this points depend on the operating mode
that was set with AutoadjMode. All parameters must be given in
percent (0-100%).
Linear mode
In linear mode the brightness level will be smoothly changed
from L1 to L2. The ambient light values set the start- and end‐
point of this brightness change. The brightness level will be
kept stable if the abmient light is below A1 or above A2.
Hysteresis mode
In hysteresis mode the brigtness level toggles between L1 and
L2. The ambient light values A1 and A2 define when this will
happen. To prevent fast flickering the threshold changes depend‐
ing on the curent brightness level. If the backlight is at L1
and the ambient lightbecomes brighter than A2 the brightness
level will be switched to L2. If the ambient light level falls
below A2 again the brightness level stick to L2. In order to
switch the brightness level back to L1 the ambient light level
must decrease below A1 (see sketch above).
The behaviour of the automatic brightness controller can be
individually defined for the LCD backlight and the keyboard
illumination and might also set differently dependent on the
power source.
This options could be used to limit the working range of the
automatic brightness controller in general or depending on the
power source, which is very usefull most of the time. It might
help to save energy when running on battery.
LCD_IllumUpKey = key (default: KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP)
Use alternative key to increase LCD illumination level.
In conjunction with shift the brightness will be set to maximum
level. This second function is statically bound to the modifier
shift so that the key definition must not contain shift. It
will be ignored, if mentioned.
LCD_IllumDownKey = key (default: KEY_BRIGHTNESSDOWN)
Use alternative key to decrease LCD illumination level.
In conjunction with shift the brightness will be set to minimum
level. This second function is statically bound to the modifier
shift so that the key definition mustn't contain shift. It will
be ignored, if mentioned.
KBD_Brightness = value (default: 0)
With this option the initial brightness level of the keyboard
illumination on percent could be set. The value becomes active
during pbbuttonsds start up phase. Comment this option out if
you don't want this behaviour.
This option work only on machines that support keyboard illumi‐
nation.
KBD_OnBrightness = value (default: 6%)
If you switched on your keyboard illumination with the foreseen
on/off key the keyboard illumination level would switch to 6% by
default. With this option you could set a different start value
in percent.
This value is only valid during startup because the level will
follow all manual and automatic brightness changes during pro‐
gram runtime. So if you set this option to 50% and press the
keyboard-illumination-up key twice the on/off key would switch
beween 62% and 0 because you manually modified the start value.
The same happens if the automatic adjustment algorithm changes
the keyboard brightness.
The initial value will only have an effect if automatic keyboard
illumination adjustment is disabled.
KBD_FadingSpeed = value (default: 0)
PBButtonsd is able to dim and recover the keyboard illumination
smoothly. Set the value to zero, blending would be disabled.
With a value greater than null fading will be activated. Fill in
the time a full dim (from lowest to highest brightness level or
vica versa) should last. PBButtonsd will take into account that
some backlight controllers might not as fine grained controlable
as others and adjusts its internal timing to fulfill your
request as best as possible.
The time value must be given in miliseconds (1/1000th of a sec‐
ond).
This option work only on machines that support keyboard illumi‐
nation.
KBD_IllumUpKey = key (default: KEY_KBDILLUMUP)
Use alternative key to increase keyboard illumination level.
In conjunction with shift the brightness will be set to maximum
level. This second function is statically bound to the modifier
shift so that the key definition must not contain shift. It
will be ignored, if mentioned.
This option work only on machines that support keyboard illumi‐
nation.
KBD_IllumDownKey = key (default: KEY_KBDILLUMDOWN)
Use alternative key to decrease keyboard illumination level.
In conjunction with shift the brightness will be set to minimum
level. This second function is statically bound to the modifier
shift so that the key definition mustn't contain shift. It will
be ignored, if mentioned.
This option work only on machines that support keyboard illumi‐
nation.
KBD_IllumOnKey = key (default: KEY_KBDILLUMTOGGLE)
Use alternative key to switch keyboard illumination on/off.
Pbbuttonsd tried to remember the brightness level but on some
machines the currently set level can't be evaluated so that the
keyboard illumination may start with minimum level.
This option work only on machines that support keyboard illumi‐
nation.
Device_FB = device (default: /dev/fb0)
This option defines the framebuffer device to be used for blank‐
ing the screen.
UseFBBlank = [yes | no] (default: no)
In the case only the display should be blanked instead of
putting the machine into sleep mode, the framebuffer device
could switch the whole display off. If you want that set this
option to 'yes'. If not only the backlight will be switched off
on blank.
Recent kernel versions will do this automatically because the
backlight controller is part of the framebuffer or graphics card
driver. If you relialize any problems with the backlight, like
the diplay remains dark after wakeup or cover open, set this
option to ´no´.
DimFullyDark = [yes | no] (default: no)
Normally the display brightness will be dimmed to the lowest
possible value if the machine is idle for some time. This will
save a lot of power and keep the user able to loom what happened
on the screen.
With this option set to yes the display will be dimmed to fully
darkness. This was requested by users who want to use this func‐
tion as simple screensaver.
Please keep in mind that switching the backlight of a laptop to
often will decrease its lifetime so the author of pbbuttons
doesn't recommend to use this option. Use it at your own risk.
CRT_MirrorKey = key (default: KEY_F7 + CTRL)
Set the key to switch the external video output on/off. This
will only work if the framebuffer device of the used graphics
card support this feature. Pbbuttonsd will only send an IOCTL to
the framebuffer like m3mirror from Ben Herrenschmidt does.
MODULE MIXER
This module controls a mixer device. This module is able to automati‐
cally adapt itself to the underlying sound system. If more than one
sound system is available on the computer, the mixer module will auto‐
matically decide which is the best to use. Currently two soundsystems
are supported:
- Open Sound System (OSS) and
- Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA).
The mixer module will first probe ALSA and if that fails fall back to
OSS.
If a sound module is loaded by the kernel additional hardware might be
switched on and power consumption will increase. Especially on mobile
computers this is mostly not wanted due to limited battery power.
Pbbuttonsd will postpone the mixer initialization to the first use to
prevent the kernel module loading from the beginning. The older ver‐
sions of pbbuttonsd had an option "MixerInitDelay" to toggle this be‐
haviour. The current version will always postpone the mixer initializa‐
tion because it changes nothing and makes configuration of pbbuttonsd a
bit easier because there is one option less to set.
With the first trigger of a volume hotkey the mixer control will
instantly be initialized and is ready to work. If any of the
volume hotkeys were pressed without a working sound module, a
kernel with the kernel module loader compiled in, would try to
load the sound module automatically. If he succeeded, the volume
control would work as usual, otherwise pbbuttonsd would try it
again next time a volume hotkey is pressed.
Volume = value (default: 50)
With this option the initial volume level could be set. Every
time pbbuttonsd was started the volume level would be set to
this value. Comment this option out if you did't want that.
Speakers_muted = [yes | no] (default: no)
If set to 'yes' the speakers would be muted at startup.
volumeupkey = key (default: KEY_VOLUMEUP)
Use alternative key to increase volume.
In conjunction with shift the volume will be increased by 10.
This second function is statically bound to the modifier shift
so that the key definition mustn't contain shift. It will be
ignored, if mentioned.
volumedownkey = key (default: KEY_VOLUMEDOWN)
Use alternative key to decrease volume.
In conjunction with shift the volume will be decreased by 10.
This second function is statically bound to the modifier shift
so that the key definition mustn't contain shift. It will be
ignored, if mentioned.
mutekey = key definition (default: KEY_MUTE)
Use alternative key to mute/unmute.
MODULE MIXER OSS
This section contains options only valid if OSS is chosen by the mixer
module.
Device = devicename (default: /dev/mixer)
Use an alternative mixer device.
This device is used to control the sound volume or to
mute/unmute the sound channels.
Channels = channels (default: volume)
This option defines the OSS mixer channels which pbbuttonsd
should control. Every combination is valid nevertheless if the
combination makes sense or not. Valid channel names are: vol‐
ume, bass, treble, synth, pcm, speaker, line, mic, cd, imix,
altpcm, reclev, igain, ogain, line1, line2, line3, digital1,
digital2, digital3, phonein, phoneout, video, radio and monitor.
The first channel in the list is the master, all following are
slaves. Only the volume level of the master channel is read back
to adjust pbbuttonsd's internal volume reference. Slave channels
will be set to master channel's volume on every volume change
from pbbuttonsd.
MODULE MIXER ALSA
This section contains options only valid if ALSA is chosen by the mixer
module.
ALSA_Card = cardname (default: "default")
Use an alternative sound card.
This card is used to control the sound volume or to mute/unmute
the sound channels or elements as they are called from ALSA.
ALSA_Elements = elements (default: Master)
This option defines the ALSA mixer elements (ALSA) which pbbut‐
tonsd should control. Every combination is valid nevertheless if
the combination makes sense or not. Valid element names for ALSA
could be queried from the program amixer.
The first element in the list is the master (not to confuse with
the ALSA element ´Master´), all following are slaves. Only the
volume level of the master element is read back to adjust pbbut‐
tonsd's internal volume reference. Slave elements will be set to
master element's volume on every volume change.
MODULE CDROM
This module controls a CDROM drive.
Device = devicename (default: /dev/cdrom)
Use an alternative cdrom device. The device will be checked but
no error would be reported if it did't exist because of a possi‐
bly not plugged-in CDROM drive.
ejectcdkey = key (default: KEY_EJECTCD)
Use alternative key to eject a CDROM.
ejectcdkeydelay = time in milliseconds (default: 0)
This option sets the delay time used for an additional validity
check of the eject key to prevent ejects of the CD by mistake
due to small keyboards. The key must be pressed for longer than
the given time period to eject the CDROM. The value must be
given in milliseconds, for example to set a delay time of 2 sec‐
onds set the delay time to 2000. If the given value is zero, the
CD-Drive reacts immediatly.
MODULE PMAC
This module contains all the hardware dependent stuff for Apple Power‐
Books.
Device_ADB = devicename (default: /dev/adb)
Use an alternative ADB device.
This device is used to read battery status and some other infor‐
mation. It is also used to control the keyboard and trackpad
settings.
Device_PMU = devicename (default: /dev/pmu)
Use an alternative PMU device.
This device is used to control sleep mode and the backlight
device.
TPModeUpKey = key (default: ALT+KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP)
Use alternative key to cycle forward through the trackpad oper‐
ating modes. These modes are: notap, tap, drag, lock. Please
see your computer manual to learn what those modes mean and how
they work.
TPModeDownKey = key (default: ALT+KEY_BRIGHTNESSDOWN)
Use alternative key to cycle backward through the trackpad oper‐
ation modes.
TPMode = trackpad mode (default: none)
If this option was set, the given trackpad mode will be setup
during startup otherwise the current mode won't be changed. Fol‐
lowing modes are supported: notap, tap, drag and lock.
NoTapTyping = [yes | no] (default: no)
Usually the trackpad would stay in it's current mode if the key‐
board was used. With this option set the trackpad would be con‐
figured in ´notap-mode´ as soon as the first key is hit. This
will prevent cursor movement through accidently touching the
trackpad while typing.
WARNING: It was reported that computers using this option and
recent kernels might freeze once and again. The reason is not
known yet. Therefore please use this option with care.
This option is only usefull if mouseemu is not running. Mouseemu
offer this and some more trackpad related functions. Set this
option to ´no´, if you have mouseemu running.
KBDMode = keyboard mode (default: none)
If this option was set, the given keyboard mode will be setup
during startup otherwise the current mode won't be changed. Fol‐
lowing modes are supported: fkeysfirst and fkeyslast.
batlog = battery log mode (default: none)
Setting this option to one of the following values activates
some sort of battery data logging.
none disable battery data logging
cycle Pbbuttonsd counts the battery cycles so that it would be
possible to estimate batteries lifetime. Usually Li-Ion
batteries allow 500 charge/discharge cycles.
log Pbbuttonsd writes detailed battery data like current
charge, voltage, time remaining, etc. on a regularly time
basis to a log file. Also charge/discharge cycles will be
counted and displayed. Each charge/discharge cycle gets
its own battery log file. This data should allow investi‐
gation of a battery ageing. This option includes the cycle
option.
SEE ALSO
pbbuttonsd (1)
AUTHOR
Matthias Grimm.
February 06, 2007 PBBUTTONSD.CNF(5)
