A week ago, I spilt the contents of my cup onto my laptop keyboard. Half of the keys no longer work, except one! The letter Q which is very active regularly.
This is very disturbing as I work.
Is there a way to disable the internal keyboard of a laptop?
Is it possible with xmodmap?
You can use xinput to float the input device under X.
xinput list to list your input devices.AT Translated Set 2 keyboard and take note of its id number; this will be used to disable the keyboard. Also, take note of the number at the end, [slave keyboard (#)]; this is the id number of the master, which will be used to re-enable your keyboard.xinput float <id#>, where <id#> is your keyboard's id number. For example, if the id was 10, then the command would be xinput float 10.xinput reattach <id#> <master#>, where master is that second number we noted down. So if the number was 3, you would do xinput reattach 10 3.Here's a demonstration:
$ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=11 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:4004 id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Acer CrystalEye webcam id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
$ xinput float 10
$ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=11 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:4004 id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Acer CrystalEye webcam id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
∼ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=10 [floating slave]
$ xinput reattach 10 3
$ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=11 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:4004 id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Acer CrystalEye webcam id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
Here is a little switch button to enable and disable a specific keyboard.
First, you have to find your keyboard id with xinput or xinput-list.
#!/bin/bash
Icon="/PATH/TO/ICON_ON"
Icoff="/PATH_TO_ICON_OFF"
fconfig=".keyboard"
id=12
if [ ! -f $fconfig ]; then
echo "Creating config file"
echo "enabled" > $fconfig
var="enabled"
else
read -r var< $fconfig
echo "keyboard is : $var"
fi
if [ "$var" = "disabled" ]; then
notify-send -i $Icon "Enabling keyboard..." \ "ON - Keyboard connected !";
echo "enable keyboard..."
xinput enable $id
echo "enabled" > $fconfig
elif [ "$var" = "enabled" ]; then
notify-send -i $Icoff "Disabling Keyboard" \ "OFF - Keyboard disconnected";
echo "disable keyboard"
xinput disable $id
echo 'disabled' > $fconfig
fi
Icon as the path of icon to display when enabling (for instance, /home/user/path/icon.png)
Icoff as the path of the icon to display when disabling
I used the following icons :
id as the keyboard id (found it with xinput)
fconfig path to config file. Change if you want to create configuration file in another directory
Don't try to run the script if you can't run it again without the use of your keyboard (unless you got another keyboard of course). Create the following launcher (in home/user/.local/share/applications) and add it to unity :
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Clavier ON-OFF
Icon=PATH/TO/YOUR/ICON
Exec=bash NAME_OF_YOUR_SCRIPT.sh
Path=PATH/TO/YOUR/SCRIPT
NoDisplay=false
Categories=Utility;
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Launcher:
[
Notifications:
[
[
Device id's received from xinput list as suggested in accepted answer are sometimes somehow changed on reboot (at least on my PC) which resulted in disabling wrong device.
That's why I've ended using device name instead of id, e.g.:
xinput disable "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
To disable the internal keyboard of your laptop permanently, use the i8042.nokbd kernel parameter, which disables checking and creating the keyboard port:
i8042.nokbd [HW] Don't check/create keyboard port
Open the terminal and run the following command:
$sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
Find the following line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
Add the parameter i8042.nokbd.
The above line should look like this:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i8042.nokbd"
Update grub with the following command :
$sudo update-grub
Then reboot your laptop.
I thought of 2 ways you can do this:
By setting up a wrong model for your laptop keyboard in xorg.conf ?
By installing Lock-keyboard-for-Baby
`Lock-keyboard-for-Baby or lk4b in short, is a small program which locks your keyboard but leaves your mouse free. I wrote it because my niece likes to bash away at my keyboard whenever she sees me sit down at it. Keys typed on a keyboard can have disastrous consequences and I didn't want to lock my screen all the time with a screensaver.
When started, lock-keyboard-for-baby opens a small window which grabs the keyboard and echos keys which are typed. By default, it tells you what to type to quit ("Quit Now").
Unlike a screensaver, your screen is not blocked and the mouse still partially works, so you can still see what is on your screen - keep watching tv / video and/or read a document using the mouse to scroll.`
Requirements:
· GTK >= 2.x · perl GTK2 bindings (perl-gtk2 or gtk2-perl depending on your system)
One sure way to disable it is to unplug the signal cable. You need to pop up the keyboard for that. For information on how to do that, check out the Maintenance and Service Guide for the HP Pavilion dv9000 and dv9200 Notebook PC .
Now there is a way to disable the keyboard using xinput. T do that, just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the commands below.
To list the devices your X
xinput --list
To disable the keyboard:
xinput set-int-prop 2 "Device Enabled" 8 0
To enable the keyboard again:
xinput set-int-prop 2 "Device Enabled" 8 1
If you get a error about permissions, use the commands above with sudo.
Input device indicator allows you to enable and/or disable your devices from a menu. It uses xinput internally, but you do not need to open the terminal, list manually, type the command etc.
It is in a PPA, so you can install it with
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 03BBACDA765F39D9A14EEDE4425F3F9343B40373
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:brandizzi/ppa
sudo apt install input-device-indicator
To invoke it you just need to execute input-device-indicator (which can be added to the session startup programs) or look for "Input Device Indicator" through the HUD (or whatever it is called these days.)
Consequently, I discovered:
$ xinput float id#;sleep t;xinput reattach id# master#
t -time to sleep in seconds
id# and master# as mentioned above (top of page)
For example in my terminal:
$ xinput float 11;sleep 5;xinput reattach 11 3
For what it's worth, based on previous answers and my own playing around, I created the following script, which I call toggle_keyboard.sh and place in my ~/bin path. I have a keyboard shortcut that runs it set to CtrlWinK.
Some problems with the previous answers and benefit of my script:
xinput float 13. I ended up disabling the wrong hardware.xinput list --name-only. Just get the name and edit the top four variables. I use it for my laptop keyboard, webcam, touchscreen monitor and a few other things I use only once in a while.#!/bin/bash
# Toggle the laptop keyboard either on or off and notify the user about it
# Device name can be found by typing this command: xinput list --name-only
DEVICE_NAME="AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
# The display name of the device in the notify-send popup
DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME="Laptop Keyboard"
# Set these to the icons you want to use.
# If they are not found, the notification will still work.
ICON_ENABLE="$HOME/.icons/keyboard.png"
ICON_DISABLE="$HOME/.icons/keyboard_disabled.png"
function xinput_set_prop() {
xinput set-prop "$DEVICE_NAME" "Device Enabled" $1
}
function notify_change() {
if [ -f "$1" ]; then
notify-send --urgency=low --icon="$1" "$2"
else
notify-send --urgency=low "$2"
fi
}
# Returns 1 if device is enabled, 0 if disabled
is_enabled=$(xinput list-props "$DEVICE_NAME" | grep "Device Enabled" | awk '{ print $4 }' | sed 's/[^0-9]*//g')
if [ $is_enabled -eq 1 ]; then
# device is enabled, so disable it
xinput_set_prop 0
notify_change "$ICON_DISABLE" "$DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME Disabled"
else
# device is disabled, so enable it
xinput_set_prop 1
notify_change "$ICON_ENABLE" "$DEVICE_DISPLAY_NAME Enabled"
fi
xinput float "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
After spending hours over years with different methods with different distros and releases. The above terminal command is what I rely on after problems..... I use this now with neon plasma and was using it a month ago in straight ubuntu 18.04.
(needs applying after restart - can be placed in startup)
* My built in keyboard on my HP Laptop that is damaged and starts typing which causes serious problems - I use a wireless keyboard and mouse - touchpad is on/off as part of KDE topbar options - neon/plasma 5).
In system settings / autostart
A text file with the following line of code is saved as a .sh file and set as executable (txt files properties)
xinput float "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
The text file is given a name > keyboardoff > and placed in autostart (executable) When you restart/start system > built in keyboard is switched off. (use xinput list to test)
#Disable Inbuilt Keyboard on Ubuntu
# Find Keyboard Device ID
KeyboardID=$(xinput list | grep "Translated Set 2 keyboard" | awk '{ gsub(/[[:alpha:]]|[[:punct:]]/," ")}1' | awk '{print $3}')
# Find Master Device ID
MasterDeviceID=$(xinput list | grep "Translated Set 2 keyboard" | awk '{ gsub(/[[:alpha:]]|[[:punct:]]/," ")}1' | awk '{print $4}')
# Command to disable Keyboard
xinput float $KeyboardID
# Command to enable Keyboard
xinput reattach $KeyboardID $MasterDeviceID
The methods mentioned earlier can be either too extreme, like i8042.nokbd, or limited to Xserver. However, there's another approach that achieves a similar result to the i8042.nokbd parameter while still being easy to revert, just like the X server methods.
To unbind the device from the relevant driver in an elevated terminal, execute:
echo -n 'serio0' > '/sys/bus/serio/drivers/atkbd/unbind'
To rebind or enable the keyboard again, use:
echo -n 'serio0' > '/sys/bus/serio/drivers/atkbd/bind'
Note: On some devices, the keyboard will automatically bind itself. To prevent this, you need to change the bind mode of the device from auto to manual by executing:
echo -n 'manual' | tee /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/bind_mode
Also, note that the keyboard is not guaranteed to correspond to serio0, though this is usually the case.
Another interesting way to achieve similar results to xinput methods at a layer just below xserver or any modern display-input server is to force libinput to ignore inputs from the device by using the udev attribute LIBINPUT_IGNORE_DEVICE.
For further instructions.
Yet another udev method is to not identify the keyboard as an input device by setting ENV{ID_INPUT}="",source.
Note:The first method is valid for a session only,you can create a udev rule or systemd service to have a persistent effect.
