linux Setting up a second keyboard as a soundboard on linux

[Sheerpython]

Hello i have been trying to setup a second keyboard as a soundboard in manjaro for the past two days but i can't figure it out.

What i have tried is using actkbd to detect the keypresses only on the second keyboard and then running the play command from sox to try and play sound like this:

30:::play /soundboard/sound.mp3

But when trying this i get the error:

ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:1089:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

First i tought it was a problem with it running in root so i changed the command to:

30:::sudo -u roy play /soundboard/message.mp3

But with this the exact same error occurred. On which I have been stuck, when I run 'play /soundboard/sound.mp3' manually in my terminal it works without any problems. I have also tried other sound playing libraries but they are giving me the same error as the one above. Trying it with a small piece of python also didn't fix the problem : /. I hope someone here knows a potential solution to the problem I am having, and is able to help me / try to help me with it.

 

Greetings,

Roy

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, Sheerpython said:

actkbd

That's a really old project (the last commit is from 6 years ago and the readme mentions Linux 2.6), I wouldn't really trust it. Also running audio operations as root or with sudo (even when sudoing as a regular user) is ultra sketchy, avoid it. If you must use a dedicated daemon try this instead, at least it's actively maintained.

 

What version of Manjaro are you using? Most desktop environments have a pretty good shortcut manager bundled with them, try using that instead.

[Sheerpython]

Thank you for responding : )

I am running Manjaro 18.1.5 and I have just tried running sxhkd which i got to play sound when pressing a key. The problem with this daemon is that it doesn't work keyboard specific. It's listening on both keyboards and i can't find a way to make it listen to just one. I also looked at the build in shortcut manager but that also doesn't seem to support it. Did i possibly miss something at the sxhkd deamon?

[Sauron]

45 minutes ago, Sheerpython said:

Thank you for responding : )

I am running Manjaro 18.1.5 and I have just tried running sxhkd which i got to play sound when pressing a key. The problem with this daemon is that it doesn't work keyboard specific. It's listening on both keyboards and i can't find a way to make it listen to just one. I also looked at the build in shortcut manager but that also doesn't seem to support it. Did i possibly miss something at the sxhkd deamon?

You could try a custom mapping using xmodmap and bind all keys on the second keyboard to unused unicode symbols, then map those symbols to the shortcuts you want. I think sxhkd can't tell the difference between the two keyboards because it uses symbols rather than keycodes but this workaround should allow you to use it anyway.

[Sheerpython]

15 hours ago, Sauron said:

You could try a custom mapping using xmodmap and bind all keys on the second keyboard to unused unicode symbols, then map those symbols to the shortcuts you want. I think sxhkd can't tell the difference between the two keyboards because it uses symbols rather than keycodes but this workaround should allow you to use it anyway.

I looked at the post you send me and i think you meant XKB instead of xmodmap but the question that i currently have is, is there a way i can just put the second keyboard in russian or chinese? (Something I will never use)

[Sauron]

9 hours ago, Sheerpython said:

the question that i currently have is, is there a way i can just put the second keyboard in russian or chinese? (Something I will never use)

...maybe? I mean in theory sure, I don't know if there's a program that lets you do it automatically though. You could use XKB (I did mean that and not xmodmap) and use a python script to generate the correct bindings. Maybe there are premade mappings you can copy, all you'd have to to would be to change the regex to match your device.

[Nayr438]

Use xinput to list devices, on manjaro you need to install xorg-xinput, then do setxkbmap -device xinput_device_id ru

That will set it to russian but you can get a keymap list with localectl list-x11-keymap-layouts

 

autokey(aur) has a gui and can run scripts /  commands on key input.

system.exec_command("command")