How to use the Logitech G15 gaming keyboard with Linux
- Download and install the g15lcd utility.
- I am using a small script to start it from my .xsession file. The script takes care of creating the FIFO the utility needs and starting it.
- In order to be able to use the various keys on the keyboard, I have made a custom mapping using xmodmap. I am starting this script from my .xsession file as well. It could be done more nicely but this works fine for me.
- The extra keys are mapped to various X keysyms now and can be used, for example, in KDE shortcuts or in Emacs. The multimedia keys and the wheel are mapped to the default keysyms for multimedia keys in X11. This works out-of-the-box with e.g. kmix or Amarok.
System stats on the G15 display
- Dowload the script g15stats. It is a modified version of an original script written by Flavio Villanustre and available here.
- I am running this script from my .xsession file.
Current song from Amarok on the G15 display
I have recently replaced the system stats script from above with another script displaying the currently playing song in Amarok. There are several such scripts available, however I wasn’t happy with any of them.
- This one is rather primitive, it doesn’t handle the situation when Amarok is not running or not playing anything.
- Python Logitech G15 Keyboard Multiplexing Daemon is more advanced and can rotate several “plugins” on the fly. However, my experience with it was bad – it is not very reliable, needs lots of system resources and leaves temporary files laying left and right. Moreover, it is an overkill for just an Amarok monitor.
My script displays the current song title, artist, remaining and total time. It can also gracefuly handle the situation when Amarok is not running or not playing anything and will not display garbage on the screen instead. It also doesn’t leave any temporary files behind (since it doesn’t use them). At the moment, it doesn’t wrap long titles or artists and doesn’t justify the text on the screen, however these are minor issues which are non-trivial to solve in a shell script.
- Download the Path:files/software/linux/g15amarok script.
- I am running the script from my .xsession file. You can run either the stats script or the Amarok script, but not both!
Improved version of the Amarok monitoring script
- Download the script . This version was rewritten using Perl and allows better formatting of the output – the song title and the artist name are wrapped at the screen boundary and the time indication is centered.
- I am running this script from my .xsession file.
G15daemon version of the Amarok monitoring script
- Download the script g15amarok-daemon.pl. This version was ported to use the g15daemon by Eric Bettse bettse@onid.orst.edu .
Another version as Amarok script
- The scripts is available as G15 Amarok Plugin Plus. It requires the g15daemon by Eric Bettse.