Hey folks, thanks for all of your recommendations for distros a while back. I ended up settling on Fedora KDE, and have been futzing around with it on my old laptop just for funsies.

I’ve re-encountered an old problem though. The laptop’s Caps Lock and F1 keys are busted, sending in dozens of keypresses per second even when unpressed. I solved this on windows with a bit of a headache (using a program to disable those keys), but I have no idea how to solve it in this environment. I’ve tried futzing with keyd with little success, and my search powers are really failing me here.

Any advice?

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    81·
    7 months ago

    Bit of a different direction here: if this is a well known brand, replacement keyboards can be dirt cheap, and are super easy to replace. Big refurb.and used space for these parts as well.

  • HipsterTenZero@dormi.zoneOP
    5·
    7 months ago

    Solved! I had to swing by a hardware store for some screwdrivers and bemoaned a few secret screws keeping the thing from opening, but I located the keyboard ribbon and removed it. All is well! I even gave the fan a little cleaning, which was long overdue eheh. Thanks folks!

  • BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    Are you using the working keys on the builtin keyboard?

    It would be great to find a software solution.

    A hardware solution would be to unplug the keyboard if you are always using an external keyboard. As long as it will bolt with the internal keyboard unplugged.

    Plus, the other person’s suggestion to replace the keyboard.

    Kinda risky, but you could also see if you can unsolder or cut the track to that specific broken key. There is the risk of completely borking the keyboard, though.

    • HipsterTenZero@dormi.zoneOP
      5·
      7 months ago

      Huh, unplugging the keyboard. I didn’t think of that. I might just see how easy that is to do later tonight.

      • MorphiusFaydal@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        Depending on the model and brand, there’s probably a YouTube video showing how to disassemble it. This can help you find the keyboard connector and how to disconnect it.

  • eldavi@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    7 months ago

    there’s multiple ways to skin this cat, but in your shoes: i would use xmodmap to remap or disable those keys.

    • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world
      1·
      7 months ago

      Isn’t xmodmap specific to X11? Fedora tends to be on Wayland by default, and I’m fairly certain their KDE version is

      • eldavi@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        That’s true; I haven’t modified my keyboard in decades and this shows it.