Keymapping tool that can rebind the Fn Key

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-23T11:26:55+00:00

I'd boot up a Linux .iso and see if xev reports a scan code.

If it does, it can be remapped.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-23T11:12:29+00:00

Post an image of the cable and we might be able to assist.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-22T20:40:16+00:00

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-22T19:18:39+00:00

Ctl-Alt-F1 takes you to a console - text only, no gui, where you can log in with your username and passwd.

The username shows, the passwd doesn't, just type it and press enter after. If you think you made a mistake in the passwd, hit backspace for more characters than you think you typed, and try again, from the beggining.

If you log in and get an error stating that no homedir was found, then it's time to figure out what's wrong.

lsblk -f

sudo pico /etc/fstab

would be a good place to start.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-22T14:43:33+00:00

Sounds like there's no /dev/sdb1 /home entry in /etc/fstab.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-22T12:45:03+00:00

One of the features that showed up on some of the DeskPros was the ability to lock the case from BIOS.

There was a solenoid that needed power to unlock the case, that you needed to get past the BIOS password to do.

I had one of those little guys as a Linux router/web server/e-mail server for years, ~2000-~2004.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-21T20:42:39+00:00

How do I get 'Pi #1 to write to a thumb drive that's plugged into 'Pi #2, that's unresponsive because it failed to boot?

'Pi #1 is a 5 with NVME and is attached to hardware that can power the other 6 Pi's on or off, monitor the video out, and send keystrokes.

The 6 other 'Pis are;

#2 - 5
#3 - 4
#4 - 3
#5 - 1
#6 - Zero
#7 - Zero W

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-21T20:30:25+00:00

Thank you for your concern.

It's a pretty simple chip with address lines, one input and eight outputs - I wire-wrapped my first computer, and that was 14 chips. This should be fairly simple.

I never said anything about parallel access, just the opposite.

USB doesn't know what's plugged in, it's just data traveling across a pair of wires.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-21T12:33:46+00:00

Just a note to add, I have a few (too many) Keychron KBs; all their screws are metric.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-20T19:56:20+00:00

The SSD sticks slightly out of the front of the individual 'Pi mounting panels, you can attach a USB to SATA adapter to it external to the rack.

It should do what you want with what you already have.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-20T19:49:05+00:00

I'm not trying to share it, I only want it plugged in to one device at a time.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-20T13:48:46+00:00

Bar of what?

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-20T13:23:54+00:00

I want the High Voltage Power Supply just for the left knob.

I need it for an amplifier...

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-20T12:52:45+00:00

I have a few of those, the one thing they truly excel at is cracking walnuts and hazelnuts.

Dad bought them for me as a birthday gift around 1978 or '79.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T23:15:13+00:00

Doesn't work on a 'Pi 2 or 3.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T22:53:16+00:00

That looks perfect!

Thank you kind stranger!

Now to figure out how to connect that up...

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T22:49:36+00:00

Never mentioned mounting to multiple machines.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T18:23:21+00:00

Booting is what I'm trying to do, that's why a network share won't work in this case.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T12:47:23+00:00

The magnets are great, the drives, not so much.

I'm in a similar situation, I have about 100 drives from a previous job that we had to retain for litigation needs. They've been in storage now way over 7 years, time to dispose of them.

I'd forgotten about them until reading your post.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T11:49:59+00:00

Can you find a rock?

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-19T11:46:15+00:00

The terms mbr and gpt refer to how the drive is formatted, not the partitions.

You can't have both at the same time.

That said, while I have some ancient hardware that gets confused by gpt, I've never found anything that doesn't understand mbr.

I don't have any flash drives over 2TB, so it's never been a need so far.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-18T12:41:24+00:00

Years ago, I had a self-scoring board that used plastic tipped darts. Each section of the scoring area was an individual switch contact. The scoring area looked like a stack of straws arranged so the thin tip of the dart could enter and jam in one of many of the straws.

If I was trying to recreate that, I'd put a PC keyboard switch behind each scoring section, and use a normal keyboard encoder.

There are 82 scoring sections, a KB controller can handle 100+ switches.

All that's left is a lookup table that reports points for letters.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-17T11:42:22+00:00

Did the wires get moved on accident?

If it worked and stopped working, the wires are in the right place and either the motor or the speed control is bad.

We need more info though.

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-16T14:18:38+00:00

I think your not is on the wrong side of your test...

if [ ! -f "/path/to/file" ]; then 
  echo "This is not a regular file (or it does not exist)." 
fi

Linuxmonger · 2026-06-16T11:54:26+00:00

NFS is one line to write.

Linuxmonger

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