hpbiff


			hpbiff

Introduction:
hpbiff is a quick hack to make the mail led on HP keyboards connected to a Linux system blink when new mail arrives. I put it together because I couldn't find a similar program.

I've found the codes to send to the keyboards in the Keyboard scancodes note of the The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO.

Since its a quick hack, there is no Makefile or configuration file. Just follow the instructions in the source file for compiling and running. If you don't know how to compile then hpbiff isn't something for you. Don't ask me questions on how to compile it unless they are about bugs etc.

WARNING Currently this program only works with HP (Vectra/Kayak) keyboards and I have not tested it with other keyboards.

If enough people will use it I will consider making the code easier to install and will try to add support for more keyboards.

hpbiff is freeware and it may work or it may not work for you, it may crash your PC or set it on fire. Use it at your own risk, there is absolutly no warranty of any kind. Don't sell it or use it for commercial purposes.

Download :
2003-11-11, version 1.01: hpbiff.c (save it as hpbiff.c)

Usage:

compile with : gcc -O2 hpbiff.c -o hpbiff
run hpbiff as root in background from startup scripts :
hpbiff /var/spool/hpbiff &
or make the executable suid root and run it as normal user from bashrc, xinitrc etc.
- make executable suid root :
    become root (su)
    chown root hpbiff
    chmod u+s hpbiff
- as normal user run hpbiff :
  hpbiff /var/spool/hpbiff &
You can also manually control the led with
hpbiff on
and
hpbiff off
Stop a running hpbiff with kill <pid> or killall hpbiff

Read the comments in the source and run hpbiff without parameters for more information.

Thats it for now, have fun.