How to detect global key presses

Question

I have an Asus laptop that has a special key that can be configured to launch any software (at least on Windows).

The general question is: how can I detect any key press (globally)?

Then, how can I detect when the user press this key?

Answer 1

I typically will use xev to determine the key's scancode and then map it to whatever action I want using either xdotool or XBindKeys.

xev

$ xev | grep -A2 --line-buffered '^KeyRelease' \
    | sed -n '/keycode /s/^.*keycode \([0-9]*\).* (.*, \(.*\)).*$/\1 \2/p'

After running the above xev command you'll get a little white window that'll pop up. You'll want to put the mouse over this window and then press the problem key. The name of the key should be showing up in the terminal as you press the various keys.

Screenshot

                   

mapping the key to something useful

You can create shortcut key combinations that will launch commands using xbindkeys, for example. I've successfully been using XBindKeys on GNOME 3.8.4 for this very purpose.

My use has been modest but I like to create keyboard shortcuts for Nautilus to launch with certain directories opened.

Example

You'll need to first make sure the packages xbindkeys is installed.

Then you'll need to run the following command, one time only, to create a template xbindkeys configuration file.

$ xbindkeys --defaults > /home/saml/.xbindkeysrc

With the file created you can open it in a text editor and add a rule like this:

"nautilus --browser /home/saml/projects/path/to/some/dir"
  Mod4+shift + q

With the above change made we need to kill xbindkeys if it's already running and then restart it.

$ killall xbindkeys
$ xbindkeys

Now with this running any time I type Mod+Shift+Q Nautilus will open with the corresponding folder opened.

Using GNOME's Keyboard Applet

If you go through the settings (System Settings → Keyboard, select Shortcuts tab and add a new custom shortcut for your browser.

   

Using the steps 1-5 as in the diagram you could map a command to your special key as well.

Answer 2

I'd like to post a summary of the various tools I've just tested.

I began with this google search: linux see what key is being pressed, which brought me to the following places. Since they are either closed or off-topic, right here is the most-logical choice to post my summary.

1. [closed: off-topic] https://superuser.com/questions/248517/show-keys-pressed-in-linux
2. [closed: duplicate] https://askubuntu.com/questions/1197651/ubuntu-show-what-keys-are-pressed-in-real-time
   1. [the "original", non-duplicate question] https://askubuntu.com/questions/30466/how-can-i-display-keyboard-shortcuts-as-i-press-them
3. this very question here

Here is a bit of a summary of the best answers from each of those places. I need this info. so I can:

1. detect stuck keys, which just happened, and
2. work on HID keyboard microcontroller devices, which I do occasionally since I sell one.

Summary of various ways to detect key presses

Tested on Linux Ubuntu 20.04.

1. screenkey

   # Install it
   sudo apt update 
   sudo apt install screenkey
   run it
   screenkey
   it now displays a massive black bar at the bottom of your main monitor
   whenever you press any key, showing all keys as they are pressed!
   kill it
   first, find its PID
   ps aux | grep screenkey
   Sample output:
   $ ps aux | grep screenkey
   gabriel   215523  2.9  0.3 972900 59364 ?        Rl   10:27   0:00 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/screenkey
   gabriel   215635  0.0  0.0   9040  2388 pts/0    S+   10:27   0:00 grep --color=auto screenkey
   OR
   pgrep screenkey
   Sample output:
   $ pgrep screenkey
   215523
   now, kill that PID; ex:
   kill 215523
   

   Where I first learned about this tool: https://askubuntu.com/a/30468/327339

2. sudo showkey

   # show numeric keycode key presses and releases (use Ctrl + C to exit)
   sudo showkey
   show hex scancodes (use Ctrl + C to exit)
   sudo showkey -s
   show ASCII keycodes, including the actual letter or character pressed,
   which is the most human-readable (use Ctrl + D to exit, NOT Ctrl + C!)
   sudo showkey -a
   

   Source:

   1. https://superuser.com/a/248568/425838
      1. My summary comment under the answer: https://superuser.com/questions/248517/show-keys-pressed-in-linux#comment2606625_248568

3. https://www.keyboardtester.com/. Test your keys in the browser, and/or see if a key is stuck. Where I first learned about this tool: https://askubuntu.com/a/1197656/327339

4. xev. When done using it, it takes two steps to kill it:

   1. Click out of your current terminal window to cause your terminal window to lose focus.
   2. Click back into your terminal window and press Ctrl + C.

   Sources:

   1. Where I first learned about this tool: https://askubuntu.com/a/1198027/327339
   2. See also: How to detect global key presses

5. sudo evtest - a very low-level tool; appears to be what I need to work on USB HID devices (I think); works great!

   # Install it
   sudo apt update 
   sudo apt install evtest
   Run it
   First, find your keyboard /dev/input/event number manually
   sudo evtest
   Then, press Ctrl + C to kill it after it prints out all the events; you
   do NOT need to "Select the device event number" as it requests. Just hit
   Ctrl + C.
   Let's assume ours is "/dev/input/event4".
   now, run the grab command with the above event number path
   sudo su -c 'sleep 1; timeout -k5 10 evtest --grab /dev/input/event4'
   OR, if you know that sudo evtest only shows one output line with the
   word "keyboard" in it, you can script the above two steps with this one
   cmd like this. Notice that you can get a list of all input devices with
   cat /proc/bus/input/devices, as is done at the start of this cmd:
   input_event_num="$(cat /proc/bus/input/devices 
   
   | grep -B 1 -A 10 -i "keyboard" | awk 'NR==6 {print $4}')"; 
   
   path_to_keyboard="/dev/input/$input_event_num"; 
   
   sudo su -c "sleep 1; timeout -k5 10 evtest --grab $path_to_keyboard"
   

   Source:

   1. https://askubuntu.com/a/1197742/327339
      1. See also the comments under this answer.

Other references:

1. awk help: https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/89641/114401
2. Where I learned about cat /proc/bus/input/devices: https://stackoverflow.com/a/15052092/4561887

Answer 3

If you are unable to figure-out which keyboard keys are not working then you can use keyboardtester.org

It is simple to use.