Key Codes

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes. I have an old HP P/N
5188-7583 wireless keyboard on our second machine which has some extra
keys which used to do things like close DVD drives etc. I have no
drivers/software for the keyboard and can't find any on the HP site or
elsewhere. The "normal" keys work just fine, and I can use AutoHotKey to
reprogram the keys if I can work out what key codes they return. Does
anyone know of a piece of software which will pop them up on screen when
a key is pressed? Alternatively, does anyone knows where the original
software can be found? The old machine runs Windows 7.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

I don't go to High Church - I can't stand the smell of all that incest.

Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.

"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.

On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.

"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


Thanks - I'll have a try with that.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

It doesn't matter if your glass is half-empty or half full - just fill
it up and drink.

On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.

"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


That was exactly what I wanted - but sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.
Thanks again - the program will prove useful elsewhere.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

Heaven is where the police are British, the mechanics German, the cooks
are French, the lovers Italian, and all is organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where the police are German, the mechanics are French, the cooks
are British, the lovers are Swiss, and it's all organized by the Italians!

Bob Henson wrote:

sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.

Some HP laptops had a utility called QuickLaunchButtons that handled
extra keys, maybe they have a similar utility for wireless keyboards
buried on their wibsite?

https://support.hp.com/us-en/products/accessories-parts/keyboard-mouse/keyboards

On 15/05/2018 10.02 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.

Some HP laptops had a utility called QuickLaunchButtons that handled
extra keys, maybe they have a similar utility for wireless keyboards
buried on their wibsite?

https://support.hp.com/us-en/products/accessories-parts/keyboard-mouse/keyboards


I can't find a reference to the particular keyboard on the HP site at
all. I tried the HP Elite multimedia drivers from there - that a) didn't
work and b) caused other problems. I did find a note saying everything
over ten years old had been removed - and as the keyboard is over ten
years old, I think maybe I've had it. I've managed to assign some of the
functions to other keys that Sue doesn't use for anything else using
AutoHotKey - like Ctrl+Alt+Drive letter to close the optical drives
(they don't have an accessible button to close them, would you believe),
so I think I'll call it a day at that. Thanks again for the help - I've
already thought of a use for the program you showed me.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Bob Henson wrote in news:flvk2cFcinjU1
@mid.individual.net:

On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.

"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


That was exactly what I wanted - but sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.
Thanks again - the program will prove useful elsewhere.

First off, if there is a key, it puts out a scan code. You might want to
look for a key catcher. It is a little device that goes between the
keyboard and the PC, and records all keypresses. I am sure the associated
software will report the normal scan codes as translated into characters,
but it should also show any scan codes that are not normally used.

There are also software versions of the same, but I don't know what they
would do with an uncrecognized scan code.

Bob Henson wrote in
:

I've managed to
assign some of the functions to other keys that Sue doesn't use for
anything else using AutoHotKey - like Ctrl+Alt+Drive letter to close
the optical drives (they don't have an accessible button to close
them, would you believe), so I think I'll call it a day at that.
Thanks again for the help - I've already thought of a use for the
program you showed me.

You can also close an optical drive by right clicking on it and selecting
'Eject'

Bob Henson wrote:
On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.
"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


That was exactly what I wanted - but sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.
Thanks again - the program will prove useful elsewhere.


Are these the "multimedia keys" ?

I have rubber buttons called "Internet", "Email", "Search"
that don't generate normal KeyPress/KeyRelease scan codes.

But, I found a reference in Linux land.

The solution: Press and hold the shift key, then press the multimedia key.
You will be rewarded with a scan code coming from the
rubber button multimedia keys.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1029580

[Without shift key]

KeymapNotify event === Useless

[With shift key]

KeyRelease event XF86AudioPrev === Could be a volume up/down thing...

HTH,
Paul

On 15/05/2018 1.29 pm, Tim wrote:
Bob Henson wrote in
:

I've managed to
assign some of the functions to other keys that Sue doesn't use for
anything else using AutoHotKey - like Ctrl+Alt+Drive letter to close
the optical drives (they don't have an accessible button to close
them, would you believe), so I think I'll call it a day at that.
Thanks again for the help - I've already thought of a use for the
program you showed me.

You can also close an optical drive by right clicking on it and selecting
'Eject'

If it has something in it. My Windows Explorer is set to only show
drives that have contents. Even if the empty optical drives showed up,
by the time I had launched Explorer and tracked down the page with the
mouse to the drive it would take rather longer than just hitting
WinKey+O - which AutoHotKey sets to toggle the drive drawer open/shut.
On Sue's machine she has two optical drives so there is (now) a key
binding for each. Thanks for the idea though - I do use that idea on
Linux sometimes since the mounted optical drives show up on the desktop
and can be clicked from there.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlights of an
oncoming train!

On 15/05/2018 2.06 pm, Paul wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:
On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.
"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


That was exactly what I wanted - but sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.
Thanks again - the program will prove useful elsewhere.


Are these the "multimedia keys" ?

I have rubber buttons called "Internet", "Email", "Search"
that don't generate normal KeyPress/KeyRelease scan codes.

But, I found a reference in Linux land.

The solution: Press and hold the shift key, then press the multimedia key.
You will be rewarded with a scan code coming from the
rubber button multimedia keys.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1029580

[Without shift key]

KeymapNotify event === Useless

[With shift key]

KeyRelease event XF86AudioPrev === Could be a volume up/down thing...

HTH,
Paul


Interesting. I'll have a look at that - again, that could well be useful.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

Atheist - a person with no invisible means of support.

"Paul" wrote

| I have rubber buttons called "Internet", "Email", "Search"
| that don't generate normal KeyPress/KeyRelease scan codes.
|

There's also a distinction in some situations between
a keypress, which is usually a keyascii value, and a keydown
or keyup, which is a virtual key code. See the docs for
keybd_event.

I have some of the "Internet Keyboard" keys on
my Logitech. WWW, Mail, Search. WWW opens IE
and Search opens windows search, even though I
never programmed them. They all generate unassigned
keycodes. (170-ish) Maybe the OEMs cooperated with
MS back when they made those things? I don't know.

But Bob says his keys don't generate a keycode. It's
possible there's some kind of custom signal generated,
which then has to be interpreted by an installed hook
from HP. In any case, software seems to not be HP's
strong suit. I've often had trouble in the past with their
printer software. (I once had to trick an HP printer
driver into thinking I had a later version of IE. It wouldn't
install otherwise! With another HP printer install I ended
up with an odd folder in Program Files. It turned out to be
the full source code project for a call-home program.)

And these days HP seem to have copped out entirely,
telling visitors with older computers to go to Microsoft
for drivers and software.

On 15/05/2018 2.06 pm, Paul wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:
On 15/05/2018 9.07 am, Andy Burns wrote:
Bob Henson wrote:

Does anyone know of an easy way to read key codes.
"scan codes" is generally a better term to search for ...

http://delphiforfun.org/programs/utilities/KeyCodes.htm

you might find ACPI intercepts some of the special codes before Windows
sees them.


That was exactly what I wanted - but sadly, the keys concerned don't
return any codes at all. Ah well, back to the original software search.
Thanks again - the program will prove useful elsewhere.


Are these the "multimedia keys" ?

I have rubber buttons called "Internet", "Email", "Search"
that don't generate normal KeyPress/KeyRelease scan codes.

But, I found a reference in Linux land.

The solution: Press and hold the shift key, then press the multimedia key.
You will be rewarded with a scan code coming from the
rubber button multimedia keys.

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1029580

[Without shift key]

KeymapNotify event === Useless

[With shift key]

KeyRelease event XF86AudioPrev === Could be a volume up/down thing...

HTH,
Paul


Using the key code detector Andy suggested pressing Shift and the keys
still doesn't produce a code. Holding down Shift produces a stream of
shift codes and the other keys when tapped have no effect.

--
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box. - Italian
Proverb.