How to enable NumLock on boot

kyrios

Unless you have an old machine, the preferred method should be to set it from the computer's firmware (UEFI or BIOS).

Shinicon781

kyrios Unless you have an old machine, the preferred method should be to set it from the computer's firmware (UEFI or BIOS).

Hello,

I am a beginner with Linux and use the current Solus version 4.1.

But I couldn't find an option in the settings for my old computer (9 years old).

Can you add it for the next version, then the end user can activate it in the graphical user interface?

Thanks.

deveh

kyrios Yep, just checked - in UEFI there's a setting to turn on numlock on boot. Observed: turn on PC - numlock is on, grub boot selection shows - numlock is on, starts booting Solus - numlock turns off instantly.

So, it's 2022 and this simple simple problem is not resolved, you actually have to download a package from another distro and manually edit a text file. Oof. Big oof.

KronikPillow

well I have UEFI, but definetly not a num lock on boot option in it ... it's a 7-8 year old PC, i5 3rd gen ... will try out @Solus-Fan solution ...

KronikPillow

Ok, so no, neither of the options worked, the dconf-editor solution works, when i login, so after i login to my system, numlock is enabled, but it's not enabled on boot aka on the login screen, I have severan numeric characters in my random generated password and I find it easier to use the numeric keys for it, so thats why i want NumLock enabled on the login screen ... any other suggestions?

indominus

I always use this method shown in Archwiki.https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LightDM#NumLock_on_by_default.
NumLock on by default
Install the numlockx package and then edit/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf:

/etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf`

```
[Seat:*]
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on

indominus

But numlockx is not available in software centre.(I can't type below that greyed code box in the above post.Sorry.)

KronikPillow

yes I know 🙁 And i still haven't found the solution

IAMISSAM

I've just grabbed the numlockx binary manually from the pacman mirror, and moved in /usr/bin/
And it's working

IAMISSAM

Here is the numlockx package archive : http://mirrors.evowise.com/archlinux/community/os/x86_64/numlockx-1.2-4-x86_64.pkg.tar.

Open the archive, the binary is in /usr/bin/numlockx

Extract it somewhere and

chmod +x numlockx
sudo mv numlockx /usr/bin/

indominus

IAMISSAM That link does not work.However I downloaded numlockx from AUR and followed your steps.But numlock did not turn on during boot.As you show in the terminal screenshot it can only turn on or off from terminal.

IAMISSAM

Or you can just compile it from source :

git clone https://github.com/rg3/numlockx
cd numlockx/
./configure
make
sudo make install

lqlarry

IAMISSAM This works like a charm.

Justin

indominus Did you then edit the lightdm configuration file?

indominus

Justin No.Its turned on already.

#greeter-wrapper=
#guest-wrapper=
#display-setup-script=
#display-stopped-script=
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on
#session-setup-script=
#session-cleanup-script=
#autologin-guest=false
#autologin-user=

Justin

indominus Is that in [Seat:*]?

indominus

Justin Yes it is.

Justin

Not sure on this one then. I've always set Num lock on boot via motherboard, but haven't had an issue with it for many years.

KronikPillow

well that simply is not a solution for everyone, as NumLock in BIOS or EFI, doesn't exist for everyone, me included .... on Plasma i just add a line to sddm.conf and numlock boots on boot without any additional packages ... everyone suggests numlockx for lightdm, yet it doesn't work on Solus, like some other core apps that i need...

indominus

KronikPillow this is how i enabled numlock on boot:
Download numlockx from here https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/numlockx/
Extract and place numlockx bin into /usr/bin
Edit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/10_solus_default.conf

[Seat:*]
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on

Justin

Have you made package requests for the apps you need?

bichler

I managed to download the file.
How do I extract it ?
numlockx-1.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

vecst

bichler
you're going to want to get zstd
sudo eopkg it zstd
then
zstd -d numlockx-1.2-5-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
don't forget to symlink the binary to your /usr/bin folder.
Also while this thread contains valuble info it is a year old and lightdm configs are no longer located in /etc/lightdm/
to find your config files run
lightdm --show-config
and add
greeter-setup-script=/usr/bin/numlockx on on the slick-greeter conf under the [Seat:*]