Difference between revisions of "ThinkPad Button"
(→System Boot: despite the change of the page name, the button mentioned here shouldn't be the ThinkPad-Button, because on ThinkPads where it is labelled ThinkPad, there is no PreDesktop area.) |
|||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
|style="vertical-align:top" | | |style="vertical-align:top" | | ||
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;"> | <div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;"> | ||
| − | The ThinkPad Button is a button situated in the upper left corner of the keyboard on modern ThinkPads. It is intended to be a means of quick access to help and support. Technically it is nothing else than a button that can be configured to launch a certain piece of software. While originally it was grey and labelled | + | The ThinkPad Button is a button situated in the upper left corner of the keyboard on modern ThinkPads. It is intended to be a means of quick access to help and support. Technically it is nothing else than a button that can be configured to launch a certain piece of software. While originally it was grey and labelled {{ibmkey|ThinkPad|#494949}}, IBM later made it blue and called it the {{ibmkey|Access IBM|#495988}} Button. Lenovo relabelled it as {{ibmkey|ThinkVantage|#495988}} after it took over the ThinkPad line from IBM. |
</div> | </div> | ||
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 12:20, 24 January 2006
|
The ThinkPad Button is a button situated in the upper left corner of the keyboard on modern ThinkPads. It is intended to be a means of quick access to help and support. Technically it is nothing else than a button that can be configured to launch a certain piece of software. While originally it was grey and labelled ThinkPad, IBM later made it blue and called it the Access IBM Button. Lenovo relabelled it as ThinkVantage after it took over the ThinkPad line from IBM. |
System Boot
Pressing Access IBM or ThinkVantage at system boot can launch the Predesktop Area. This depends on a specific setting of the BIOS Setup Utility and on the availability of either a Hidden Protected Area or a Rescue and Recovery partition. See the linked pages for details.
Linux support
Using tpb
Under Linux, the IBM ThinkPad(tm) special keys can be enabled using tpb.
I.e., to make pressing the Access IBM Button launch ntpctl, add the following line /etc/tpbrc file:
THINKPAD /usr/bin/X11/xterm -T ntpctl -e ntpctl
To make pressing the Access IBM Button launch the ThinkWiki homepage, add the following line:
THINKPAD /usr/bin/firefox http://www.thinkwiki.org
See the tpb page and the ThinkPad special keys HOWTO for more information.
Using KDE
KDE supports assigning actions to (some) ThinkPad special keys, through the ThinkPad buttons KMilo plugin.
It can be activated and configured in the KDE Control Center (kcontrol), under System Administration --> IBM Thinkpad Laptop.
Windows support (2000 or XP)
If you want to customize the program that is launched when the Access IBM button is pressed while the machine is running Windows (2000 or XP) you can change the following registry entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\TPHOTKEY\8001
Here are the default values:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\TPHOTKEY\8001] "File"="C:\\Program Files\\IBM\\Access IBM\\aibm.exe" "DispName"="Access IBM"
Related Links
Models featuring this Technology
"ThinkPad" button
- ThinkPad A20m, A20p, A21e, A21m, A21p, A22e, A22m, A22p, A30, A30p, A31, A31p, A275, A285, A475, A485
- ThinkPad R30, R31, R32
- ThinkPad T20, T21, T22, T23, T30
- ThinkPad X20, X21, X22, X23, X24, X30
- ThinkPad TransNote
"Access IBM" button
- ThinkPad G40, G41
- ThinkPad R40, R40e, R50, R50e, R50p, R51, R51e, R52
- ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p, T43, T43p
- ThinkPad X31, X32, X40, X41, X41 Tablet
"ThinkVantage" button
