
Setting up a second keyboard for more shortcuts in Emacs - yur3i__
http://jordekang.tk/posts/rus-kbd.html
======
sleepybrett
A little more complicated, but a lot more versatile.

I had a similar issue, where I wanted a large amount of extra keys for
macros/hotkeys. I bought a planck kit from olkb
([https://olkb.com/planck/](https://olkb.com/planck/)) (which is just one of
many keyboard kits that will run the QMK firmware
([https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware)](https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware\)))
built it and rewrote the keymap to output my special keys.

Later I went on to wire up a couple simple industrial style footswitches to a
cheapo arduino pro micro clone and put qmk on there.

A few other interesting and smaller keyboard kits can be found from vendors
like [https://www.1upkeyboards.com/](https://www.1upkeyboards.com/) (the
sweet16 macropad/keypad) and [https://keeb.io](https://keeb.io) (the chocopad
or just half of any of their "ortholinear" split keyboard pcbs.

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melse
Reminds me of this [https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/09/searching-for-finally-
got-m...](https://www.jwz.org/blog/2016/09/searching-for-finally-got-my-emacs-
setup-just-how-i-like-it-yields-excellent-results/)

~~~
tekacs
Since jwz dislikes HN, most users will want to use this link instead:

[http://archive.is/z8VCZ](http://archive.is/z8VCZ)

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sevensor
There's also the emacs pedal:

[https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FootSwitches](https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FootSwitches)

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mindslight
Something I've been wondering and casually looking into: besides another whole
keyboard, what other keypad-like layouts/devices are there? What I _think_ I
want is another row of F-keys above the ones that are there (I use these to
switch between windows). Of course I now use a TKL, but never warmed up to the
idea of using the numpad for this. I think part of me just doesn't like the
idea of repurposing keys with strong meanings.

I've pondered getting one of those pads used to drive music software. The
Elgato Stream Deck mentioned elsewhere in this thread seems quite interesting
(to look into when I have more time). Any other pointers?

Also related: I'd really like to try a wireless chorded keyboard for mobile
use.

~~~
mayoff
X-Keys makes a variety of USB key pads in various shapes, including single
rows of 4, 8, or 16 keys.

[http://xkeys.com/XkeysKeyboards/index.php](http://xkeys.com/XkeysKeyboards/index.php)

~~~
thecrumb
Also see Genovation

[https://www.genovation.com](https://www.genovation.com)

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rzzzt
A second keyboard is also good for playing split-screen multiplayer DOS games.
No more incessant beeping in Mortal Kombat when both of you try to perform a
combo at the same time!

~~~
namibj
Actually, a sane keyboard with sufficient rollover suffices for that task.
Just don't but a <20$ model to get this.

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mrkgnao
I mean, if a piano (or something closer to a Tonnetz[0] layout) is okay, why
not a full organ with >1 keyboard and pedals? :)

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnetz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnetz)

~~~
pavel_lishin
I've seriously considered getting some sort of foot pedal arrangement, albeit
mostly for FPS games - I'd love to be able to use one foot to melee attack,
and another to activate/deactivate the mic.

~~~
sodaplayer
I’ve tried repurposing a three-button guitar footpedal for FPS games before.

The connection for the pedal is TRS, with one button being ring, another
sleeve, and the last both—so it ended up being useful for only two commands as
the last button would be ghosted by pushing the other two simultaneously.

I used the pedal for left and right leaning and with melee in the center, but
with the ghosting, I ended up dropping melee and just stuck with using it for
only leaning.

I used an Arduino Pro Micro which supports acting as a keyboard and just
soldered a TRS socket so I could just use a regular TRS cable to hook up the
footpedal.

It’s a bit satisfying once you get it working and the project didn’t cost too
much—maybe about $20 (found a cheap used footpedal) and enough games use “q”
and “e” binds that I get to use it a bit.

------
1996
If you need a second keyboard to use your text editor, maybe the problem is
not the keyboard, but the text editor.

yes emacs is more than that, but with f1-f12, ctrl,shift,alt and their various
combinations to the alphanumeric keys, it seems a bit overkill to me.

If you still need more keys, you can also get a JP keyboard with extra
modifiers conveniently located next to the spacebar.

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databus
Is it possible to do this on Mac? Have a second, external keyboard mapped to a
different language than the primary keyboard?

~~~
Kagerjay
With lua + autohotkey scripts in windows this is definitely possible the last
time I checked. You run a luascript on another keyboard mapped to a generic
key, luascript inputs that as the proper text-based language

There's a tomscott video on it

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIFE7h3m40U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIFE7h3m40U)

Checkout Teran van Hemert (linustechtips editor) for some potential ideas too.
He's got crazy macro schemas, I've used a couple of his and there great. All
windows based as well though.
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1gH0v9E3ruYrNyRbHhD...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1gH0v9E3ruYrNyRbHhDe6XDfw4sZdZr)

Mac, I can only assume its something you would write in applescript. But maybe
you find some interesting ideas there. I found something called
"[http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/"](http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/")
that might be of interest to you

~~~
naveen99
[https://autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=45307](https://autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=45307)

[http://www.oblita.com/interception](http://www.oblita.com/interception)

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Analemma_
Heh, his feels like what happens when an Emacs user gets mocked by the vi
crowd and decides to just own it. Good for him.

------
brandonmenc
I though emacs/vi users _don 't_ want to take their fingers off the home row?

~~~
spapas82
That's definitely true for vi; but only after you properly remap your ESC key
to something else (usually jj or caps lock).

Emacs is a differenet story... By default it uses a lot of alt and ctrl key
combinations and also makes heavy usage of the arrow and home/end keys. Of
course, there is a vi mode for emacs (evil; this is what Spacemacs uses) to
take advantage of vi keys in emacs. But I believe that most emacs users just
stick to the alt/ctrl shortcuts.

~~~
marcosdumay
Ctrl and alt only take the little fingers. I'm actually used to not typing
with them, but instead reserve them for shift, ctrl and alt. All the other
fingers stay at their place.

After seeing the article I've thought about doing something similar, but
dismissed it exactly because it would take my hands out of the keyboard.

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bitwize
Double bucky, an additional keyboard or two...

(see: [http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/text/double-
bucky.html](http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/text/double-bucky.html))

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vemv
Three modifiers are enough: Command, option, control. Easy on macOS, possible
on Linux:

    
    
        (setq mac-control-modifier 'super)
        (setq mac-option-modifier 'meta)
        (setq mac-command-modifier 'control)
    
    

I never have to resort to using two modifiers at the same time (e.g. Command +
Option), as said 3 individual modifiers are plenty.

I also never use C-c or C-u prefixes, or other emacs-isms. Everything is a
single combination, which is fundamentally simpler and more ergonomic.

For rarely-used commands, I just `M-x the-command`. Better than assigning
complicated or easy-to-forget shortcuts.

~~~
Scarbutt
so you rebind lots of key chords?

~~~
vemv
These are (almost) all of them, I'd say it's a bearable amount:

[https://github.com/vemv/.emacs.d/blob/master/lib/non-
submodu...](https://github.com/vemv/.emacs.d/blob/master/lib/non-
submodules/vemv.shortcuts.global.el)

(also some are redundantly rebound, like left-key to left-char. I do it for...
reasons)

------
nerdponx
Does Emacs distinguish between "left" and "right" modifiers? If so, you could
(ab)use those to effectively create 4 extra prefix layers.

------
cm2187
Another idea to consider, something like the Elgato Stream Deck (LCD keyboard
where you can configure the image and behavior of every key).

~~~
blacksmith_tb
Wow, those LCD keys are fancy, but it's hard to imagine that's worth the
premium over a usb or BT 10-key. Not sure about other platforms, but on macOS
with something like Karabiner-elements[1] or Controllermate[2] you could
assign all sorts of things to those keys.

1: [https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-
Elements](https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements)

2:
[https://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/](https://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/)

~~~
cm2187
I find them useful in a slightly different use case. For things where you
don't use them often enough to learn the shortcut by heart (i.e. you don't
need the visual help) but often enough that it is worth having a button for
it. For instance something you will be doing intensely for a short period of
the time in the year.

------
wodenokoto
Is it possible to have the 2 keyboards plugged in with different layouts in
windows?

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phyzome
Haha, gloriously hacky.

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Scarbutt
very nerdy.

------
agumonkey
soon emacs-organ

~~~
girzel
Hmmm, with pull-stops to activate various minor modes...

------
tomcooks
Jokes write themselves /s

