Special keys keybindings on a Thinkpad running Xubuntu 14.04

IBM Thinkpads came with tons of extra buttons affectionately knows as special keys. See here for a full list of the keys and the actions they triggers. All the keys work out of the box except for the Access IBM next to the Esc key and the Previous and Next Page keys on either side of the up arrow key.

For as long as I can remember I've key those keys to do the following.

Pushing the Access IBM key launches my terminal. I'm always in the terminal, so this is convenient and easy.

Pushing the Previous Page key moves to the workspace on the left, while the Next Page key moves to the workspace on the right. I work with many applications at a time with lots of opened windows, so having multiple workspaces and an easy way to access them makes life much easier.

Installing Xubuntu 14.04 LTS on an IBM T42p Thinkpad

First off, I decided to go with Xubuntu because it was more resource and user friendly compared to Ubuntu or Kubuntu. Also the interface felt more natural to me because I'm an OS X user both at home and work.

Downloading  Xubuntu 14.04 LTS and creative LiveCD

1. Get the 34 bit iso from xubuntu website
2. My Thinkpad came with XP, so I used LiveUSB Install to create a bootable USB with the iso.

Running the Live environment

1. With the LiveUSB in the usb port, I restarted the computer and entered BIOS where it can the boot order to check for usb boot drives before my hard drive. Restart again.
2. The boot failed because my IBM T42 does not have PAE enabled. The get boot to work use these instructions (see summary).
3. Play around with the Live environment to make sure that the keyboard, trackpad and track point work.

Install Xubuntu

1. Double click on Install Xubuntu to install the operating system.
2. From my 60GB HD, I create swap (2GB), root / (20GB) and home (rest of drive) partitions. 
3. After installing, restart computer and remove the LiveUSB. You may also want to change to boot order so that the hard drive boots first but this is optional as it only add a few seconds to the boot each time.

Xubuntu is awesome on the T42p. It's fast and all my hardware is recognized without any issues. There were only three issues I had to deal with.

Replace the default screen locker

The default screen locker has a nasty bug, which prevents the display from powering up after sleep. When this happens, you will have to force logout or restart and lose all unsaved documents or edits. To remedy this, I uninstalled light-locker (sudo apt-get purge light-locker light-locker-settings) and install xscreensaver (sudo apt-get install xscreensaver).

UPDATE 1:

The problem with light locker has been fixed. xscreensaver is no longer required. I've moved back to light locker and it works great.

UPDATE 2:

There are still lingering issues with light locker in Xubuntu. To get the system to work properly, set light locker to lock session "When the screensaver is deactivated." See screenshot below.

Light locker settings

Fix for on-screen display for volume and brightness changes

The volume, mute and display brightness buttons worked but there was no on-screen display when the buttons were pressed. I fixed that by:

sudo -i

cp /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_all_mask /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_mask

gedit /etc/rc.local

Add Line:  cp /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_all_mask /sys/devices/platform/thinkpad_acpi/hotkey_mask

UPDATE 1:

Systemd is disabled on newer Xubuntu release. For the above to work systemd has to be activated. See this page to instructions. 

Fix to unlock keyring on login

The login keyring not opening after logging in. This can be fixed by:

Opening /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop

Find OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity

Append ;XFCE to change to OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity;XFCE

That is how I installed Xubuntu on my IBM T42p.

My Desktop

My IBM T42p running Xubuntu 14.04 LTS