nixpkgs/docs/packages/tuxedo-backlight.md

tuxedo-backlight

Keyboard backlight control for Tuxedo laptops.

Description

A shell script that sets up RGB keyboard backlight colors for Tuxedo laptops with customizable colors for different key groups.

Features

• ⌨️ RGB Backlight: Full RGB keyboard backlight support
• 🎨 Color Groups: Different colors for different key groups
• 🔤 Key Highlighting: Special colors for modifier keys
• 🎯 One-Command Setup: Apply all colors with single command
• ⚡ Fast: Direct sysfs control

Installation

Via Overlay

{pkgs, ...}: {
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    tuxedo-backlight
  ];
}

Direct Reference

{pkgs, ...}: {
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    inputs.m3ta-nixpkgs.packages.${pkgs.system}.tuxedo-backlight
  ];
}

Run Directly

nix run git+https://code.m3ta.dev/m3tam3re/nixpkgs#tuxedo-backlight

Usage

Basic Usage

# Apply default color scheme
tuxedo-backlight

Colors

The script applies these colors by default:

Key Group	Color (RGB)	Description
Main keys	0 150 255	Blue (Cyan-ish)
Function keys (F1-F12)	0 255 80	Green (Lime)
Arrow keys	0 255 80	Green (Lime)
Numpad area	255 150 0	Orange
DEL key	255 0 155	Pink/Magenta
ESC key	255 0 155	Pink/Magenta

Customization

Modify Colors

Edit the script to customize colors:

# In pkgs/tuxedo-backlight/default.nix

# All keys
echo 'R G B' | tee /sys/class/leds/rgb:kbd_backlight*/multi_intensity

# Specific key (e.g., ESC)
echo 'R G B' | tee /sys/class/leds/rgb:kbd_backlight/multi_intensity

RGB format: Red Green Blue (0-255 each)

Color Examples

Color	RGB Value
Red	255 0 0
Green	0 255 0
Blue	0 0 255
Cyan	0 255 255
Magenta	255 0 255
Yellow	255 255 0
White	255 255 255
Orange	255 150 0
Purple	150 0 255

Automatic Startup

Systemd Service

Create /etc/systemd/system/tuxedo-backlight.service:

[Unit]
Description=Tuxedo Keyboard Backlight
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/run/current-system/sw/bin/tuxedo-backlight

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start:

sudo systemctl enable tuxedo-backlight.service
sudo systemctl start tuxedo-backlight.service

NixOS Configuration

{pkgs, ...}: {
  # Run at boot
  systemd.services.tuxedo-backlight = {
    description = "Set Tuxedo keyboard backlight";
    after = ["multi-user.target"];
    wantedBy = ["multi-user.target"];
    serviceConfig = {
      Type = "oneshot";
      ExecStart = "${pkgs.tuxedo-backlight}/bin/tuxedo-backlight";
    };
  };
}

Requirements

Hardware

• Tuxedo laptop with RGB keyboard backlight
• Linux kernel with appropriate driver support

System Requirements

• Linux (Tuxedo laptops)
• Write access to /sys/class/leds/

Permissions

The script requires write access to sysfs:

# Check permissions
ls -la /sys/class/leds/rgb:kbd_backlight*

# If permissions are needed
sudo tuxedo-backlight

Platform Support

• Linux (Tuxedo laptops only)
• macOS (not supported)
• Windows (not supported)

Troubleshooting

No Such Device

Error: No such file or directory

Solution: Ensure you're on a Tuxedo laptop with RGB keyboard:

# Check if RGB backlight exists
ls -la /sys/class/leds/rgb:kbd_backlight*

Permission Denied

Error: Permission denied

Solution: Run with sudo or configure udev rules:

# Run with sudo
sudo tuxedo-backlight

# Or create udev rule for user access
sudo vim /etc/udev/rules.d/99-tuxedo-backlight.rules

udev rule:

SUBSYSTEM=="leds", ATTR{brightness}=="*", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/bin/chgrp -R input /sys/class/leds/rgb:*"
SUBSYSTEM=="leds", ATTR{brightness}=="*", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/bin/chmod -R g+w /sys/class/leds/rgb:*"

Colors Not Applied

Solution:

1. Check RGB backlight is supported:

cat /sys/class/leds/rgb:kbd_backlight*/multi_intensity

2. Ensure driver is loaded:

# Check for Tuxedo drivers
lsmod | grep tuxedo

# Load if needed
sudo modprobe tuxedo_keyboard

Key Layout Reference

The script sets colors for these key groups:

Key Numbers

• All keys: Main keyboard area (except special keys)
• 15: DEL key
• No number: ESC key
• 1-12, 102: Function keys (F1-F12, Fn)
• 16-19, 36-39, 56-59, 76-79, 96-99, 117-119: Numpad and keys above numpad
• 95, 114-116: Arrow keys

Build Information

• Version: 0.1.0
• Type: Shell script
• License: MIT

Related

• Adding Packages - How to add new packages
• Quick Start - Getting started guide