Detect X1 Yoga Tablet Mode on Arch Linux

Mon, Dec 9, 2019 11:51 CET

Tags: Automation, X1 Yoga 4th Gen, Tablet Mode, systemd

Add

%wheel ALL = (ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/stdbuf -oL -eL libinput debug-events --device /dev/input/by-path/platform-thinkpad_acpi-event

to /etc/sudoers.d/nopasswd to allow detecting those event without password.

Run this script as a daemon to enable/disable a tablet target..

#!/usr/bin/env sh

sudo /usr/bin/stdbuf -oL -eL \
libinput debug-events --device /dev/input/by-path/platform-thinkpad_acpi-event |
grep -oP --line-buffered 'switch tablet-mode state \K\d+' |
while read state; do

  if [ "$state" -eq 0 ] ; then
    systemctl --user stop tablet.target
  elif [ "$state" -eq 1 ] ; then
    systemctl --user start tablet.target
  fi

done

From there you can write systemd user services depending on that target. See for instance this user service that automatically rotates the screen when in tablet mode.