USB num pad (combined with mouse) overrides NumLock on laptop keyboard

[Jim Byrnes]

On 11/22/2011 08:16 AM, Adam Funk wrote:
> I'm running oneiric on an Asus laptop with a normal laptop keyboard
> (i.e., no separate num pad, but a "special" key that makes one of the
> F-keys turn num lock on, turning part of the main keyboard into a num
> pad).
>
> I just got a Hama 2in1 USB combined mouse&  num pad.  The mouse
> functions work fine.  The num pad works too, but when I press any of
> the buttons on it, the num lock function on the main keyboard is
> activated, so I can't alternate between entering words with the main
> keyboard and numbers with the external num pad.  In order to
> deactivate the num lock function on the main keyboard, I have to
> unplug the USB device and then use the special-num-lock combination to
> turn the on-board num pad off.  (I hope that makes sense.)  Using the
> num-lock control while the USB device is plugged in, after any of its
> keys have been pressed, has no effect.
>
> Is there anything I can configure to completely disable the num pad
> functionality on the main keyboard, while still allowing the external
> one to work, so I can use this set-up the way I want?
>
> (I touch-type, including using the num pad on my desktop for anything
> over 3 or 4 digits,&  I'd like to be able to work the same way on the
> laptop.)
>
>

I don't have a laptop with that feature to check, but have you looked at 
the bios to see if the special key can be turned off there?

Regards,  Jim