Fremantle Bluetooth Keyboard Layout

(Starting daemon script automatically)
(Next steps)
 
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Bluetooth keyboards are [[Fremantle_Unsupported_Bluetooth_profiles|not officially supported]] on the [[Nokia N900|N900]], i.e. Maemo Fremantle, but it's possible to get them working with some hacking.
+
Bluetooth keyboards are [[Fremantle_Unsupported_Bluetooth_profiles|not officially supported]] on the [[Nokia N900|N900]], that is Maemo [[Open development/Maemo roadmap/Fremantle|Fremantle]], but it is possible to get them working with some hacking.
== Devices ==
== Devices ==
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{| class="wikitable"
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{| class="wikitable sortable"
 +
|+ Bluetooth keyboards
|-
|-
! Device
! Device
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! Product Link
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! class="unsortable" | Product Link
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! Success Reports
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! class="unsortable" | Success Reports
|-
|-
| iGo Stowaway Keyboard
| iGo Stowaway Keyboard
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| Rocketfish: [http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/pc-85-3-rocketfish-wireless-multimedia-bluetooth-keyboard-and-laser-mouse-blacksilverred.aspx]
| Rocketfish: [http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/pc-85-3-rocketfish-wireless-multimedia-bluetooth-keyboard-and-laser-mouse-blacksilverred.aspx]
| [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=659720&postcount=273]
| [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=659720&postcount=273]
 +
|-
 +
| Apple Wireless Keyboard
 +
| Amazon: [http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Wireless-Keyboard-Retail-Packaging/dp/B002TMRZOQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277022601&sr=1-1]
 +
| [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=722367#post722367]
 +
|-
 +
| Leasun Electronic Technology MP-0118+
 +
| [http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/darian88/product-detailuoEmwfydbkWn/China-Bluetooth-Keyboard-MP-0118-.html] (bought off eBay)
 +
| [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=730597&postcount=294]
 +
|-
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| Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro(TM)
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| Logitech: [http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3616]
 +
| -
 +
|-
 +
| Freedom Universal Bluetooth Keyboard 2 (German layout)
 +
| Amazon: [http://www.amazon.de/Freedom-Universal-Keyboard-Smartphone-BlackBerry/dp/B004480ILA/]
 +
| [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=905888&postcount=148]
|}
|}
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* Enable HID support as described [[Fremantle_Unsupported_Bluetooth_profiles|here]].  Note that the DisablePlugins line needs to be there, but it should not include the "input" keyword.
* Enable HID support as described [[Fremantle_Unsupported_Bluetooth_profiles|here]].  Note that the DisablePlugins line needs to be there, but it should not include the "input" keyword.
-
* As root, download the tar file from [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=441444&postcount=3|here] and extract it:
+
* As root, download the tar file from [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=441444&postcount=3 here] and extract it:
  sudo gainroot
  sudo gainroot
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After running this command, press any key on the N900's internal keyboard, and you should be able to type numbers and symbols on the bluetooth keyboard.
After running this command, press any key on the N900's internal keyboard, and you should be able to type numbers and symbols on the bluetooth keyboard.
 +
 +
The Freedom Universal Keyboard 2 runs with EXTKBD (see below) version 1.3 out of the box. Just install EXTKBD via program manager and you will find the setup in "personalise" of the "settings" tool.
 +
Other keyboards will run as well.
== Setting Layout Automatically ==
== Setting Layout Automatically ==
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Put this in /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard. You need to replace bluetooth-keyboard.py with the absolute path.
Put this in /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard. You need to replace bluetooth-keyboard.py with the absolute path.
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#!/bin/sh
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<source lang="bash">
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#!/bin/sh
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case "$1" in
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-
start)
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        python bluetooth-keyboard.py &
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-
        ;;
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stop)
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        kill $(ps ax | grep 'python bluetooth-keyboard.py' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $1}')
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-
        ;;
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restart)
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-
        echo "$0: not implemented"
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-
        exit 1
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-
        ;;
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-
force-reload)
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-
        echo "$0: not implemented"
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-
        exit 1
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-
        ;;
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-
*)
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-
        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
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-
        exit 1
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-
        ;;
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-
esac
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 +
case "$1" in
 +
start)
 +
      python bluetooth-keyboard.py &
 +
      ;;
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stop)
 +
      kill $(ps ax | grep 'python bluetooth-keyboard.py' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $1}')
 +
      ;;
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restart)
 +
      echo "$0: not implemented"
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      exit 1
 +
      ;;
 +
force-reload)
 +
      echo "$0: not implemented"
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      exit 1
 +
      ;;
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*)
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      echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
 +
      exit 1
 +
      ;;
 +
esac
 +
</source>
Make it executable and hook into init system
Make it executable and hook into init system
  chmod a+x /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard
  chmod a+x /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard
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  update-rc.d bluetooth-keyboard defaults
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  update-rc.d bluetooth-keyboard start 99 1 2 3 4 5 . stop 99 0 6
== Next steps ==
== Next steps ==
-
It would be nice to build a package to do all of this.
+
It would be nice to build a package to do all of this:
 +
Here is first version of packaged version: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=794981&postcount=319 BlueKlase].
 +
 
 +
Another approach is the package "[http://maemo.org/packages/view/extkbd/ extkbd]" (currently in [[Extras]]) which simplifies the usage of external keyboards. It has an UI to select keyboard layout and language. See [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=65577 this post] for some usage instructions on extkbd.
== References ==
== References ==
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General procedure: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=490777#post490777]
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* General procedure: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=490777#post490777]
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* DisablePlugins is required: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=385463&postcount=3]
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DisablePlugins is required: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=385463&postcount=3]
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* Installing the tarball: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=441137&postcount=1]
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* Special copy commands: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=490777#post490777]
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Installing the tarball: [http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=441137&postcount=1]
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* Script to automatically run the setxkbmap command: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=525721#post525721]
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Special copy commands: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=490777#post490777]
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-
Script to automatically run the setxkbmap command: [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=525721#post525721]
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[[Category:Bluetooth]]
 +
[[Category:Fremantle]]

Latest revision as of 17:30, 9 February 2012

Bluetooth keyboards are not officially supported on the N900, that is Maemo Fremantle, but it is possible to get them working with some hacking.

Contents

[edit] Devices

Bluetooth keyboards
Device Product Link Success Reports
iGo Stowaway Keyboard Amazon: [1] [2]
Nokia SU-8W Nokia: [3] [4]
Neos BluSlim Bluetooth Compact Keyboard BTK-1 Neos: [5] [6]
Rocketfish RF-BTKB2 Rocketfish: [7] [8]
Apple Wireless Keyboard Amazon: [9] [10]
Leasun Electronic Technology MP-0118+ [11] (bought off eBay) [12]
Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro(TM) Logitech: [13] -
Freedom Universal Bluetooth Keyboard 2 (German layout) Amazon: [14] [15]

[edit] Procedure

  • Enable HID support as described here. Note that the DisablePlugins line needs to be there, but it should not include the "input" keyword.
  • As root, download the tar file from here and extract it:
sudo gainroot
cd /usr/share/X11/
wget http://talk.maemo.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5221 -O xkb-chinook.tar
tar xf xkb-chinook.tar
cp -i xkb-chinook/symbols/pc xkb/symbols/.
cp -i xkb-chinook/symbols/us xkb/symbols/.
cp -i xkb-chinook/geometry/pc xkb/geometry/.
  • You need to know your keyboard ID
hildon-im-xkbtool --list

will show the device #

  • Every time the keyboard connects, you need to run setxkbmap:
setxkbmap -device 4 -I -I/usr/share/X11/xkb-chinook -rules base -model pc105 -layout us

For the Nokia SU-8W keyboard, use "nokiasu8w" instead of "pc105".

After running this command, press any key on the N900's internal keyboard, and you should be able to type numbers and symbols on the bluetooth keyboard.

The Freedom Universal Keyboard 2 runs with EXTKBD (see below) version 1.3 out of the box. Just install EXTKBD via program manager and you will find the setup in "personalise" of the "settings" tool. Other keyboards will run as well.

[edit] Setting Layout Automatically

There is a python script written by jakoleh which seems to work. Copy it out of this post and save it as bluetooth-keyboard.py:

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=525721

You need to set the KEYBOARDNAME, DEVICE, MODEL and LAYOUT parameters for your keyboard. To do this go to the /var/lib/bluetooth directory. There should be a directory there named after your device's bluetooth ID, such as "08:00:69:02:01:FC". Change into that directory and find your keyboard in the file called "names". For example:

00:03:C9:3D:7D:B0 Think Outside Keyboard

In this case, you would set

KEYBOARDNAME = "Think Outside Keyboard"
DEVICE = "dev_00_03_C9_3D_7D_B0"

The MODEL and LAYOUT depend on your keyboard. For a standard 105-key layout, you might do:

MODEL = "pc105"
LAYOUT = "us"

Now open a terminal and run the command in the background like this:

python bluetooth-keyboard.py &

Now whenever you connect the keyboard it should automatically set the correct layout. It should also give you a helpful yellow notification message saying that the keyboard connected.

[edit] Starting daemon script automatically

Put this in /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard. You need to replace bluetooth-keyboard.py with the absolute path.

#!/bin/sh
 
case "$1" in
start)
       python bluetooth-keyboard.py &
       ;;
stop)
       kill $(ps ax | grep 'python bluetooth-keyboard.py' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $1}')
       ;;
restart)
       echo "$0: not implemented"
       exit 1
       ;;
force-reload)
       echo "$0: not implemented"
       exit 1
       ;;
*)
       echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
       exit 1
       ;;
esac

Make it executable and hook into init system

chmod a+x /etc/init.d/bluetooth-keyboard
update-rc.d bluetooth-keyboard start 99 1 2 3 4 5 . stop 99 0 6

[edit] Next steps

It would be nice to build a package to do all of this: Here is first version of packaged version: BlueKlase.

Another approach is the package "extkbd" (currently in Extras) which simplifies the usage of external keyboards. It has an UI to select keyboard layout and language. See this post for some usage instructions on extkbd.

[edit] References

  • General procedure: [16]
  • DisablePlugins is required: [17]
  • Installing the tarball: [18]
  • Special copy commands: [19]
  • Script to automatically run the setxkbmap command: [20]