Attach Keyboard to M96 ??

[notger]

i'd like to roll this topic up again.

id also like to use wired keyboard and mouse, but seems that nobody got it to work on a m96 until now ? or

@booxtor

could you post the brand and type of your equippment you used, and have you tried it with an m96 yet?

AND:

any recommendation of hybrid keyboards (bluetooth and usb) in the maximum with of the m96 to easily transport and store them in one case ?

thanks

Gernot

[ookimi]

Hey Gernot,

Welcome to the community of the desperate! I gave up waiting for any help from the developers. It seems to me like the support for usb keyboard was removed from the device software some time after that successful youtube video (which was a big reason why I bought the device!). Maybe they just don't want to own it; boxtor is known to be quick in his replies, but not this time, apparently.

I am rather disappointed with my reader at this stage. First, a good portion of apps I am using (including OneNote app and Firefox) now require Android 4.1 and higher; if I spend a day and force them to install, they don't work properly. Second, even after all the updates, the screen is too imprecise even for highlighting, not to mention any text imputting with the software keyboard - and I need to comment a lot on what I'm reading. I have not found any bluetooth keyboard case that would fit; I do have a usb one that does fit, so I was rather hoping that the usb issue would be resolved. Apparently, not in this lifetime

[Hiradur]

Hi,

I'd like to bump this once more to show that there is still interest in connecting a USB wired keyboard to a Boox.
Personally I'm interested in using a Boox M96 as a mobile ssh client/Terminal for remote operations e.g. in direct sunlight.

Unfortunately though I've not been able to get my USB keyboard working with the Boox.

Here is my setup:
- Onyx Boox M96 from ereader-store.de
- stable 1.7.4 firmware from booxtor
- Mini-USB OTG adapter
- Generic USB keyboard
- External Keyboard Helper App free demo version

There is no sign that the Boox detects the keyboard. I also tried to connect a USB memory stick to see if that works but that doesn't work either. It makes me believe that the kernel was compiled without OTG support. Does somebody know where I can find the source code of the Kernel used by the Boox M96 so I can compile it with OTG support myself?

[Kwiz]

Why don't you use a Bluetooth keyboard?

I bought a Logitech K810 (with French layout) which is 5 cm larger than the Boox and is robust. The typing experience is great. I don't use the key that glows in the dark feature. Therefore, the battery lasts for ages. I only charged it twice since I bought it 15 months ago. And I use it daily for work. The Boox battery also lasts for hours with wifi and Bluetooth turned on all the time.

A nice feature is to be able to use the keyboard with three devices. Three programmable keys allow you to switch between them. I am using two Booxes and I am going to use a third one soon. Switching between devices can take between 2 to 10 seconds or more. It depends on when the next device catches the keyboard Bluetooth signal.

I am using my Boox as my primary computer for coding (using QuickEdit), administrating a server via SFTP (using JuiceSSH), writing emails (using CloudMagic) and more.

There are couples of problems, though. It depends on the firmware you are using.

- With firmware 1.6.5 (my favourite), the writing speed performance is the best compare to more recent firmware like the 1.7.1 where typing becomes slow all of a sudden and you have to switch input methods and come back to your original one to solve the issue. That's an annoying bug.
- I am using the External Keyboard Helper Pro app to use my French keyboard and have keyboard shortcuts available for launching apps (very handy for productivity). However with firmware 1.6.5, writing uppercase letters by holding the shift key doesn't work. I have to press shift key again for each letter or use the Caps Lock key which doesn't always respond immediately. The problem doesn't exist with the firmware 1.7.1 and above (up to 1.7.4). With firmware 1.6.5 and above, the problem doesn't exist when using the native android input method. I haven't done an extended test since I am not using an English keyboard, so I cannot vouch that there are not other problems.
- With firmware 1.7.2, another problem was introduced which is that I couldn't set keyboard shortcuts in some apps as the key 222 (CLEAR) input is sent every time after you press a key.
- With firmware 1.7.2, the delete key and the arrows can stop working all of a sudden. It can be a problem related to using External Keyboard Helper Pro.

That's it. If you end up getting a Bluetooth keyboard in English, it will be very much appreciated if you could share your experience using it.

[Hiradur]

Originally Posted by Kwiz

Why don't you use a Bluetooth keyboard

It's more about personal taste. I usually connect everything via cable just because. I also dislike the idea of having more keyboards lying around than I need and having to charge two devices instead of one. It would also allow me to continue using my beloved mechanical keyboard.

Being able to switch between 3 devices easily sounds interesting. Though this could probably also be achieved with e.g. a KVM switch.

Thanks for the heads up about the firmware versions. I already feared it wouldn't be as simple as just using the latest stable version.

I'm still not convinced buying a BT keyboard though. While I'm a Terminal nut and the setup described here would be enough for me I suspect I'd be disappointed by the Boox' performance so investing into a BT keyboard only to try this out doesn't sound right to me.

Should I get one though (maybe I can borrow one) I'll definitely report back.

[Kwiz]

I had a rooted Nook once. Its battery was discharging very quickly when I connected a physical keyboard connected to it via cable. I assume it would be the same with the Boox.

I am using the terminal all the time. It's working great for me, as I got use to it. However, you'll never have the same experience with the Boox in general compare to using a regular tablet or a laptop/computer. The Boox is a e-reader before been a tablet in the mind of its manufacturer.

[Hiradur]

Originally Posted by Kwiz

I had a rooted Nook once. Its battery was discharging very quickly when I connected a physical keyboard connected to it via cable. I assume it would be the same with the Boox.

This may depend on the keyboard though. I once had a cheap USB keyboard which drained so much power that other USB devices connected to the same USB hub refused to work. Not sure how it managed to drain so much power but it had 2 USB ports on its own so these may have been part of it.
But of course, some battery drain is inevitable.

Originally Posted by Kwiz

However, you'll never have the same experience with the Boox in general compare to using a regular tablet or a laptop/computer. The Boox is a e-reader before been a tablet in the mind of its manufacturer.

No doubt about that but it wouldn't hurt to explore this area nonetheless.

[Wong McGregor]

I have very similar aims at using a very text and keyboard based set up which, like yourselves, I think can work with these devices. For it to be mobile as well would be great but given the hurdles I don't know how feasable that will be.

Clearly you both have slightly different aims and implementations. I've found both very interesting but obviously have my own biases.

To answer your original question, certainly the experience of others would seem to suggest that Onyx isn't likely to be very helpful:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=255084

There are those of us who have been trying to avoid this same situation arising with the Max and there certainly aren't any indications at this stage that it won't happen again.

I am likewise rather unimpressed by the range of keyboards supporting Bluetooth as I've said elsewhere:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=27

I suspect that delays associated with Bluetooth (allowing for pairing and stuff like that) are likely be swamped by the comparatively slow refresh rate of the eink screen. Though all the issues with the various firmwares are very concerning. I would have thought that this provides just more reasons for not relying on bluetooth.

I've pretty much given up on laptops since island keyboards became unavoidable. One can get good mechanical USB keyboards for the same price as Kwiz's BT one. I certainly don't want to be forced to use an island keyboard, even if I choose to use a tablet instead of a laptop because the latter have declined so far in quality. But perhaps this is all part of a general decline that means that USB keyboards won't even work in USB ports that are designed for them because companies like Onyx won't even support the USB ports on a device as expensive as the Max.

I like the idea of using BT to switching between devices. This is certainly an interesting way of getting around the unavoidable limitations of individual devices. Another possiblity is to use a bluetooth to USB hub. Some offer a somewhat similar functionality, although it is difficult to imagine these things being very convenient for mobile use and they also seem to have their quirks based on how they are implemented. That way one might both not have to buy yet another (it would seem to me, overpriced, sub-par quality) keyboard, and get to attach a decent keyboard to one's Boox cluster.

For example:

http://www.amazon.com/Aten-Technolog...er_top?ie=UTF8

[increduloussus]

Here's a bluetooth keyboard attached to the N96. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3YkWqw3Wx4

The video subject heading translates from Korean to: "Typing using a Bluetooth keyboard n96ml Hancomm Office" The refresh rate looks good enough for my needs, but its hard to tell, since I don't know how this writing is typed--it sounds like he's hitting alot more characters on the keyboard than I see on screen!

Incidentally, I tried to use OCR to capture what he was typing, just to see if it would work. Then I copied the results to google translate, and behold: a most mysterious and lyrical AI technokoan:

"I loosen, and try-based tie ssingyol" I just flashed the gyeot because I'm algorithm
* intersect the eye swang minus '' there is a very hingdeu nyeyo light is trapped,
or capillary wedge these feathers and leaves gikgu
Rebuilding worry lazy L nalon new look f. Yom eueut

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by increduloussus

The refresh rate looks good enough for my needs, but its hard to tell, since I don't know how this writing is typed--it sounds like he's hitting alot more characters on the keyboard than I see on screen!

Yes, he will be. Have you never seen anyone use a keyboard for a language like Chinese or Korean? They use what's called an "input method editor" (IME), where you enter a series of key presses, and the o/s then converts this sequence into the appropriate character on the screen.

[franzli]

I've recently got a T68 plus and have been using a Bluetooth keyboard with it (actually the different ones). Haven't used it for line term writing yet but in general performance seemed decent -and were it didn't that was likely due to the rather basic CPU being overtasked by what I wanted it to do (I'm setting up a Linux chroot, and tried the xserver xsdl app I user on other android devices - but cpu load on this single core is to high for productive use, using vnc now, might write up my experience at some point in the future when i got more time on my hands).

Anyway, as the issue of a keyboard case came up, I got me a zagg auto fit 8 inch, which for now feels fairly good. It's got a proper hinge, so can be used like a tiny laptop. Biggest gripes for me are 1) the rather restricted maximal angle, only goes back to like 110 degrees or so, which isn't ideal - given the small size, you end up looking at it from pretty high up; and 2) the fact that the case, being universal, is rather thick and a bit heavy. Also, it would be great of one could remove the tablet inside the case from the keyboard (some of zagg's iPad keyboards can do that), but that's bothering me mite for my galaxy tab s, which I'd prefer to have protected -for some reason the onyx seems robust enough to just take out on it's own.
Overall though, it's a Peery good keyboards case. It stands securely and the keyboard itself is surprisingly good. Unfortunately, they're really hard to find, and pretty expensive unless you find a second hand one.

As for Usb otg, so far i haven't managed to get it working yet either with a usb stick (most recent firmware from end of December, originally had a slightly newer one from onyx directly, January, but same issue). Would be good to have this working.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[increduloussus]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, he will be. Have you never seen anyone use a keyboard for a language like Chinese or Korean? They use what's called an "input method editor" (IME), where you enter a series of key presses, and the o/s then converts this sequence into the appropriate character on the screen.

Thanks for the education! Honestly, I had no idea how those languages were entered... It sounds very hard to learn.

[Wong McGregor]

The issues relating to USB Host mode on the M96 discussed in this thread have since been resolved (if, alas, not in favour of host mode) by this informative post from Booxtor:

Originally Posted by Booxtor

Concerning USB Host mode - it worked on some of my earlier samples of M96 and T68. However Onyx decided to disable it later since some connected devices caused problems with fast battery drain . Sometimes batteries were discharged lower than allowed LiPO batteries threshold voltage, which made it impossible to recharge them without some special tools. This obviously caused complains by users.

IMHO Bluetooth keyboards or gamepads /klicker are better alternative. Currently demand for USB host mode on Onyx devices is quite low. Until now I got probably not more than 3-5 requests for it. In case it will be really demanded I could ask for special series with enabled USB Host.

[onthetopo]

Could you please tell us more information
1. model of the keyboard/mouse
2. software settings on the Boox
3. model of the adapter

I am really interested in getting the same setup to work.

Originally Posted by Rizla

Many thanks for the vid. For that vid, did you use normal grey-scale mode, or did you use monochrome A2 non-flash refresh mode? If it is not the second, could you make a vid using A2 mode? This is a tech that interests me greatly.