Colemak android thoughts - Technical

bph
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08-Nov-2016 16:25:44#1 Colemak android thoughts

Just got an android smartphone

noticed that if I plug in my usb dongle via a micro-usb OTG adapter I can use my keyboard and mouse with the phone

so far so cool

apart from its garbage as i've mucked about with all my keycaps to make them as close to mod-DH wide as I can

has anyone tried:

a) using dreymars linux install script on android, i guess it could work as android is effectively linux
b) using a hardware intervention, like one of those usb keyboard mappers

c) (this one would be wild) using a single keyboard mouse with something like synergy, so you could control laptop and phone *without* having to muck about with moving adapters?

I have figured out how to get the colemak keyboard actually on the screen of the phone, but as you can't touch type on such a small screen (5") I don't see that this is any advantage. I also noted that if you change the onscreen keyboard to colemak, it has no bearing on a keyboard you plug in via usb, i.e. that will still be qwerty

If I can get emacs on the phone via termux and also have some colemak keyboard input I'll be able to use my phone as another computer - that would be awesome

Last edited by bph (08-Nov-2016 16:26:32)

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DreymaR
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08-Nov-2016 16:28:11#2 Re: Colemak android thoughts

I don't think Android uses the X11 server (and XKB)? If it doesn't, it isn't "effectively Linux" for my purposes. ;-)

In the worst case scenario, this is where a USB-2-USB converter may shine. That's pretty much guaranteed to work, as all it does as far as the phone/computer is concerned, is present itself as a USB keyboard.

Last edited by DreymaR (08-Nov-2016 16:29:26)

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bph
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08-Nov-2016 16:38:11#3 Re: Colemak android thoughts

yes - you could be right there, I don't yet know what the windowing system is on android. I'll look into it

were you selling a usb mapper at one point?

the other would be a programmable keyboard, i.e. one that could be physically spitting out colemak as opposed to having to translate on the OS side? I think the typematrix is an example??

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bph
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08-Nov-2016 18:04:08#4 Re: Colemak android thoughts

a few days into owning a smartphone, and it already looks like this:

what a geek!

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DreymaR
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09-Nov-2016 10:06:23#5 Re: Colemak android thoughts

Neato! ^_^

I'm not selling the USB-USB keymapper; Hasu from GeekHack is. Check the USB-2-USB post from my sig links.

Last edited by DreymaR (09-Nov-2016 10:07:33)

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bph
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09-Nov-2016 11:39:39#6 Re: Colemak android thoughts

so have you bought a hasu? and have you configured it for wide angle mod-DH?

would you recommend it (looks like you do judging by your linked post)?

maybe I should invest?

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DreymaR
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09-Nov-2016 12:25:10#7 Re: Colemak android thoughts

I'm having tons of fun with it (at the moment I'm revising my code for use with an updated map format so I can use it for a PS/2-USB converter too!), but of course it'll set you back around $60 which may or may not be your preferred way of spending money. ^_^

Yes, with my config you can elect to use a gamut of angle/wide mods with any base layout. You could easily make AngleWide Dvorak or that-layout-with-all-the-same-finger-bigrams. ;-) Also all Tarmak steps with or without mod-DH (mine or SteveP's) through a bit of code trickery that I'm rather pleased with.

I primarily use the converter for my work computer that doesn't let me run PKL or install anything myself anymore. I do miss some AltGr keys at times, but on the upside I have two Extend layers and support for a couple of hotstrings which is more than I have in PKL right now. And when I figure out how to do modifiers my preferred way, there may be 3–4 Extend layers! The onboard memory is the limit there, as it's currently only 32 kb.

On a side note, there's an exciting new Teensy or two (v3.5–3.6) coming up with lots of lots of Flash memory...!

Last edited by DreymaR (09-Nov-2016 12:28:38)

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stevep99
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09-Nov-2016 12:51:55#8 Re: Colemak android thoughts

There is also a previous topic about this which might be useful.

Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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bph
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09-Nov-2016 13:13:05#9 Re: Colemak android thoughts

well by the time you've bought the bits and committed the time, $60 may start looking cheap?

do you think you could fit it between a laptop and a wifi keyboard/mouse dongle?

in other words, can it work with wireless keyboard/mouse?

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DreymaR
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09-Nov-2016 16:24:21#10 Re: Colemak android thoughts

I don't see why not. It won't be doing anything for the mouse, I guess? Not sure whether it could pass through the mouse signals.

The only concern I might envision is whether it'll provide enough current to the WiFi dongle at all times. But I guess it would. We could have someone at GeekHack try it out, I'm sure.

Last edited by DreymaR (09-Nov-2016 16:24:46)

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