Peter Gamma (Physiologist & Director) Meditation Research Institute Switzerland (MRIS)

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How to get a usb keyboard to work when the Pinephone keyboard is attached to the Pinephone?

Posted bypg@petergamma.org 4 Comments on How to get a usb keyboard to work when the Pinephone keyboard is attached to the Pinephone?

Last Updated on June 18, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org

  • Users reported in the Pine64 forum that an USB mouse isn’t working when a PP keyboard is attached:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18586&highlight=keyboard

  • But I found here a video of «The Gibus Cap» which shows the opposite:
  • It shows a PP with a PP keyboard
  • The user has attached a usb keyboard and mouse
  • he shows that both the usb keyboard and mouse work
  • It does not show that the PP keyboard work as well.
  • The Gibus Cap says:
  • «It was believed that using the phone’s USB port while the keyboard is attached would result in rather bad things»
  • «but Megi disproved it here»

https://xnux.eu/log/#072:

  • and Gibus Cap tried it in the above video himself and was successful
  • This is a very rare demonstration
  • Pinephone developer Martijn Braam showed also a very rare demonstration:
  • It shows a usb keyboard with integrated touchpad attached to the Pinephone.
  • This is a keyboard type not anyone has, a very rare keyboard.
  • There must be something about it that Martijn Braam just used exactly this keyboard with integrated trackpad
  • Martijn Braam has no Pinephone keyboard attached in this video, but Gibus Cap in his video.
  • So what Gibus Cap shows is something rare as well
  • The user in the Pine64 forum had the problem that this configuration did not work:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18586&highlight=keyboard

  • But why?
  • Gibus Cap get an external usb keyboard and mouse get to work when a pinephone keyboard is attached.
  • But why was mikeb successful, but not mikeb in the Pine64 forum?
  • mikeb uses as far as I know the same setup as Gibus Cap.
  • What Gibus Cap shows is the only demonstration I know that someone managed to work to get a usb mouse and keybord to work attached to the Pinephone.
  • This needs to be reproduced by others.
  • And I do not have digested this here and understood here.
  • I only gathered here all the information I know about this topic.
  • This important since I failed both with Bluetooth keyboards and mice to have a stable connection to the Pinephone.
  • Which means as far as I know only usb keyboard and mice work with the Pinephone.
  • Gibus Cap who was successful with a usb mouse when the PP keyboard was attached writes about it:
  • Just make sure not to use both ports at once!

I asked Gibus Cap below the video

“Really rare and extraordinary demonstration which I have not seen before. Excellent! You shows that both the usb keyboard as well as the usb mouse work. Does also the Pinephone keyboard work in this configuration? This would mean that you are the only one who managed to get this to work. Another user in the Pine64 did not get a usb mouse to work when the Pinephone is attached:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18586&highlight=keyboard

Why where you successful with this setup but not the user in the Pine64 forum? Did you have a “magic trick” to get this setup working?”