Keyboard Question


neko

I haz 300 posts
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Feb 8, 2009
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I have a question for the developers about the keyboard layout. The layout in EvilDragon's recent blog post looks very different from what I thought had been agreed upon several months ago, but that's not what I'm asking about.

What I want to know is how the recently proposed keyboard layout is supposed to work. Specifically:

How is it that one key can be both shift and caps lock? If fn+shift acts as caps lock, then how do I shift the latin extended characters that require key combinations? Do I have to put CAPS LOCK on to enter ÆØÅ using fn-key combinations, then turn caps lock off to enter æøå?

Where are control and alt? These keys are rather important in Linux. For example, how do I enter ctrl-alt-f1?

Where are the comma, asterisk, and caret?
 
The post on the official blog, where he wrote, "The keyboard layout is nearly finished, we're still discussing about some keys and the font, however, I don't think much will change."
 
Will all the pandoras have the ÆØÅ keys? What will english speakers use them for? I think they should set it up like the nokia n810 keyboard layout and have a menu bring up the special characters

n8105_medium.jpg
 
The asterisk is there, don't be fooled by the reflections on keys 6 to 9. ;) The comma and caret have been acknowledged by the devs, I couldn't tell you any more than that. The quote says it all though: "The keyboard layout is nearly finished, we're still discussing about some keys and the font, however, I don't think much will change."

[edit] Is that a caret on the 9 key? Or an asterisk? Or a dead bug? Time will tell.
 
Neko said:
How is it that one key can be both shift and caps lock? If fn+shift acts as caps lock, then how do I shift the latin extended characters that require key combinations? Do I have to put CAPS LOCK on to enter ÆØÅ using fn-key combinations, then turn caps lock off to enter æøå?
I'm thinking with sticky keys, as Shift + Fn + key (pressed one at a time in that order).
Neko said:
Where are control and alt? These keys are rather important in Linux. For example, how do I enter ctrl-alt-f1?
ED's layout has select as ctrl (dunno alt). Some other layouts that have been suggested have them behind the device on the R and L shoulder buttons.
 
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urjaman said:
I'm thinking with sticky keys, as Shift + Fn + key (pressed one at a time in that order).
Okay, but then how does caps lock work?

urjaman said:
ED's layout has select as ctrl (dunno alt). Some other layouts that have been suggested have them behind the device on the R and L shoulder buttons.
Yes, but the problem with putting them on the shoulder buttons is that pressing both is intercepted by the OS as a special override. For example, ctrl+alt+backspace kills the X server. So if you have a game where these are being pressed a lot, you run the risk of having key events interpreted in a way that you do not want, especially if sticky keys are used.

Many things have been proposed which do not work very well in practice. So I'm asking someone to explain how this is actually supposed to work.
 
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Neko said:
urjaman said:
I'm thinking with sticky keys, as Shift + Fn + key (pressed one at a time in that order).
Okay, but then how does caps lock work?

Fn + Shift (in that order) = Caps lock toggle. I know that this makes shift behave differently whether Fn has been pressed (as capslock) or not (as sticky), but i think that it could work.
Neko said:
Yes, but the problem with putting them on the shoulder buttons is that pressing both is intercepted by the OS as a special override. For example, ctrl+alt+backspace kills the X server. So if you have a game where these are being pressed a lot, you run the risk of having key events interpreted in a way that you do not want, especially if sticky keys are used.

Many things have been proposed which do not work very well in practice. So I'm asking someone to explain how this is actually supposed to work.
I really can't answer this, sorry. (though the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace X kill can be disabled if needed).
 
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One more question...

MWeston said:
Currently the keypad is designed to handle one or two buttons pressed at once. Pressing three keys causes a ghost key which fakes a fourth key press. This is not a bug, but the functionality of a scanning keypad matrix. The easy solution is to put diodes on each key but it adds cost. Are some of the suggestions here to use three keys at once? If so, and if it is actually important and not just to get at that one favorite key you'd like to map, the extra parts will need to be populated.

Is this still true of the final design?
 
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Neko said:
MWeston said:
Currently the keypad is designed to handle one or two buttons pressed at once.
Is this still true of the final design?Yes. That's how all key matrices work. Ghosting is not really a problem for the Pandora because unless you've managed to grow an extra thumb, you can't physically hit more than two keys at once anyway.
 
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Chip said:
Yes. That's how all key matrices work. Ghosting is not really a problem for the Pandora because unless you've managed to grow an extra thumb, you can't physically hit more than two keys at once anyway.


I was thinking about fn+shift+key combos without sticky keys, using my thumbs and forefinger. Since the keys are in different columns, ghosting probably won't be a problem in this case, though it depends on how the keyboard is wired.

I think I might need to grow an extra thumb to reach the select key for ctrl though! But ctrl could be mapped below the shift key (as in cosurgi's design) and two-key combos would work.

BTW I really don't care if the extra characters are printed on the keypad or not, my concern is only about the functionality.
 
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