Pictures, Videos and thoughts of a Pyra dev-prototype

[Grench]

So... Anything new &/or interesting with the prototype?

 

[Askarus]

Multitasking on the Pyra:

LibreOffice on the left, a PDF e-Book on the right.
Perfect setup for note taking.

The first picture is both side by side, the second one an optimized overlapping solution
3rd and 4th picture are screenshots directly taken from the Pyra.

 

[tarator]

@Askarus thank's for the pictures.

Some questions I have in mind, as you seem to already have used your Pyra for productive work:

* How is the screen under sunlight? Is it readable?
* How are the controls? How easy is it to use the nubs as mouse? (Although you're used to this method from operating the pandora over years) How fast can you type?

I don't want a measure, more a subjective statement how it is like to use it...

 

[Askarus]

Some questions I have in mind, as you seem to already have used your Pyra for productive work:

No, I didn't. That was simply a test of how it looks and that it is theoretically possible.

How is the screen under sunlight? Is it readable?

No idea. Haven't used it under that circumstances.
But I can try it and report as soon as the wether is appropriate.

* How are the controls? How easy is it to use the nubs as mouse? (Although you're used to this method from operating the pandora over years) How fast can you type?

After ED fixed my Nubs they are excellent. Pressing them still is not configured as mouse click so they work similar to the Pandora ones. But much more accurate and precise.

I haven't typed much and did most of the stuff I did via the serial input.
Typing is horrible. I have an old keymat. It's stiff and button presses are not recognized frequently.
The new keymat will be better though as I've already tested it.

After barely using the Pyra I got familiar with the keyboard very fast. Typing on the Pandora again feels strange. Especially with the upper row backspace.
Having ESC and TAB is a huge improvement. The keys are placed well.

After some days with the Pyra the Pandora feels really flat
The size is definitely not a bad thing.

It's not usable for productivity still, as I have no working battery monitor and a bad keyboard.

What I did so far is making Pandora like scripts for Keyboard, LCD and LED backlight control.
Still need to upload them.
Don't expect miracles form my side

 

[Grench]

After barely using the Pyra I got familiar with the keyboard very fast. Typing on the Pandora again feels strange. Especially with the upper row backspace.
Having ESC and TAB is a huge improvement. The keys are placed well.

I'm glad it is working - that means that the collective time & effort on keyboard layouts was not a waste.

 

[Askarus]

I'm glad it is working - that means that the collective time & effort on keyboard layouts was not a waste.

Not a complete one, yes

 

[Grench]

What I did so far is making Pandora like scripts for Keyboard, LCD and LED backlight control.
Still need to upload them.
Don't expect miracles form my side

Were you able to tie the LED backlight to the backlight button OK? There were a few ideas around it's function - I'm curious how you did the implementation.

One idea - pretty basic, up goes up until max and it stays there.
Idea two - up goes up to top then loops to off.

Pressing the brightness key by itself = screen brightness up.
Shift + brightness = screen brightness down.
Fn + brightness = keyboard brightness up.
Fn + Shift + brightness = keyboard brightness down.

Other ideas for expanded use:
Alt + brightness = Other LED brightness up (indicator & Lid & power LEDs).
Alt + shift+brightness = Other LED brightness down
Ctrl + brightness = software volume up
Ctrl + shift + brightness = software volume down
Fn + Ctrl + brightness = rumble motor intensity up
Fn + Ctrl + shift + brightness = rumble motor intensity down
Fn + Alt + Ctrl + Brightness = Easter Egg All LEDs 'disco' mode.
Fn + Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Brightness = Easter Egg All LEDs 'disco' mode off.

Just giving you ideas...

Thanks again for the updates!

 

[kabaiakh]

One could also combine the volume wheel with modifier keys to achieve brightness && backlight setting.

Just throwing (possibly already worded) ideas as well ...

Regarding screenshots, I'm afraid I'm might need something like this:


Jokes apart, it's heartwarming to see Pyras alive && spread across the world.

 

[Askarus]

Were you able to tie the LED backlight to the backlight button OK? There were a few ideas around it's function - I'm curious how you did the implementation.

Nothing really fancy. The modifiers don't work well. neither mate, nor xbindkeys recognize the kn key as a proper modifier.
However mate recognizes all shoulder buttons.
More modifiers are also a problem. for example I can not press CTRL and + as it needs fn and CTRL at the same time.

Anyways, I would make it pretty simple:

No brightness settings for the Keyboard via the button. Simply a toggle function. There is no need to have that as a quick access.
Then an up and down for the screen with CTRL and Shift.
Further I would maybe make a big software settings menu that can be opened via that button and then one can set keyboard brightness and so on.
[doublepost=1500964839,1500964727][/doublepost]

Regarding screenshots, I'm afraid I'm might need something like this:

Why not. The resolution is good enough and if it increases productivity.

BTW: It's cloudy and rainy today. No screen test in bright sunlight today.

 

[ptitSeb]

So, you want to see how fast it boots?

Here it is
And all this running from an SD Card (a 64GB µSD SanDisk Ultra with SD adapter, on Left Slot).

 

[Caine]

Oh wow. That boots really slow.

Good thing it is an always on/standby/hibernate device.

<edit>And lest I forget, thank you for making that video</edit>

 

[ptitSeb]

Oh wow. That boots really slow.

Good thing it is an always on/standby/hibernate device.

<edit>And lest I forget, thank you for making that video</edit>

Slow?? You must be kidding. it's 40sec from press the button to password screen.

 

[Kippykip]

Oh wow. That boots really slow.

Good thing it is an always on/standby/hibernate device.

<edit>And lest I forget, thank you for making that video</edit>

Slow? That went on the desktop in 1 minute loading from an SD. That's pretty damn good.
Compare that to my smartphone that takes 2 minutes and once you're in it takes another 2-3 minutes for the touchscreen to be reliable/responsive.

 

[Caine]

About 50 ~ 60 seconds to boot to desktop, I would not call that great.

Though, perhaps it is not that bad. I must be getting impatient.

 

[second exodous]

Somehow did not know about this thread, now I'm getting antsy waiting for the Pyra. It looks great though, looks to be meeting my aspirations that I had for the Pandora. I play games on my Pandora, which it is great at, but not much else.

 

[TrashyMG]

Oh wow. That boots really slow.

Good thing it is an always on/standby/hibernate device.

<edit>And lest I forget, thank you for making that video</edit>

There is a hidden boot menu where you can select which kernel you want to boot into with a fairly long wait time displayed on the serial terminal which accounts for a good chunk of the 40 seconds boot time.

The hope eventually is to have a boot menu that can be displayed on the LCD like the Pandora has.

 

[Swordfish II]

Slow?? You must be kidding. it's 40sec from press the button to password screen.

So not to stir the pot, but the Pandora boots super fast.

It caught me by surprise. The Pyra seems to have a more normal boot, which is OK.

 

[AnimatedFreak]

I don't mind a slow boot time (I don't even think it's that slow) as long as I can keep it running for a while with minimum reboot it's not a problem. And knowing how little I have to restart my Debian PC I'm not the least bit worried.

 

[Alperoot]

40 seconds is not really that much of a time stolen from a life, but some people sure will be whining all over the forums if the same ends up happening with the final product.

 

[TrashyMG]

Does anyone actually read what I post?