Unofficial Keyboard Layouts

[Grench]

Easiest thing in the world. get 2-3 spare keyboard. Then t hake a razor blade and cut the buttons. Swap them and that's it. No glue. Then go into /home/.pndXmodmap and search for "X" and "Z" and swap the X with Z and the Z with X. Then search for "slash" and "underscore" and swap them as well (the blue buttons).

 Ah well... no biggie then =D just slicing and dicing the keymat into pieces...

I should have kept my old one which already had an problem with the dpad.

Thank you for info askarus =)

EDIT :

This picture might be in use for someone to simply visualize his ideas about the keyboardlayout discussed here

If you want me to I can generate a version with more or less buttons. ^^

http://imageshack.us/a/img801/3308/jbvy.png

 How about one with:

The individual keys shrunk to 2/3 the front/back depth (rectangular instead of square).

Keys from the outside/under edge of the control pads removed.

Full row of keys on top with speakers in the top left & right corners.

Layout like this:

Normal

[SPEAKR] [Esc] [Sel] [Men] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [Pyr] [Srt] [ BS] [SPEAKR]
^ Joystick [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Joystick Y
< + > [--..--] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [--..--] A + B
V Joystick [ * ] [ 0 ] [ + ] Joystick X
[ q ] [ w ] [ e ] [ r ] [ t ] [ y ] [ u ] [ i ] [ o ] [ p ]
[Sft][ a ] [ s ] [ d ] [ f ] [ g ] [ h ] [ j ] [ k ] [ l ] [RET]
[Ctr] [Alt] [ z ] [ x ] [ c ] [ v ] [ b ] [ n ] [ m ] [ . ] [Spc] [ Fn]
The 2/3 depth keys should allow for all 4 rows (3 low, 1 high) and the width should be defined by the screen width - minimal bezzels.
Small speakers in the base above the game pad controls.

I'm curious what it would look like.

Thanks!

 

[bzar]

Those are some tiny speakers.

 

[Grench]

Those are some tiny speakers.

The difference between a 4mm by 10mm speaker and a 7mm by 12mm speaker is null. Move out to 10mm by 20mm and you'll have gotten a slight improvement - but it will still be horrid.

In fact, you won't get anything approaching 'bad-OK' quality for music playback until you get to 100mm by 100mm speakers with 1000 cc or more of cabinet.

The speakers on a device the size of the Pandora/Pyra will never be much more than game buzzers/notification/system sounds. You could make an individual speaker the size of the whole Pyra and it would still only approach mediocrity.

Faced with those facts, make them as small as possible while still being loud enough for notifications. Anyone who wants to listen to music can either plug in a set of headphones or a $50+ set of PC speakers and get 10,000 times better sound out of it.

 

[TrashyMG]

^ The current Pandora speakers are most likely around 14mm by 20mm, by rough guess using a digital caliper and guessing the shape of the speaker... I find it acceptable for gaming to the point I don't carry around headphones, if I want to listen to music sure I plug in headphones.. So I'm not sure If I'd like anything that would sacrifice using it without headphones. 

 

[Granitehead]

I also think that the speakers should be as small as possible. One would be enough too, stereo is unnecessary.

If someone wants good sound then that person should use headphones/external speakers.

 

[TrashyMG]

I also think that the speakers should be as small as possible. One would be enough too, stereo is unnecessary.


If someone wants good sound then that person should use headphones/external speakers.

Totally disagree, I like the Pandora because it's super portable.. I don't like earbuds.. and carrying around my good headphones or external speakers takes away the portability of the device. The Current Pandora has acceptable sound with the current sized speakers.

 

[WizardStan]

It has better speakers than my 16" laptop, that's for sure.

 

[Askarus]

Even if EvilDragon will kill me for it I support the Layout with the 9 Number buttons between the two Nubs.

I disagree with smaller speakers.

Maybe make circles for the buttons between the nubs?

Might look nicer.

EDIT:

And please make the Main buttons like the ones between the nubs (reduce height)

Then there will be more room for the speakers and for a big screen.

I refer to this picture

Spoiler

 

[FBnil]

I have tried to mimic the amount of space for my finger on the Y button, using a CD slimcase on my OpenPandora, and I constantly hit the new border of the bezel. I have small hands, so this should not happen... I really would like a top row of buttons and get the Pandora1 gamer layout back (top space-wise speaking).

This does not happen with the plus-pad, I keep that thumb centered.

 

[MrBazil2k]

How about one with:
The individual keys shrunk to 2/3 the front/back depth (rectangular instead of square).


Keys from the outside/under edge of the control pads removed.


Full row of keys on top with speakers in the top left & right corners.


Layout like this:


Normal


[sPEAKR] [Esc] [sel] [Men] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [Pyr] [srt] [ BS] [sPEAKR]


                         ^ Joystick [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Joystick Y


                     < + > [--..--] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [--..--] A + B


                         V Joystick [ * ] [ 0 ] [ + ] Joystick X


                   [ q ] [ w ] [ e ] [ r ] [ t ] [ y ] [ u ] [ i ] [ o ] [ p ]


               [sft][ a ] [ s ] [ d ] [ f ] [ g ] [ h ] [ j ] [ k ] [ l ] [RET]


         [Ctr] [Alt] [ z ] [ x ] [ c ] [ v ] [ b ] [ n ] [ m ] [ . ] [spc] [ Fn]


The 2/3 depth keys should allow for all 4 rows (3 low, 1 high) and the width should be defined by the screen width - minimal bezzels.


Small speakers in the base above the game pad controls.


I'm curious what it would look like. Thanks!

I have allowed myself to take a little influence on that layout of yours, just have a look at it and tell me what you think of it

You can see a 3Dimensional view of this in the other thread of mine (also some further information there ...)

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/5606/jjne.png

EDIT : ... doh ... something went wrong with that Quoting up there ... sry for this

 

[Binky]

Newlines get automatically removed from quotes - try using

 tags

 

[MrBazil2k]

Repaired it manually now =S

Thanks Binky

 

[Grench]

How about one with:
The individual keys shrunk to 2/3 the front/back depth (rectangular instead of square).


Keys from the outside/under edge of the control pads removed.


Full row of keys on top with speakers in the top left & right corners.


Layout like this:


Normal


[sPEAKR] [Esc] [sel] [Men] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [Pyr] [srt] [ BS] [sPEAKR]


                         ^ Joystick [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Joystick Y


                     < + > [--..--] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [--..--] A + B


                         V Joystick [ * ] [ 0 ] [ + ] Joystick X


                   [ q ] [ w ] [ e ] [ r ] [ t ] [ y ] [ u ] [ i ] [ o ] [ p ]


               [sft][ a ] [ s ] [ d ] [ f ] [ g ] [ h ] [ j ] [ k ] [ l ] [RET]


         [Ctr] [Alt] [ z ] [ x ] [ c ] [ v ] [ b ] [ n ] [ m ] [ . ] [spc] [ Fn]


The 2/3 depth keys should allow for all 4 rows (3 low, 1 high) and the width should be defined by the screen width - minimal bezzels.


Small speakers in the base above the game pad controls.


I'm curious what it would look like. Thanks!

I have allowed myself to take a little influence on that layout of yours, just have a look at it and tell me what you think of it

You can see a 3Dimensional view of this in the other thread of mine (also some further information there ...)

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/5606/jjne.png

EDIT : ... doh ... something went wrong with that Quoting up there ... sry for this

I like it - and I think we're getting somewhere on it.

When using the game pads or nubs your thumbs will be over the speakers.  I would swap the speakers and the game pad controls so that the speakers are closer to the screen side - and can reflect off of that back to the user.

That would yield room for either wider speakers or another pair of buttons in the top row maybe?

At that point, re-size the keyboard until it's the same width and depth as the screen + bezels without camera or speakers in the top half.  I.e. I think the layout of the keyboard is about right - but is dimension matched to too large of a lid.  The whole lid should be screen and the base should be the same size.

Getting closer...  and thanks again for doing this.  You've definitely got the knack for the CAD software.

 

[slaeshjag]

Grench, if fn-shift-key doesn't work, you're doing it wrong. wrong wrong wrong WRONG!

 

[Caine]

Grench, if fn-shift-key doesn't work, you're doing it wrong. wrong wrong wrong WRONG!

Indeed, I strongly agree with this.
Also, if shift-key is valid on a regular keyboard it should be valid on the Pandora.

I.e. keys such as:

TAB, Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, Backspace, Space, Ctrl, ALt, Shift, F1...F12, etc...

should NEVER have or be a shifted value (use Fn instead).

A good example of this is the Backspace/Del combination which is also present on the Pandora 1.

This is a mistake. This makes it impossible to type shift+del which is really annoying.

Rule of thumb: only bind keys to shift which are usually also bound to shift, otherwise use Fn.

An update for my layout:

Legend:

• bottom left: normal press
• Top left: shift press
• Top right: Fn press
• Middle right: Convention, default binding in games
• Side-print: not-printed indicates button behaviour.
• Nub/dpad labels are not printed either.
• Print, Pause, NumLock are Fn+key combinations

Unsure about:

• The ordering of F1 - F12, I would prefer Fn+i = Fi to hold.
• Swapping < and > with ( and ) which would concentrate most of the commonpunctuation in regular typing in the bottom left corner. On the other hand
  
  it breaks the usual shift+9 = (,etc... bindings which can be bothersome if
  
  apps actually use these combinations.
  
• Which international characters to place on Fn+ERTYUIOPGHJKLVBNM/

<edit>Minor picture update, missed the '</edit>Picture source: www.keyboard-layout-editor.com

Raw data:

Spoiler

[{y:0.5,f:5,w:2,w2:1},"\nL1: CTRL",{x:0.25,w:2},"\nL2: Mouse1\nMouse2",{x:3.5,w:2},"\nR2: ALT",{x:0.25,w:2},"\nR1: SHIFT"],

[{y:0.25,x:0.5,a:5},"\n\n\n\n\n\nPyra",{a:4,f:3},"\nESC\nPrint\n\n\n\n\nMenu","\nIns\nPause\n\n\n\n\nStart","\nDel\nNLock\n\n\n\n\nSelect",{f:4},"&\n7\nF1","*\n8\nF2","(\n9\nF3",{f:5},"{\n[\nBr-","}\n]\nBr+",{f:4},"|\n\\\nWiFi",{a:5,f:5},"\n\n\n\n\n\n<---"],

[{x:4.5,a:4,f:4},"$\n4\nF4","%\n5\nF5","^\n6\nF6"],

[{y:-0.75,x:1,a:5,f:5,w:0.75,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\n\n\n^",{x:8.5,w:0.82,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\nPgUp\n\nY"],

[{y:-0.5,x:2.75,f:3,w:1.5,h:1.5},"mouse movement\nJoystick 0\n\n\n\n\n(NUB)",{x:3.5,w:1.5,h:1.5},"mouse clicks\nJoystick1\n\n\n\n\n(NUB)"],

[{y:-0.75,x:0.25,f:5,w:0.75,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\n\n\n<",{f:2,w:0.75,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\n\n\ndpad",{f:5,w:0.75,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\n\n\n>",{x:2,a:4,f:4},"!\n1\nF7","@\n2\nF8","#\n3\nF9",{x:2,a:5,f:5,w:0.81,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\nHome\n\nA",{x:0.6899999999999995,w:0.82,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\nEnd\n\nB"],

[{y:-0.25,x:1,a:1,w:0.75,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\n\n\nv",{x:8.5,a:5,w:0.82,h:0.75},"\n\n\n\nPgDn\n\nX"],

[{y:-0.75,x:4.5,a:4,f:4},")\n0\nF10","_\n-\nF11","+\n=\nF12"],

[{x:1,f:5},"\nQ\n~","\nW\n`","\nE","\nR","\nT","\nY","\nU","\nI","\nO","\nP"],

[{x:0.5,f:3},"\nShift\nCaps Lock",{f:5},"\nA\n<","\nS\n>","\nD\n:","\nF\n\"","\nG","\nH","\nJ","\nK","\nL","\nEnter"],

["\n\n\n\n\n\nCtrl","\n\n\n\n\n\nAlt","\nZ\n,","\nX\n.","\nC\n;","\nV\n'","\nB","\nN","\nM","?\n/",{f:3,f2:4},"\nSpace\nTAB",{t:"#0000FF",f2:3},"\nFn\nFnLock"]

 

[comradekingu]

Try http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/ to make mockups

 

[levi]

For such a small device where ideally you don't have to change your grip very often, having two space bars on their own merit seems superfluous. Having them as extra buttons for every weird keyboard layout under the sun may be more justifiable, but it strikes me that anyone with such esoteric requirements should just get a Das Black and be done with it.


Regarding func, alt and ctrl location, since hopefully these will all be on the shoulder buttons in the Pyra, we're going to have to do a certain amount of re-learning anyway, at least when we're thumb-typing. If we can come up with a better mapping, let's go for it.


For me all I really want is fn on shoulders and a dedicated tab key. I use the shell a lot and that would make life a lot easier on the P1.

 

[slaeshjag]

^ I would very much appriciate having the extra 5 keys to get the alphanumerics for a full 102-key keyboard. That means most of the world can get a real keymapping. As the pandora is now, it's pretty much only the english-speaking world that gets a non-awkward keyboard.

 

[moxie]

^ What he said.

 

[Caine]

Try http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/ to make mockups

Thanks, that looks useful. Updated my layout.

^ I would very much appriciate having the extra 5 keys to get the alphanumerics for a full 102-key keyboard. That means most of the world can get a real keymapping. As the pandora is now, it's pretty much only the english-speaking world that gets a non-awkward keyboard.

Do you have some images of what is a native keyboard layout for you? I don't really know which keys need to be added, but I have quite some room for Fn+key combination.