Open Source @lemmy.ml Square Singer @feddit.de 1y ago

I made a FOSS physical keyboard for my Fairphone 4

geteilt von: https://feddit.de/post/3048730

Github link: https://github.com/Dakkaron/Fairberry

Here's a video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDb8_ld9gOQ

I've been using it for almost two years now, and I'm not going back.

It's based on a spare Blackberry Q10 keyboard and a custom Arduino-compatible board that reads the keyboard matrix and outputs it as USB HID to the phone. From the viewpoint of the phone, it's just a regular USB keyboard, so no special software is needed.

But I do use a custom virtual keyboard to have just two rows of symbols that are not natively on the keyboard, as I didn't want to add another layer of rarely used symbols that I'd have to memorize.

(On the image you can see Ubuntu with XFCE4 running on it. I chose Ubuntu because it's what was easiest to get running in a chroot jail on the phone. I'm using VNC to display the GUI. I even managed to get FEX (x86/x64 emulator) and Wine running, so it runs x86/x64 Linux and Windows apps.)

Libre Hardware @lemmy.ml Square Singer @feddit.de 1y ago

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56 comments

Long phone is looooooooooong.
- long loooong maaaaan
  
  Thanks, this is amazing^^
  
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this is co cool
I'm surprised that there isn't already a simple thumb keyboard with a USB-C plug at the top that you can just buy on Amazon. I would think that what you've done here would be super helpful for lots of people.
- I would love an foldable case with a keyboard on one side. Like a little Laptop. Would be so neat.
  
  Edit, something like this:
  
  The only thing on the market that kinda resembles this is the keyboard for the Pinephone. I've been considering hacking one of these and making them compatible with other phones.
  
  That looks absolutely perfect! Man I miss real keyboards on phones
  
  Yessss... Damn... With Linux on it too. I'd love that.
- I was looking for something like it for years. Or a HTC Desire Z style case with a slideout keyboard, even Bluetooth.
  
  I miss texting in landscape.
  
  Ah, the Desire Z was amazing. Used to play doom and pokemon in it as well, the keyboard worked great as a controller.
My first android phone was one with a physical slide out keyboard and damnit I really miss that. This is brilliant.

I wonder if I could load a newer OS on that old phone.
- Depending on the phone, there might be some custom ROM or something like PostmarketOS.
Wow that's great! I don't see myself needing something like this, but it's a cool tech nonetheless! Great job!
Amazing!

Gosh i really want physical Keyboards in Smartphones back...
- Yeah, me too. But since there's nothing decent on the market, I had to make it myself.
Marry me!

But seriously, I love hardware keyboards and this looks like a very interesting project. It's a pretty big compromise compared with BB phones (you pretty much have to remove the keyboard to put the phone in your pocket or charge it, right?) but I would totally use one if I could get something like this for my phone. Why no one is simply making keyboard cases? Phone case with a bluetooth keyboard doesn't look like a very expensive/complicate project.
- Marry me!
  
  Thanks for the offer, but you are too late for that ;)
  
  It’s a pretty big compromise compared with BB phones (you pretty much have to remove the keyboard to put the phone in your pocket or charge it, right?)
  
  I don't remove the keyboard when I put it in my pocket. But for charging it needs to be removed, since I didn't add pass-through charging to the whole thing. Pass through charging is really complicated and I already spent a lot of time on this.
  
  but I would totally use one if I could get something like this for my phone.
  
  If you got some CAD skills, you can just adjust the case for any phone you like. It should even work with an iPhone, you just need to use a Lightning-to-USB-OTG solder connector instead of the USB-C-to-OTG solder connector I am using.
  
  But yeah, that's a concept issue here. The case needs to be adjusted for every specific phone. So if anyone was do do this commercially, they'd probably have to pick 2-3 different devices to support and that's it.
  
  Why no one is simply making keyboard cases? Phone case with a bluetooth keyboard doesn’t look like a very expensive/complicate project.
  
  There are a few issues. The device-specificity is one, but another one is that Blackberry still had some patents on phone keyboards and they just sold them to a patent troll company. Might not be a big issue for a large company, but experimental accessories are usually made by small companies who are happy to output just a few tens of thousands of units max. And for a little company like that, paying off a patent troll is too expensive to make it worthwhile.
  
  Also, small keyboards are surprisingly hard (read expensive) to make on a small scale. I got lucky that there are still enough BBQ10 spare keyboards around, but the total supply isn't exactly huge and I wouldn't bet a company on that kind of supply.
  
  So if you want one, make yourself one before the BBQ10 spare keyboards are gone.
  
  I actually still have some BB phones in a box (I'm not sure if my old Q10 is there but definitely a BB Key). What I lack are CAD skills. But I will take a look. Maybe it's easier than I think.
  
  Also, I remember the issue with BB patents and I think the problem was that this company used exact copy of BB keyboards. Like the keys were exactly the same shape. If someone would just make a small BT keyboard it would probably avoid patent issues. You do have small BT keyboards for tablets after all. Just making it even smaller shouldn't be a patent violation.
That's an impressive project indeed.

And here all I can cynically think is "Great, finally a way to make the FP4 a bit more unwieldy and hard to hold with small hands, that had always been way too easy before!"
- It's actually not too bad. It's worse to put it into a small pocket ;)
  
  I fear, this whole thing would be 100% incompatible with woman's trousers.
  
  Pretty sure most phones are. Wtf is it with women's clothes and those bullshit micro pockets anyway?
  
  Aren’t women’s trousers well-known for not having pockets? Not happening there!
x86 apps? Awesome.
- It won't run Crysis, but if performance is not a criterium, it does work.
New cases with slide out keyboards like the old LG Ally incoming? 😂
- Sadly not. Coming from a Droid 4, a side sliding keyboard was my first approach (actually my first 8 prototypes were some form of side slide keyboard) but it's impossible due to the center of gravity. On all keyboard phones, the mainboard and battery where in the keyboard part, with only the light screen on the top half. With a keyboard attachment that's not possible.
  
  So I gave up and made this here, and it just worked great. I would still prefer a side sliding keyboard, but I fear it's not possible to make a decent one.
I love the idea of my Fairphone running XFCE lol. Good job OP
I'd buy it!
Trust me, this is an exceptionally apt reference to BlackBerry (2023). Based on my lack of upvotes I assume not many people have seen it yet 😅
- Nah, haven't seen it yet. Sorry...
  
  Without spoiling anything:
  
  He portrays the founder of BlackBerry and is obsessed with having physical keyboards on phones
Cool as hell I miss physical keyboards so much
nice clicky sound, appretiate it but agree other commnents, would be nice to have horizontal version
- Yeah, it would be nice. I would also prefer a horizontal version.
  
  That's sadly not really possible, though. The issue is that you need most of the weight in the keyboard part of a horizontal keyboard phone. If you look at any of these, they all have battery, mainboard, cameras and IO in the keyboard part of the phone, with only the screen being on the other part.
  
  With a keyboard attachment, that's not possible. You have all the weight up top. That means, you can never get the center of gravity in a comfortable position.
  
  Believe me, I tried. I only had horizontal keyboard phones before, and the first 8 prototypes where some kind of side-sliding phone, and they all didn't work out, because of the COG. Even if I added weights to the keyboard, that wasn't enough. To balance the ~225g of that phone, I'd have to add >300g to the keyboard, and I really don't want to carry a 0.5kg training weight in my pocket at all times.
  
  So I gave up and stuck a Blackberry keyboard onto my phone :)
Love it. Miss my keyboard, badly. Was a die hard Crackberry user for many years.

I see a reference to adding a lightning connector. Is it that trivial to adapt?
- Funnily, yes it is. At least in theory, I haven't tested it.
  
  I am not using the USB connector directly, but instead I have a small USB OTG breakout board in between, which has USB C on one side and USB 2.0 OTG on the other side.
  
  The same kind of board exists for Micro USB (which I tested on my last phone) and Lightning.
  
  So all you need to do is swap the connector and that's that. And of course adjust the case design files to fit an iPhone.
I like vertical keyboards! I had one on Nokia Asha 302.
XFCE on mobile + physical keyboard is the bees knees. May the kudos be with you.
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Awesome!
Interesting...
Cool!

56 comments