Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

[jackard]

The Droid X does have HID drivers built in but I am having some issues using a few devices. I first tried the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and it did pair and connect but could never get it to do anything. I have also connected the Microsoft Keyboard Elite and it works great but it wants to pair again if it ever disconnects. I have also tried to pair the Microsoft mouse that can with the aforementioned keyboard but it will not pair. Has anyone else tried this and if so please post your results.

BTW, when the Microsoft keyboard is connected the multimedia buttons work so that's very nice.

 

[soundfreq]

i'm interested in this as well, but i want to make sure it works before i buy a BT keyboard

how do you pair the droid x and the keyboard, like a headset?

 

[jackard]

You just put the keyboard in pairing mode like a headset and go into bluetooth settings and press the keyboard entry to pair. It will ask for a code which you can enter anything you want like 0000 then enter it on the keyboard and press enter. It will pair and sometimes you actually have to press the keyboard entry again in the settings to have it connect or try pressing some keys on the keyboard.

Let us know your results.

 

[DaRkL3AD3R]

Wait wait wait, if the X has HID support, does that mean someone can write an app to allow the PS3 controller to connect via bluetooth and be used for games? (hint hint - PSX4droid :drool: )

If this is a possibility, theres only one thing left to make this package complete: true HDMI out to use it as monitor output. Just imagine...

Droid X hooked up to 60" HDTV via HDMI
Sitting back on your couch with your PS3 controller
Playing Final Fantasy 7 at full speed...

I can dream, can't I?

 

[soundfreq]

Let us know your results.

Freedom keyboard supports HID and SPP for the BT, but i guess the Droid X has no HID support, only for music and headset.

i jumped the gun and ordered the freedom keyboard from amazon and we'll see if it works as it should.

also i believe there's a couple of third party BT apps on the market, will try those too

 

[terpitude71]

i know wii remotes an be paired and function as well, but i think they only function when using an app that can use the remote, like an emulator app

 

[jackard]

Droid X has no HID support

Actually the Droid X does have HID support but it is a little finicky. Hopefully we will find some devices that work well with the phone.

 

[soundfreq]

Actually the Droid X does have HID support but it is a little finicky. Hopefully we will find some devices that work well with the phone.

several websites are saying Android OS has no built-in BT HID support, that's why the BT keyboard needs to run on SPP.

I just got my Freedom Pro BT Keyboard and trying it out right now.

will update you guys as soon as I have more information.

 

[ggruber59]

HID Profile for Droid X

I would like to contribute to this discussion about the HID and SPP Bluetooth profiles for the Droid X.

I have used two different keyboards so far - an Apple Wireless Keyboard and the Freedom Pro (which I received today).

I was able to pair both keyboards using the HID profile (the Apple Wireless only has HID that I can tell) and the Freedom Pro has a switch. With the HID profile for either keyboard, if they turn off or becomes disconnected for another reason, you have to pair it all over again. The Freedom Pro would pair more easily and repeatably than the Apple Wireless but several times I have had to re-power the Droid X to get it pair at all.

So with the Freedom Pro, I followed their online documentation (the Android OS isn't covered in the document I received with the keyboard) which says to use the SPP profile, pair it using 0000 (but it doesn't connect), download and install a driver and setup through settings added to the Language & keyboard settings. It works but with the following caveats:
- If the keyboard goes to sleep, you have to go back to Settings -> Language & keyboard to connect even though auto-reconnect is enabled. A pain but not the end of the world.
- No keys repeat (try deleting a lot of text that way).
- There isn't a way to use the cursor keys and shift to highlight text to delete.
- Be careful using the apostrophe and quotation mark on the keyboard in a text message. I don't know exactly what it does but your text message became a lot longer but you can't see that other than looking at the character and block counter but apparently some "gibberish" appears on the recipients end.
- The defined keys (left side, SK1-6) and programmable function keys are nice as they do work but not at the expense of all of the above.
- You have to go to Settings -> Language & keyboard to change from the Freedom Pro to Swype or Multi-touch keyboard so if you want to type something off of the screen (such as that errant apostrophe) it isn't trivial.

The HID profile allows (at least as currently implemented) you to go from the external keyboard to the virtual keyboard by simply touching the screen. It would key repeat, you could hold the shift key down and use the cursor keys to highlight and delete text.

I read one person's experience where they couldn't get the Apple Wireless to work at all (other than to pair) but that the Microsoft 6000 worked fine except for having to pair again once the connection was lost. A couple of days ago I would have said the same about the Apple Wireless Keyboard.

I have used, extremely successfully, the Apple Wireless Keyboard on an iPhone 3GS (hmmm, imagine that an Apple keyboard would work well with an iPhone?) My two cents worth on the subject is the implementation of the Bluetooth stack for the HID profile. I did read one person's comment about the Swype being a problem and I have disabled that without a lot of change in behavior.

Anyone else have any new information? I love my Droid X and when I am working on the computer, sending text messages using an external keyboard would get the Droid X to fill that gap between work computers and personal contact.

 

[soundfreq]

thanks for a very detailed and informative contribution.

i'm still playing around with the freedom pro keyboard and will let you guys know my experience.

 

[ggruber59]

Bluetooth HID Keyboards part 2

For some strange and unknown reason my Droid X locked up hard last night and I had to pull the battery to get it to recover.

This morning, being the glutton for punishment I am, I paired the Apple Wireless keyboard back up and it worked flawlessly for at least four hours. I think the culprit knows when I am giving it praise and it just stopped working (the keyboard). I haven't been so much of a glutton so I left it off.

I will be receiving the Microsoft 6000 keyboard tomorrow but I make the above observation as I have read someone (maybe more than one) say that the MS 6000 has worked flawlessly. So I am not holding my breath one way or the other I just would really like a Bluetooth keyboard that works well with the Droid X.

As a side note, I changed to Swype and found that it works fairly well (I personally like it better than the two thumb keyboarding) with being able to get it (or me) to handle two consecutive letters without ambiguity (like spelling "funny"). It will take some retraining on my part to use it because when you touch type, you train yourself (at least I was taught) that you type the word and not spell it out. When I "swype", I noticed I want to spell out the word and I am trying to follow the swaggering line. I don't think I will ever break any speed records (some company did an ad that demonstrated that) but with a little practice and retraining I will do well enough. I like the stability in the hand in either orientation using Swype of which I didn't feel overly comfortable with on any hand held phone even with real QWERTY keyboards (several Blackberry devices have been used by me in the past four years).

 

[jackard]

I am getting very frustrated! I used my Apple Wireless Keyboard with my Archos 5 Android Tablet but I cannot get it to do anything. It will pair and connect to HID but will not register any key presses. It has to send some key presses or it wouldn't pair. If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

If your results with the Microsoft 6000 is favorable then I will buy it and sell my AWK. Please let us know how it goes so I can get my order into Staples.

 

[ggruber59]

Well, I have received the Microsoft 6000 Bluetooth keyboard and it didn't me long to know how it behaves. But first a few clarifications of the Apple Wireless Keyboard (and the results don't indicate returning the AWK, at least not yet).

As luck would have it, I actually own two different AWK. One is designated as a 2007 model and the other a 2009 model. The way that Apple differentiates them is the number of AA batteries required. The 2007 model requires three AA batteries and the 2009 model requires only two AA batteries. Unfortunately I have had a rash of alkaline battery failures that resulted in losing two Maglite flashlights and the 2007 keyboard (NOTE: if you are not using a battery operated device for a period of time, please remove the batteries). I was able to finally extract the batteries out of the 2007, cleaned out the housing and installed fresh batteries. It paired up just fine to the Droid X but it wouldn't process any keystrokes. I have not verified that it actually works paired to another computer but it did process the keys to pair it and there is an update that I haven't applied to this keyboard. The update may fix the keystroke issue but it appears to behave like a AWK that someone had described. The 2009 AWK will pair and will send keystrokes.

I don't have enough time and enough fiddling to say that both the 2009 AWK and the MS 6000 behave exactly the same, but so far they appear to behave nearly identically.

They will pair properly to the Droid X if you take them to their initial pairing state. They will work as you would expect a keyboard to work (I have noted a couple of minor issues with the shift key and the cursor but it is more of an annoyance). After something occurs (time, perhaps the keyboard goes to sleep, maybe the Droid X driver decides it isn't happy?), it ceases to send keystrokes. I have tried several combinations of reconnecting that I can think of and it won't connect. You then have to unpair the keyboard from the Droid X, put the keyboard back into pairing mode and pair it again. What I have noticed now is that they keyboard doesn't work for very long (i.e. you may be able to type a few words before it quits processing keystrokes from the keyboard OR it will repeat a character until you turn the keyboard off (and even in just two or three seconds, the Droid buffers up a lot of characters).

I have just powered down the Droid X and removed the battery for about 15 seconds. I am going to see what this does for it. Could it be interference from another Bluetooth device? Anything is possible. I do believe I have any other Bluetooth devices turned off or disabled and if it is interference, in my opinion it shows a poor implementation of the Bluetooth stack on the Droid X (and possibly others) because Apple and Microsoft wouldn't sell very many keyboards if they quite working at the rate that these have on the Droid X. Is it something at the driver level that is affected by something else that is running on the Droid X? Perhaps as I do notice hesitations from time to time.

I unpaired the keyboard and a headset, powered it off, removed the battery and I am going to leave it out of the media stand. The battery profile is set to performance. It paired up and initially working. I sent one message about 120 characters and started a second when it repeated an 'i' (the repeating character is not the same). This last scenario didn't work any better. It is so strange that it appears to work better once a day and then from there on it has a short connection or operation span.

In the end, perseverance will pay off. They (Motorola, Android, someone) will fix this issue. There is Android 2.2 that will be coming soon (I read about an early release in the Netherlands late this week). The Swype input method seems to be better than the two thumbed peck. I will keep trying things, looking for answers. I talked to tech support at Verizon Wireless, they recommended contacting Motorola which is what I will try next. There will be days that I will set the keyboard aside and not bother with it until I find something solid that works. I don't recommend burying (or returning) either the Apple Wireless Keyboard or the Microsoft 6000. Both of them are very nice keyboards and have worked well in other Bluetooth devices.

 

[soundfreq]

i finally got the freedom keyboard working, following the online instructions from here

installation is more than half the battle, as it's quite confusing. here are some of my notes:
* DX will pair and connect with the freedom keyboard but will not do anything
* SPP is the way to go.
* "Paired but not connected is what you want to read under the bluetooth settings
* you need to check the freedom keyboard tickbox under language & keyboard before you can choose this as the input method

there's a third party driver available in the market/appbrain, but will stick this one for now and check it later.

will add some more as i go along.

 

[ggruber59]

I was able to get the Freedom Pro keyboard to work using the SPP profile but if you read my post in this thread, my experience with the Freedom Pro using their drivers and settings make this keyboard very "flat" (it doesn't behave anything like a HID profile keyboard) and there is the issue I had when composing text messages that the apostrophe and quote consumed a number of character positions that you can't see other than to note that character counter changed by 10 to 60 (approximately) on a single character.

I found a Bluetooth driver called BlueInput Android which allows any HID compliant Bluetooth keyboard to work on a Droid type device. It is unclear if I got it configured precisely the way they described it but it didn't seem to behave much differently than not having the driver installed at all.

What I don't understand is that with the kind of behavior that at least some people have seen that Motorola and/or Google (VZW is "just" a carrier) haven't owned up to this being a problem and any method to work around (other than the "flat" Freedom Pro). My experience with the Microsoft 6000 is that it is more likely to pair after it goes to sleep than the Apple Wireless keyboard but both will work quite well until the keyboard wants to take a nap (The AWK would actually quit working soon after pairing with no characters or repeating the last character until you powered it off). Even the Freedom Pro configured in HID mode would behave in a similar fashion.

I used the MS 6000 this morning and it worked well until I left it alone long enough (not sure what the timeout is but 10 minutes would definitely get it to go to sleep) at which time you have to go to Settings -> Bluetooth settings, unpair and then pair and it would work until it went to sleep (sometimes I had to turn the keyboard off and then back on, the HID profile is very finicky about pairing).

So there is definitely life for a HID profile keyboard right within reach. Also, I have a Bluetooth headset, a Sony DR BT100CX which works nearly flawless (a couple of times it has powered off unexpectedly and was switched out as the device during a call which I was able to recover once I realized I couldn't hear the person). Perhaps this will be resolved with 2.2? We can always dream!

 

[Zman1001]

I just got the Microsoft 6000 keyboard and I am trying to pair it, but everytime, it comes up that it requires passkey. Any suggestions as to which keycode to use? I tried 0000 and 1234, but each time, it just disappears from bluetooth devices after a few seconds.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[ggruber59]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...

For Zman1001 - if the Droid X gives a status of "paired but not connected", unpair the keyboard first (from Settings -> Bluetooth settings, tap and hold the keyboard device (normall Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000) and click on Unpair. Put the keyboard back into pairing mode (LED alternating green and red) and on the Droid X select Scan for devices. Select the keyboard and enter 1234 (or any numeric string from four to eight digits, but not sure if it is a max) to the box Bluetooth pairing request and tap OK. On the MS 6000 type the same numeric string and hit enter. This will pair them together just nicely.

The current caveat to this is that when the keyboard goes to sleep (between 5 and 10 minutes of activity) or the Bluetooth connection is broken in any other way (power off of the keyboard, out of range, etc.) you have to repeat this process (unpair and the pair again). The MS 6000 does seem to perform this with the Droid fairly consistently (this in contrast to the Apple Wireless Keyboard that pairs but to pair again means taking out the batteries and the Droid X seems to get confused and I have to pull the battery to get it pair again). The MS 6000 seems to work until it goes to sleep more consistently but it still can stop communicating with the Droid.

Now for an update. My wife really loved my Droid X and she got her own (received it yesterday from Verizon Wireless). She downloaded one baseball score app and added a Google account but otherwise was "virgin". The MS 6000 keyboard behaved exactly the same as my less "virgin" Droid X. I had considered reinitializing my Droid X but wasn't crazy about the idea. The Droid X (both) are at the same revision of software.

Does anyone know how to communicate this kind of issue with Motorola? It has become the one really big thorn in my side over this device. I get frustrated from time to time not knowing how to do certain functions (getting the camera active is cumbersome and sending a picture as a MMS message was way less than intuitive - you have to "share" it and then select Text Messaging). Some features will most likely be a little frustrating because I won't use them enough but connecting a Bluetooth keyboard to my Droid X will be something that I would use almost all the time.

 

[ggruber59]

I do not know what difference this will make but I went to Motorola's web site and sent an email to them regarding the Droid X and the Bluetooth keyboard problem. If I get anything that is noteworthy, I will pass along the information.

 

[ggruber59]

And I need to amend my statement about the MS 6000. It is more consistent and I don't remember seeing it repeating a character when it fails but it most certainly can repeat a character. I just went through a round of it pairing and it wouldn't work or it would for a minute or so and then repeat a character. I try to save myself the aggravation by not using the keyboard to much unless I am going to sit and write text messages pretty consistently.

Please understand that the point of failure is the Droid X and not the keyboards. The Bluetooth keyboards I have used have worked flawlessly connected to other devices (MacBook Pro, Windows 7 PC, iPhone). If you have a keyboard that you really like, stay with it and hope that Motorola / Google / somebody addresses the problem. The only thing really convenient about the MS 6000 is it has a power switch and a button to put it into pairing mode (the Apple Wireless Keyboard requires you to remove the batteries).

 

[noisygecko]

I was hoping to find someone who had figured out a workaround or hack to get the keyboards working with my Droid X... I see the same problem that is noted previously with both the Apple Wireless Keyboard (new one that a friend owns) and with the MS 6000 keyboard.

The Apple is easier to re-connect to, but still requires re-pairing (I didn't need to remove the batteries but had to do some sort of stupid button pushing to get it to work).

The MS 6000 requires un-pairing on the Droid X and then a complete re-pairing cycle. Both make it very tedious to connect the keyboard to the point of making it useless.

If someone does figure out how to get this going I'd love to hear about it.