(Nokia 770) + (USB host power hack) + (USB keyboard) != working
 

I followed the instructions posted in various places to enable my Nokia 770 to use a USB keyboard. In particular, here's what I did:

* updated firmware to version 3.2005.51-13 (European version)

* turned on default root access (via flasher utility)

* enabled USB host mode (via flasher utility)

* built a power supply and female connector for the USB bus by splicing the power cable and piping it through a 5V regulator

Each of these steps seems to have been successful in itself, but nothing happens when I plug in a USB keyboard. With my hardware hack in place, the USB icon appears in the upper righthand tray to indicate a "PC connection active," but this happens with or without the keyboard plugged in. Is there something I've missed? Is there somewhere in /sys/bus/usb I should be looking to check that the keyboard is at least recognized?

Thanks,
TM

I suppose the 770 already has a USB keyboard driver?

I think you need to make sure the USB plug that goes into the 770 does not have +5V? I base this on experience trying to use i-Blue charger (USB connector) with 770... all what happes is that 770 thinks it is connected to a PC. (The charger has absolutely no USB functions at all!) It looks like 770 senses the PC by monitoring the +5V supply line... Try to disconnect the +5V and see if it works? (You need the +5V for the Keyboard, though...)

Regarding the 770 already having a keyboard driver, several different sources suggest that this is true and that the keyboard should just work once the power hack is in place.

Regarding not feeding power back into the 770, I tried this as well, but it didn't make any difference except that 770 no longer thinks it is connected to a PC when power is not fed into it.

Thanks for the suggestions... keep them coming!

TM

I've been able to get the keyboard working but can't seem to 'see' a USB drive in the file manager. Will the USB drives 'automount' or are there commands I need to run to mount the drive(s).

I'm trying to use both a USB flash and USB disk drive. Would be appreciative of any Linux commands I'd need to execute to properly mount/umount these with the 770.

Thanks,
ce

No automounting,you will need to mount it manualy. "dmesg" will show you whether the flash drive connected or not.

What steps did you take to get the USB keyboard to work? Are they the same as those I listed earlier in this thread?

Thanks,
TM

Just an FYI-- the 770 needs no extra driver to make a keyboard work. Once you plug it in it will "just work". The first thing I would check is that the green and white (data) connections are connected properly; if they're swapped it won't work. I'd also verify that the 770 is really in host mode by plugging it into a PC (it should show the USB icon but the PC won't see it). Lastly, are you sure both the 770 and keyboard are getting 5VDC? The keyboard will likely blink the caps/num lock LEDs when it is powered up. I've had issues if the keyboard isn't getting very close to 5V. You can also try typing dmesg (as root) after plugging the keyboard in to see if it recognizes that something is connected.

Larry

I bet your problem is power:

You need external power going into the 770 as well as into the keyboard. The 770 USB chipset is designed to be a slave, it has no internal power itself from the 770. So even in Host Mode, you have to pipe +5V into your 770 to get the keyboard hack working.

David

The method I used was USB gender changers and a powered hub. It worked first time and required no soldering. The keyboard worked fine. The USB drive lit up but wasn't accessable (now I understand there is more needed to mount it). - cespo