N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Not a lot of news since PR1.2.

The cornerstone of this project is still a modified version of hildon-desktop package providing a few enhancements. Description of the enhancements is here: http://my.svgalib.org/repo/Modified_Hildon_Desktop.html

It can be installed by installing modified-hildon-desktop package from my repository. Or by installing the package http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb

If you install this package (or any of my enhanced packages with same version number as original Nokia packages, please note that apt-get upgrade overwrites the new packages with the original ones. Either use package pinning or don't use apt-get upgrade. HAM update feature seems to be safe.

Other enhanced versions of system packages:

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : adds a d-bus signal for opening and closing the status menu. This allows opening this menu from the keyboard. New: The status menu now takes keyboard focus, so menu items can be selected and the menu can be closed by the keyboard.

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : This allows using up to 9 desktop views. Not strictly related to keyboard, but it is a popular feature of modified-hildon-desktop.

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : This is the new and most experimental enhancement. This adds: Ability to close application menu with escape or backspace. Ability to select button in application menu by pressing corresponding number (no need to press FN). Ability to scroll hildon pannable areas with arrows/pageup/pagedown/home/end. This does not always work, due to focus issues that still need to be worked out, but very nice when it does work.

Older packages that work unchanged:

keyboard-shortcuts: using dbus-scripts and modified-hildon-desktop to provide global shortcut keys.

longpress: allows for selecting profiles (or offline mode) by long press of lock key.


I am still looking for help in mainly to forms:

1. Ideas how to make the keyboard more usable.
2. Implementation of such ideas.

The main cause I find for touching the screen right now is for selecting links in web pages. If someone can get LoL extension ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8781/ ) or equivalent ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/879/ ) to work in microb or fennec, it will be really great.


The packages and sources for PR1.3 are here:

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

First link is busted.

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Hi, thanks very much for these packages. I am a "keyboard commando" and avoid using mouse/touching screen in general.

I use the alt-tab-style switching (/apps/osso/hildon-desktop/key-actions/ctrl_backspace_in_tasknav = 5) and phone feels naked without it. :)

However, I have a problem. Every time I try to "alt-tab" switch to a yellow mail notification window, the desktop crashes and has to reload. I'm using modified-hildon-desktop 3.3 package from your repo.

Please let me know if there's anything I can test or any useful information for you. Thanks again!

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

I do love it too, and I do have the yellow notification problem too!

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Glad I'm not the only one then :)

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

I have it as well. You can also see it in a different way:
If you switch to the navigator (for example by touching the icon on the top left corner of the screen), you can use keys to select windows. 'q' selects top left window, 'w' select the window right of it, 'a' selects the window under it, etc. If you try to select a yellow window, you get similar issues as well.

Since I don't have a sim in my N900, I rarely encounter this bug, so it is low in my priority list, but maybe I'll solve it one day. Or maybe someone else will.

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Strangely, when I use the letter keys to choose the notification it works for me without crashing. So far I only have the problem when using control-backspace.

Good news is that most of the time I can simply avoid switching to the yellow windows in most cases. The only time it is unavoidable is when yellow notification is the ONLY window, in which case it crashes the instant I press control-backspace.

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

Hello matan,
First of all, thank you for all the work you have been doing!!!
I'm a noob to all the xterm business. I have a problem with changeing the backgrounds on the extra views. i don't know in wich thread i have to be anymore, I have about 15 windows opened because i was affraid to never find the pages again.
I'm completely lost now ( that one is for pr1.2 the other even for the pr 1.1) i have pr1.3 installed. and the problem is that i can't change the backgrounds, if i try only the first original screen gets the wallpaper i selected. screen 5 and 7 remain black all the time.
please could you help me?

Re: N900 keyboard friendly, PR1.3
 

anyone having problems with the desktop locking ?
i have to kill the hildon-home proccess ...
using matan's hildon desktop and pr 1.3 ...