Beepy keyboard driver

Originally bbqX0kbd

Cleaning old drivers

The bbqX0kbd driver has been renamed to beepy-kbd, and sharp to sharp-drm.

Driver packages will detect if one of these old modules is installed and cancel installation of the package.

Remove the following files:

• /lib/modules/<uname>/extra/bbqX0kbd.ko*
• /lib/modules/<uname>/extra/sharp.ko*
• /boot/overlays/i2c-bbqX0kbd.dtbo
• /boot/overlays/sharp.dtbo

Rebuild the module list:

• depmod -a

Remove the following lines from /boot/config.txt:

• dtoverlay=bbqX0kbd,irq_pin=4
• dtoverlay=sharp

Remove the following lines from /etc/modules:

• bbqX0kbd
• sharp

Modifications

• Supports sticky modifier keys. Must be used with the corresponding RP2040 firmware
  • Holding a modifier key (shift, physical alt, Symbol) while typing an alpha keys will apply the modifier to all alpha keys until the modifier is released.
  • One press and release of the modifier will enter sticky mode, applying the modifier to the next alpha key only. If the same modifier key is pressed and released again in sticky mode, it will be canceled.
• Call is mapped to Control
• Berry key is mapped to Tmux prefix (customize the prefix in the keymap file)
• Touchpad click enters Meta mode (more on this later). Double click enters touchpad scroll mode
• Back is mapped to Escape
• Holding End Call runs the power-off routine on the RP2040, but does not send an actual key to Linux
• Physical Alt is mapped to symbols via the keymap file
• Symbol is mapped to AltGr (Right Alt), mapped to more symbols via the keymap file
• Physical Alt + Enter is mapped to Tab

Integrates with Sharp DRM driver

• Draws visual mode indicators over display contents
• Indicators for Shift, Phys. Alt, Control, Alt, Symbol, Meta mode
• Meta mode key 0 toggles display color inversion

Adds the following sysfs entries under /sys/firmware/beepy:

• led: 0 to disable LED, 1 to enable. Write-only.
• led_red, led_green, led_blue: set LED color intensity from 0 to 255. Write- only.
• keyboard_backlight: set keyboard brightness from 0 to 255. Write-only.
• battery_raw: raw numerical battery level as reported by firmware. Read-only.
• battery_volts: battery voltage estimation. Read-only

Module parameters:

Write to /sys/module/beepy_kbd/parameters/<param> to set, or unload and reload the module with beepy-kbd param=val.

• touchpad: one of meta or keys
  • meta: default, will use the touchpad button to enable or disable meta mode. See section below for how to use meta mode.
  • keys: touchpad always on, swiping sends arrow keys, clicking sends Enter.

Meta mode

Meta mode is a modal layer that assists in rapidly moving the cursor and scrolling with single keypresses. To enter meta mode, click the touchpad button once. Then, the following keymap is applied, staying in meta mode until dismissed:

• E: up, S: down, W: left, D: right. Why not WASD? This way, you can place your thumb in the middle of all four of these keys, and more fluidly move the cursor without mistyping.
• R: Home, F: End, O: PageUp, P: PageDown
• Q: Alt+Left (back one word), A: Alt+Right (forward one word)
• T: Tab (dismisses meta mode)
• X: Apply Control to next key (dismisses meta mode)
• C: Apply Alt to next key (dismisses meta mode)
• 0: Toggle Sharp display inversion
• N: Decrease keyboard brightness
• M: Increase keyboard brightness
• $: Toggle keyboard backlight
• Touchpad click (while in meta mode): Enable touchpad scroll mode (up and down arrrow keys). Meta mode keys will continue to work as normal. Exiting meta mode will also exit touchpad scroll mode. Subsequent clicks of the touchpad will type Enter.
• Esc: (Back button): exit meta mode

Typing any other key while in meta mode will exit meta mode and send the key as if it was typed normally.

Pre-requisites, Download, and Installation.

Pre-requisites

• Software Pre-requisites

  1. The Raspberry Pi must have kernel drivers installed on it.

     sudo apt install raspberrypi-kernel-headers

  2. The Pi must have its I2C Peripheral enabled. Run sudo raspi-config, then under Interface Options, enable I2C.

• Hardware Pre-rquisties: Keyboard to Raspberry Pi Hardware connections. 0. If using the keyboard without interrupt pin (How to do so is discussed below under Installation Options), make the following connections: 3.3V on Pi --> 3.3V on Keyboard Module. GND on Pi --> GND on Keyboard Module. SCL(Pi Pin 5/BCM GPIO 3) on Pi --> SCL on Keyboard Module. SDA(Pi Pin 3/BCM GPIO 2) on Pi --> SDA on Keyboard Module.

  1. If Interrupt Pin is used, the pin is identified from the BCM Pin Number and not the Raspberry Pi GPIO Pin number.

  Check pre-requisites with the command i2cdetect -y 1(one might need sudo). They keyboard should be on the address 0x1F. If you are using the Keyboard FeatherWing, the Touch sensor on the screen will also show up on 0x4B.

Installation

To build, install, and enable the kernel module:

make
sudo make install

To remove:

sudo make uninstall

Customisation

• The Settings of the LCD can be changed as shown in fbcp-ili9341. Notably, the Data_Command Pin can be changed and Clock speed can be increased.
• Look at the beepy-kbd.map file for alternate key binds. Edit it as per your need and put the new map file in correct folder (as per installer.sh) to be loaded correctly in /etc/default/keyboard. One can use sudo loadkeys path/to/beepy-kbd.map while the driver is running, and press keys to check their new key bindings before placing it in the right location. Once satisfied with your keymap, run ./remover.sh && ./installer.sh to reinstall everything correctly.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome.

Special thanks

• arturo182 & Solder Party for the amazing product. Please buy more of their new awesome stuff and join their discord for amazing upcoming stuff.
• juj's frcp-ili9341 project for making small size screens so easy to use!

License

The code itself is LGPL-2.0 though I'm not going to stick it to you, I just chose what I saw, if you want to do awesome stuff useful to others with it without harming anyone, go for it and have fun just as I did.