[SOLVED] How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard?

[SOLVED] How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Printable Version

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[SOLVED] How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Alain - 01-22-2021

Hello,

I've installed moode audio on a rasp with official touchscreen.
All is working as expected, except with the virtual keyboard onscreen (not installed by default Sad

).
I've read that user must use a keyboard to activate a chromium plugin, but .... hum it's funny but my old keyboard is not usb, but PS/2...

So is there a possibility to install remotely this pluggin using ssh?

Thanks for your help

Best regards,
Alain

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - TheOldPresbyope - 01-22-2021

(01-22-2021, 02:47 PM)Alain Wrote: Hello,

I've installed moode audio on a rasp with official touchscreen.
All is working as expected, except with the virtual keyboard onscreen (not installed by default ).
I've read that user must use a keyboard to activate a chromium plugin, but .... hum it's funny but my old keyboard is not usb, but PS/2...

So is there a possibility to install remotely this pluggin using ssh?

Thanks for your help

Best regards,
Alain

Alain:

In general, sure, but details matter. What virtual keyboard plugin are you talking about?

Regards,
Kent

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Alain - 01-22-2021

Hello Kent,

I've read that we must use xontab, a chrome pluggin.
But my need is to be able to have a virtual keyboard when using the official touchscreen, because no keyboard is attached (and it id difficult to "search" without it)

Thanks you!
Best regards

Link to the post:
http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=207

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Tim Curtis - 01-22-2021

Below is from the build recipe.

Code:
4. Configure Chrome Browser

NOTE: These steps are performed AFTER actually starting local display via System config,

rebooting and then accessing moOde on the local display.

a. Connect a keyboard.

b. Press Ctrl-t to open a separate instance of Chrome Browser.

c. Enter url chrome://extensions and optionally install the xontab virtual keyboard extension.

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Alain - 01-22-2021

(01-22-2021, 04:57 PM)Tim Curtis Wrote: Below is from the build recipe.

Code:
4. Configure Chrome Browser NOTE: These steps are performed AFTER actually starting local display via System config, rebooting and then accessing moOde on the local display. a. Connect a keyboard. b. Press Ctrl-t to open a separate instance of Chrome Browser. c. Enter url chrome://extensions and optionally install the xontab virtual keyboard extension.

Hello Tim,

This is exactly my problem:

Code:
a. Connect a keyboard.

My keyboard is not usb Big Grin

, so i can't connecting it to my rasp.
Is there a way to remotely (ssh or...) install the virtual keyboard?

Many thanks!
Best regards

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Tim Curtis - 01-22-2021

AFAIK not possible because you need to first type in the url to the extensions page and then manually install it. You're prolly going to need buy or borrow a keyboard.

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Alain - 01-22-2021

(01-22-2021, 06:05 PM)Tim Curtis Wrote: AFAIK not possible because you need to first type in the url to the extensions page and then manually install it. You're prolly going to need buy or borrow a keyboard.

Ok, thanks for the information.
Cheers

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - TheOldPresbyope - 01-22-2021

Ah, the old xontab business. I confess I never paid any attention to this bit in build recipe in the old days but now that I actually have a Pi Touch screen on a moOde player it's worth a shot.

You'll have to give me a few hours. The security restrictions introduced into Chromium/Chrome in the last 5 years prevent one from loading extensions directly from the command line. (That's because malware writers were exploiting this ability to load in their own evil extensions.) Every load has to come through the Chrome Web Store.

I've figured out how to force the Local Display to the correct page in the Chrome Web Store from the command line. I even think I might have loaded the xontab extension with a simple touch of the screen but I haven't yet succeeded in activating the virtual keyboard from the touch screen.

You'll have to give a few hours to either succeed and tell how I did it or fail and confess defeat.

Regards,
Kent

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - Alain - 01-22-2021

Hello Kent,

Thanks for your investigation!
I appreciate your help.

Best regards
Alain

EDIT:
If it can help.

From my PC:
xhost +local: & ssh -l pi 192.168.1.118
export DISPLAY=:0.0;chromium-browser

--> launch chromium with google page to the rasp

I would try to open on chromium extension page next days....

RE: How to activate virtual keyboard....without a keyboard? - TheOldPresbyope - 01-22-2021

I wasn't successful in getting the moOde player's Chromium browser to open a window on the X11 server on my Linux host but perhaps I wasn't being diligent enough. A new window with an appropriate title bar opened up but the pane remained blank and there were error messages to the console of my moOde player.

The following pedestrian method using the touch screen on the RPi worked for me. If you can succeed in opening the "Local Display" browser in a window on a PC, then you should be able to do much of this from the comfort of your big box instead.

The Virtual Keyboard offered by xontab.com has Chrome Web Store ID: pflmllfnnabikmfkkaddkoolinlfninn

1) enable the moOde player's Local Display.

- note: I hope your screen is reasonably big, otherwise it may be frustrating trying to read/navigate. I'm using a 7" Touch Display.

2) ssh to the moOde player with X11 port forwarding enabled (this is important for reasons I won't go into). From a Linux host this is simply

Code:
ssh -X pi@moode.local

3) finish logging into moOde and then enter the following on the command line. This is all one line. I highly recommend cut-n-paste Smile

Code:
chromium-browser https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pflmllfnnabikmfkkaddkoolinlfninn

In response, you may see a line about "no packages found matching bluealsa"; then you'll see "Opening in existing browser session."

On the moOde player you'll see the Local Display open first chrome://extensions then after a few moments it will to the Chrome Web Store page for "Virtual Keyboard offered by xontab.com".

4) Maneuver the screen, if necessary, until you see the rectangular blue "Add to Chrome" button and touch it.

A popup window will appear with the query 'Add "Virtual Keyboard"?'

5) touch the "Add extension button". Close the offer to "turn on sync..." by touching the X in the upper RH corner.

6) Close the browser tab by touching the X. You should be returned to the moOde WebUI.

7) Now, from either this moOde WebUI or the one on your PC, go to System Config and clear the Local Display Browser cache (this is being tidy).

Finally, reboot just 'cuz that's what I like to do.

You should now have a working virtual keyboard on your moOde player's Local Display.

As they say on the InterWeb™, YMMV.

Regards,
Kent