As some of you probably know, the ps3 has recently been hacked, allowing us to run unsigned code. The source code for the exploit leaked and a dev called KaKaRoTo managed to get it to run from a Nokia N900. The other day, KaKaRoTo released his source code and someone already ported it to the Palm Pre. This quick port was possible because the N900 and Palm Pre both share the same USB controller(mUSB) which happens to be the controller used by the Droid/Milestone.
This has already been posted in the droid section, but I figured I would post this in here. Maybe some of you guys can get this working on our Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700!
thanks nicholasbgr for writing this up.
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Well, first, you need to figure out what controller your device uses, in the case of the N900, it’s ‘musb’.. (Luckily we have he same controller!)
Then go to the driver code for that controller (probably in drivers/usb/gadget) and look for ‘SET_ADDRESS’. In the case of musb, it was in drivers/usb/musb/musb_gadget_ep0.c. In there it was setting the address to the USB device, so just copy that code into the psfreedom_machine.c to allow setting the address, and add a similar function to be able to retreive the address.
Then add a function to return 0 or 1 depending on whether the controller supports HIGH, FULL or LOW speed mode (go to usb_gadget_register_driver for your controller, and in the first lines, it should validate the speed argument, it will tell you which ones are acceptable), set LOW speed mode to return TRUE only if FULL speed isn’t available .
Finally, add a function to return the endpoint names.. it will usually be something like ‘epXin’ and ‘epXout’ (where X is the endpoint number), or “epXin-bulk”, etc.. look at how the driver initializes its endpoints or grep for “->name” in the file to find where it sets it…
That should be enough!
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This doesn't look too hard to do either. We shouldn't need to do too many alterations to get it working on the milestone.
Here is what we apparently need to do to port it from the nokia.
And here's a link to the source code over at github:
PSFreedom
http://www.klutsh.com/
Thanks and good luck to anyone who gives this a try!
Disclaimer
This short tutorial is based on my own research regarding missing keyboard layout mapping in stock Honeycomb/ICS Android for my Motorola XOOM. It is not intended to be a complete description of the Android input system, please refer to the official documentation for more information. This text should suffice for anyone with a basic knowledge about IT Anyway, if you break something, 'aint my fault. Won't take any responsibilities for YOUR actions.
Requirements
- rooted Android 3.0+ device (3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0)
- text editor
- external keyboard to play with
Background stuff
(simplified, no bashing )
Keyboard (connected to any device) sends key codes to the target device. Key codes are just plain numbers, eg. if you press the "A" key on the keyboard, the computer reads "30" number. Since "30" is quite difficult to remember as being the "A" button, it is much more handy to describe keycodes as char codes: in the target software we get a KEY_A instead of 30.
Android uses two files for keyboard key-to-output mapping: .kl (key layout) and .kcm (key character map).
*.kl file describes the mapping between real keyboard codes to their virtual values, eg. 30 => KEY_A.
*.kcm file converts char codes to key events (KEY_A pressed? Send character "a". Shift + KEY_A? Send character "A", etc.)
So if you connect an external keyboard (USB, BT, Ir?) to your Android device, you get the following chain:
Code:
[keyboard] => [kl] => [kcm] => [application]
All devices (well, most of them) can be identified by VID (Vendor ID) and PID (product ID). VID and PID are 4 hex symbols each.
Android by default uses /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl and /system/usr/keychars/Generic.kcm for keyboard handling. If you look into /system/usr/keylayout/ and /system/usr/keychars/ you may find some more keymaps, including something like Vendor_xxxx_Product_xxxx.* Those files are used for specific devices, eg. Vendor_045e_Product_028e.kl is used for XBox 360 controller. When you connect the keyboard, Android checks the peripherial device VID and PID and looks for matching kl and/or kcm. If there is no matching file found, Generic.kl/Generic.kcm is used instead (disjoint -> you may have a specific kl and generic kcm, generic kl and specific kcm, etc.).
You may get the PID/VID of your external keyboard under for example Windows (in device manager [devmgmt.msc] find your keyboard and check its details [properties->details], for example HID\VID_046D&PID_C312\6&26DA469B&0&0000 => Vendor_046d_Product_C312). So if you would like to prepare a keymap for my USB Logitech keyboard, you will have to provide me with Vendor_046d_Product_C312.[kl|kcm] files
Both KCM and KL files are encoded in ANSI -> no special (national) characters allowed except for 'classic' set! If you want to include any national or extra character, you need to use their unicode hex values in \uXXXX variant. See http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/en/general-info/unicode.html for a huge list of unicode characters.
Getting hands dirty
- pull Generic.kcm from your device via adb:
Code:
adb pull /system/usr/keychars/Generic.kcm
- open it with Notepad++
- scroll through the blahblah about not modifying the file to the section with
Code:
key A {
label: 'A'
- this is where your work starts!
In general the map is composed as fillows:
Code:
# comment starts with a hash
key [keycode] {
label: '[label]'
base: '[key without any modifiers]'
[modifier]: '[key with modifier]'
[modifier]+[modifier]: '[key with both modifiers]'
[modifier],[modifier]: '[key with any of listed modifiers]'
[modifier]: fallback [magic key] # read below
[modifier],[modifier]: none
}
Modifiers can be: ralt, lalt, alt (right/left ALT, any ALT), rshift, lshift, shift (right/left SHIFT, any SHIFT), rctrl, lctrl, ctrl (left/right CTRL, any CTRL), capslock (no right CAPSLOCK on the kb, sorry ), rmeta, lmeta, meta (right/left WIN key, any WIN key). There are probably more, but didn't encounter any...
So, let's make the A key work like on Polish (Programmer) keyboard layout (namely a, A, ą, Ą letters):
Code:
key A {
label: 'A'
base: 'a'
shift, capslock: 'A'
ralt: '\u0105'
shift+ralt, capslock+ralt: '\u0104'
lalt, meta: none # ctrl omitted - ctrl+a does something...
}
Polish letters "ą" and "Ą" have their unicode values of 0x0105 and 0x0104 respectively, thus in order to have them available via right alt + A, we use ralt modifier and shift/capslock ralt modifier. Please note, that it is necessary to have 'shift' modifier for capital A.
Code:
fallback [i]magic key[/i]
is used to map certain key combinations to other commands ("hardware buttons"), such as HOME, SEARCH, MENU, APP_SWITCH, etc. Thus if for example you would like to have lalt+tab for app switching you would have to use the following:
Code:
key TAB {
label: '\t'
base: '\t'
lalt: fallback APP_SWITCH # alt + tab :)
ralt, meta: none
}
And now a Windows+D for desktop shortcut:
Code:
key D {
label: 'D'
base: 'd'
shift, capslock: 'D'
meta: fallback HOME # show desktop
alt: none
}
In short
- in most cases the Generic.kl file is ok, there is no need to prepare .kl for a common keyboard
- either edit Generic.kcm or get VID/PID of your keyboard and prepare a key layout for your language and push it to /system/usr/keychars/
Hints
- backup your Generic.kcm file!
- try to be as specific as possible if you do not use a combination, map it into 'none' section; when you map ralt, don't include alt in 'none', include lalt instead. Remember, that some key combinations have special meanings (ctrl+d, ctrl+c, ctrl+v, etc), and it is better not to include them in your map.
- backup your layout - I lost a lot of time re-creating my keymap after ROM upgrade (symbolic link is a better idea!)
- look through the entire Generic.kcm file - there are a lot of fancy key combinations, for example ESCAPE key can !by default! handle MENU, BACK and HOME keys!
- possible fallback keys are listed in .kl file
- use logcat! You can spot information about external input device and a note about applied KCM/KL files
Finally
Hit "thanks" if you find it helpful. If you prepare a good (national) key layout, please share it!
For Polish national characters we can use "Polska Klawiatura Programisty V2" it works very well with external keyboard on MoPho with 2.3.
thanks for the information. I couldnt find the the Android ICS/Honeycomb virtual key for task switcher..do you know what name is that Task switcher virtual key ?
Hi, I am a newbie with android....
I modify the kcm file to (spanish layout, Generic to Vendor both attached):
An I can't make it work, maybe:
Something is missing?
Errors in the kcm file?
Any advice would be appreciated :crying:
I am away from my PC, but:
1) run Terminal Emulator before connecting the external keyboard
2) enter superuser mode (su)
3) launch logcat (logcat)
4) launch another Terminal Emulator window
5) enter superuser mode (su)
6) connect external keyboard
7) break logcat feed
8) launch dmesg (dmesg) in other window
9) check logcat and dmesg outputs looking for errors
I'm on vacation till next Sunday. I will help you directly once I'm back
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the help:
Here are fragments of:
dmesg
Start called p = df8e3820
starting connect time
DWC_OTG : [tcc_set_vbus] vbus_state:1
usb 1-1: new low speed USB device number using dwc_otg
usb 1-1: device v1241 p1503 is not supported
input: USB Keyboard as /devices/platform/dwc_otg.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/input/input5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
logcat
D/EventHub( 1114): No input device configuration file found for device ' USB Keyboard'.
E/KeyCharacterMap( 1114): /system/usr/keychars/Generic.kcm:454: Malformed character literal.
E/KeyCharacterMap( 1114): /system/usr/keychars/Generic.kcm:454: Invalid character literal for key.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will check line 454 and see what I can do.
UPDATE
So I checked the 454 lien an a 'u' was missing, "\00xx" to "\u00xx".
I use the droidedit pro (1.15.2, and god the save file doesn't work unless root mode is enabled), changed in the ext_sd version use the terminal and copy then I connect the keyboard and it work, oh yeah it simply works (just a fu..ing 'u' for 22kb file)
Anyway thanks for the tip it really, REALLY help me :highfive: :highfive: :good: :good:
Thanks for this, will come in handy.
Hi everyone! Need some help with character map modding for Jelly Bean. I need to assign multiple letters to one button, e.g. "A" for single tap and "[" for double tap (just an example, don't mention).
What I found on source.android.com:
http://source.android.com/tech/input/key-character-map-files.html said:
The following keyboard types are recognized:
...
PREDICTIVE: A keyboard with all the letters, but with more than one letter per key.
This type of keyboard is generally designed for thumb typing.
Corresponds to KeyCharacterMap.PREDICTIVE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like the one thing I need, but I haven't found any syntax explanations or charmap examples for that layout type. Neither on AOSP pages, nor via Google. If your device uses such keymap type or you just know the syntax, post here examples, or attach kcm files. Any hint is good.
Android 4.2.2 - Virtual
Hi
Many thanks for this guides.
On my device Virtual.kcm is used (Acer A1-811, android 4.2.2)
Obviously it is nice to modify some file, rather than to pay 2$ for some application to do such mappings to right characters.
Regards
Logitech K400
Not sure if this goes here, but I have a Logitech K400 keyboard and it has some "special" keys, like the music player key.
What I want to do is to change the default player that opens when pressing that key, in my case it would be Poweramp.
The keyboard also has some other keys on the function keys, and when pressed some of them just are letters, want to edit this too.
There is also a "lock pc" key that opens S Planner.
I hope someone knows what I mean and can help me.
Mapping an external keyboard
In attempting to re-map an external keyboard, i have succesfully found and edited the P1_keyboard.kl file for instance changing the function of the voice search button from performing that function to performing an "Enter" or typing a letter "B" . However what i am trying to do is to use that button to do a combination of Both Letter B and then ENTER, i have tried "+" space etc but with no luck... Is this possible to do in any way?
kcm file has no effect
I create this file for the logitech K810
/system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_046d_Product_b319.kl
This successfully remaps keys.
However creating and editing this has no effect:
/system/usr/keychars/Vendor_046d_Product_b319.kcm
The generic behavior also does not match Generic.kcm
One example is Alt-Tab which switches actually switches applications on my device. It is not mentioned anywhere in anything in /system/usr. Redefining
Alt-Tab in the kcm file has no effect.
I am running KitKat on a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
file permissions
injola said:
I create this file for the logitech K810
/system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_046d_Product_b319.kl
This successfully remaps keys.
However creating and editing this has no effect:
/system/usr/keychars/Vendor_046d_Product_b319.kcm
The generic behavior also does not match Generic.kcm
One example is Alt-Tab which switches actually switches applications on my device. It is not mentioned anywhere in anything in /system/usr. Redefining
Alt-Tab in the kcm file has no effect.
I am running KitKat on a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a guess, are the file permission set appropriately? (chmod 644 /system/usr/keychars/*.kcm)
Ctrl+SPACE does not work
On my nexus7 2012 4.4.4, chroot debian wheezy is running.
When I use emacs with Apple Wireless Keyboard (JIS).
Ctrl-SPACE does not allow me to set mark,
although keep pressing them for about one second just makes it work.
(but keep pressing makes flickering "Mark activated", "Mark deactivated"...)
In the kcm file, CTRL+SPACE is specified as "fallback LANGUAGE_SWITCH".
I tried changing it to none, or commenting out the line, but these doesn't affect.
I also used keytest.apk to inspect the behavior.
It seems just when CTRL+SPACE is pressed, no event happens...?
Does anyone know how to make Ctrl+SPACE (without keep pressing) function as setting mark ?
thank you in advance.
Genius luxepad 9100 keyboard
Hi i have this keyboard and android 4.2.2 i want the keyboard with spanish layout without pay an app, i want to choose the language on the system. Thanks in advance
Keycodes not recognised
Hi there,
I have a problem where I can't remap a key because it's not showing any keycode.
That is: standard keys like A, B, C, etc are ok: I can see their scan code and change it if I want to, but I don't.
Keys like Volume_up, play_pause, etc I would like to have them changed, but I cannot as I can't see any scan code when I press them.
I know all keys work as I tested the remote on windows and it works properly, and I can see keycodes there (but they are not the same as in android, so I can't use windows' keycodes)
Thank you if you can help
enter to send message
hello everyone! does anyone solve question about ENTER key to sending message insdeat of new line command? combination of buttons not works too for the sending messages....
android 4.4.2 + universal external keyboard (with comand buttons)
Toggle Languages
Thanks for this helpful and specific tutorial. :good:
I am trying to map keys for Urdu language. :angel:
My question is, will it work properly with lollipop?
Will it be able to toggle between language.
...
Thanks in advance for you kind information
_TB_TB_ said:
Disclaimer
- rooted Android 3.0+ device (3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
Is there any way to replace kcm without loosing your warranty?
Code:
adb push move /system/usr/
push: move/keychars/Virtual.kcm -> /system/usr/keychars/Virtual.kcm
failed to copy 'move/keychars/Virtual.kcm' to '/system/usr/keychars/Virtual.kcm': Read-only file system
Should I change permissions to put back onto system/usr?
(I would have posted this in the development forums but apparently I don't yet have enough "karma" or something {grin})
I'm on a project to use Android tablets to exchange data via USB with an embedded microcontroller environment. At present I'm using a Nexus 7 (because it supports USB Accessory mode, so it can be powered by the other end) and an Arduino Due (because it has two USB interfaces). I've read countless articles and scoured everything I can find on the topic of programming for USB, but still have some fundamental questions.
The biggest one concerns how the host and device interfaces "identify" each other. Seems like each end needs to expose a USB interface with VID/PID values that the other end knows about and looks for during initialization. This implies that the code on each end would need to control the PID and VID values, as well as other USB descriptor values. Yet none of the code examples I've found ever discuss this.
Example: I've found that the Nexus 7 exposes one PID value (0x4E42) when its USB port is configured in "media device (MTP)" mode, and a different PID value (0x4E44) when its USB port is configured in "camera (PTP)" mode. The protocols for interacting with these two configurations is different, and the code on the other end of the wire needs to know how to handle that. I haven't checked yet but I suspect the values in the usb_interface and usb_interface_descriptor structures also change along with the PID value, since usb.org defines a whole bunch of standardized values for various device types. A connecting device would retrieve these values, potentially from multiple exposed logical interfaces on the same physical USB port, and select a compatible one.
Since I'm writing the code on both ends of the wire, doesn't my code need to somehow convey these values into the USB interface hardware? How is that done, for example, under Android? Do the code examples just omit this because everyone but me knows how to do it?
If I just "ignore" this question, then when the Arduino (acting as USB Host) polls the Nexus 7 it will have to select from whatever interfaces are offered. So... whose code is in charge of those interfaces? How does my code tell the Android OS which of these "default" interfaces it will be handling? My suspicion is that, if a USB interface is being advertised, there is *already* code behind it. That brings me full circle to the question of "How does my code inform Android that it wants to use certain VID/PID values?"
I hope I've explained this clearly. It's a pretty detailed question, so if it's unclear I can try to ask it differently. Thanks in advance for any guidance, tips, RTFM's, etc.!
For interacting arduino with android device, it can be written under eclipse, you can learned it from "Beginning Android ADK with Arduino" which can be downloaded from torrent market. VID/PID mostly used to allow your device to be recognised to your computer.
koklimabc said:
For interacting arduino with android device, it can be written under eclipse, you can learned it from "Beginning Android ADK with Arduino" which can be downloaded from torrent market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll look for that reference!
VID/PID mostly used to allow your device to be recognised to your computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but those parameters (along with a couple of others) are used to 1) confirm that the two devices recognize each other, and 2) in some cases to launch the proper code to handle that interface/protocol. So you must have control over them, and must initialize the USB system with the proper values in some manner. I presumed it would be in the Android API but I can't find any reference to setting the low-level values for USB connections.
Thanks again for the response! Anyone with additional data? It would be greatly appreciated!
I am trying to build a custom ROM for pixel 4a. I was able to build the images successfully. After I flash, the phone boots but gets stuck in Google logo. How can I debug this? Device is not listed in adb at this point of time. Any suggestions/guide to debug the device preferably without rooting in this scenario?
I'm assuming you are hitting a problem with the kernel. Your best, maybe only option is to connect a serial console to the device. Luckily, it seems you don't have to disassemble the phone to reach solder pads anymore, but you do have to create an adapter to get console out of the USB port. I found these links that might be helpful. I did not find anyone selling pre-made adapters.
Serial debugging:Cable schematics - postmarketOS
wiki.postmarketos.org
GitHub - Peter-Easton/android-debug-cable-howto: This is a simple how-to to create your own android kernel debugging cable using commercially available parts.
This is a simple how-to to create your own android kernel debugging cable using commercially available parts. - GitHub - Peter-Easton/android-debug-cable-howto: This is a simple how-to to create y...
github.com
GitHub - google/usb-cereal: USB-Cereal is a debugging and development tool for designs that use USB-C port and bring out serial TX/RX lines into SBU1/2 pins. USB-Cereal is made compatible with both 1.8V and 3.3V signalling.
USB-Cereal is a debugging and development tool for designs that use USB-C port and bring out serial TX/RX lines into SBU1/2 pins. USB-Cereal is made compatible with both 1.8V and 3.3V signalling. -...
github.com
If the kernel finishes booting, and you have an Android problem, you might have other options.
If storage can be mounted, you could dump logs there.
If the network is up you can dump logs remotely. You'd need another device on the network to receive the logs. A USB LAN dongle might be better than WiFi for this...
There was a bootsplash mod that printed console messages. I don't know how easy it is to just write on the screen but if you can leverage an existing project like this it might be manageable.
Are you not using any kind of emulation for testing prior to pushing to the device? Emulation will give you the capability to capture dump/log data for analysis.
Actually I have made few changes in the some xml files that goes into vendor.img. For emulators, we dont need vendor .img right?