Installing modified keyboard layouts on windows 8.1 - Windows 8 General

I've recently been trying to learn german just to expand my knowledge a bit, this of course requires german characters however I am using a laptop with a UK English keyboard for which there is no way to type german characters without the old alt+numpad trick, which is great but my laptop doesnt have a numpad either as phyical keys or a Fn+something else combo.
My intended solution was to over-ride the existing alt-gr + u = ú as is default on a UK keyboard to be ü instead and managed to create this new layout with the old Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator tool here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=22339
But I cannot for the life of me work out how to activate a file created with that tool as my actual keyboard layout.
The only guide I found simply said to double click the .ksc file and windows will do the rest, no, it opened the tool again. If I select project > test keyboard layout it works 100% perfectly. I did find build DLL and setup package in that menu too, this gave me a setup.exe which I have ran but my new layout does not appear as an option in control panel as a selectable layout for any language?
I have tried rebooting the system, it still doesnt appear as an option. Is it not possible to use 3rd party keyboard layouts anymore?

Rebooted (again), re-ran the setup program, rebooted again and it still wasnt there but was importable as a layout in the editing tool, rebooted yet again and it suddenly enabled itself as the active language.
So I guess its sorted but being very temperamental about installation in the first place.

Why not just install the German keyboard via Control Panel | Language. It's fast to toggle between keyboards with Win+Space. Umlauted vowels (and anything language-specific) are then easily accessible.
For single-key mapping, the old KeyTweak still works fine in 8.1. Pretty simple to use. My old KB doesn't have the Windows key, and I was surprised that it could be remapped.

That was my original workaround, but that stuck the umlauted keys ontop of things like - and ; At least with my reconfigured keyboard I can make the connection between u and ü and I no longer have to cycle languages occasionally, didnt appreciate the swapping of Y and Z much either.
Although thats another weird issue. right now win key + space does nothing because I have turned german language off again, but sometimes after restoring from hibernate English US appears as an option I can switch between, then hibernate and resume the machine again and English US disappears? Very strange, not a major issue at least.

>but that stuck the umlauted keys ontop of things like - and ;
If you're learning Deutsch, I doubt a single key remap is adequate. Have hard-copy printout of the KB layout next to you, and refer to it. Or, if you just need the occasional ä/ö/ü, toggle out, type the char, and toggle back to ENG. Although English is now my primary language, this is what I do when I need to type in my native tongue.
Have not encountered issues with hibernating and disappearing keyboards. Then again, I don't do hib. The active keyboard has an indicator on the taskbar, so there shouldn't be confusion.

Related

Set default kbd

hi,
i assume that your reponse is: NON, but...
when i push the hardware heyboard on the athena, the display is turned to on.
is possible to make (eassy) a program that fix the default sip to any of these:
a) NullKBD if the hard keyboard is pushed
b) other soft keyboard (i decide in config time) if the hard keyboard is not present
thank's
Strange, mine is already behaving that way. When I have the hardware keyboard attached, none of my softwar keyboard ever get activated, unless I manually trigger it. Even when I position my cursor inside a text entry field, by software keyboard does not pop up when hardware keyboard is attached.
I read that this is not the case with many of you, and I'mcompletely puzzled by the difference.
hi
what os version have you installed ?
I'musing the DopodU1000 English stock ROM released on July 27.

Disable Autocomplete

Would someone please tell me how to get rid of this new autocomplete, it's really slowing me down...I already tried turning off Word Completion in Settings -> Input.
I haven't seen that type of auto-complete before, but it looks rather good. What SIP are you using? Is it a new function in the latest ROM's or have you added a third party SIP?
Came with my Sprint Touch. It shows up whenever I use the built in block recognizer. Normally I wouldn't mind since it can be helpful for those really long words, but this one really really slows down my Touch and causes my strokes to be recognized incorrectly
Seemed to have figured it out, I just had to disable the Wordcompletion keys under HKLM\Software\Tegic
grahamkdt said:
I haven't seen that type of auto-complete before, but it looks rather good. What SIP are you using? Is it a new function in the latest ROM's or have you added a third party SIP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also looks like this is provided by the new fullscreen keyboard SIP added to the Sprint Touch
comes in the new rom.. i cant find anyway to off it too..
I installed the new Touch Keyboard and Touch Keypad found in these pages (somewhere ?? sorry not sure...) and this now appears on the default keyboard.
Totally agree: it sucks big time. I couldn't find a way to turn it off also, so I eventually flash a rom without it
hi EliteXen,
could you be more specific which reg key under
HKLM\Software\Tegic
you changed to disable the autocomplete? thanks.
To turn off the XT9 autocomplete for non-Touch keyboards:
Go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Tegic\eT9\ and change the key "XT9SupportMSSip" from value "1" to "0"
However, to turn it off within a Touch keyboard I think you need to go to "Options" for the keyboard --> XT9 Settings --> uncheck everything...
Can't use "Word Completion" on the Touch?? (Only XT9??)
Turned off XT9 as above but apparently the normal Windows Mobile "Word Completion" doesn't work??
Is it possible to use the normal "Word Completion" or is that functionality not included since they included XT9?
(I actually think XT9 does better prediction that "Word Completion" but XT9 prevents various 3rd-party keyboards/SIPs from working ...)
Here's some info: installed the dictionary editor from http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-word-completion-dictionary-editor-v1-3-2342-39581.html and it showed no entries in the system. Added a couple entries and saved them to the main dictionary so there are entries now, but they still aren't popping up as suggestions
What would be really great is if XT9 can be enabled and NOT interfere with 3rd-party SIPs. (For me, it prevents the "macros" function in MessagEase from working...) Otherwise, would love to be able to re-enable the Windows Mobile "Word Completion" if anyone knows how...
One of my problems (mostly) fixed
Apparently I'll just be sitting around posting repeatedly to this thread all day
Okay, here's something that can help if you are having trouble with XT9 interfering with a 3rd party SIP but you want to KEEP XT9's autocompletion rather than have no autocompletion at all...
The below fix made it possible for MessagEase macros to work along with XT9 being activated, although it looks a bit funky when MessagEase macros are being expanded (as the macro is being typed by MessagEase, XT9 is trapping every character and making new guesses, and then it remembers the macro as a new "autocomplete" phrase).
So here's how to make MessagEase and XT9 work together:
1) DON'T do the registry change described earlier (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Tegic\eT9\XT9SupportMSSip) --> if that entry was already changed to 0, change it back to 1 because we want it active again...and if you make a registry change then you'll have to turn the device off/back on and reboot as usual)
2) from the keyboard selector (the up arrow on lower right of screen), select "Options"-->then select "Touch Keyboard" and tap "Options" button
3) click "XT9 Settings" button --> uncheck everything EXCEPT "Word Completion"
4) click "Ok" a bunch of times
Now MessagEase macros work although XT9 is try to trap every character MessagEase is writing...
[[One note: I *love* MessagEase but haven't used the macros in a long time as there was a bug that started happening due to the "macros" function (I called it Mad WM5 Syndrome: everything started going crazy and you had to reboot). So Exideas made a MessagEase "Lite" version without macro functionality that is very stable...They tried to fix the non-"Lite" version but the last one I tried (long ago) still caused the problem on a PPC-6700...So now I'm trying the non-"Lite" version again, hoping the macro function will work without causing "Mad WM5 Syndrome"...I will post back if the mad syndrome returns!]]
Aaron
Well unfortunately I don't have much to add, but since you're the only one posting on this thread I thought I'd echo your desires for the standard windows word completion. I like to use the keypad at times and xt9 works just fine for that, but when I'm using my hardware keyboard I'm unable to get word completion back. I miss it!
GOod job with the work-around mentioned in your last post. I think I'd prefer the normal word completion to xt9's though, so hopefully someone can figure out a way to to limit xt9's "influence" to only those times that you're using the touch keypads.
ajg23 said:
So now I'm trying the non-"Lite" version again, hoping the macro function will work without causing "Mad WM5 Syndrome"...I will post back if the mad syndrome returns!]]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, "Mad WM5 Syndrome" has become "Mad WM6 Syndrome" with the non-LITE version of MessagEase on my HTC Touch. So I'm back to using the LITE version of MessagEase without macros However, it's great using MessagEase on the Touch because you can slide right off the keyboard as there's no "ledge" between the screen and the rest of the device

Autocompletion/Autocorrection solved

For those of you frustrated with the autocorrect/autocompletion method of the Touch HD (who want the old Windows style back) here is the solution. It lets you still use the Diamond Keyboard and real autocorrection/autocompletion like the good old days. It was written for the Fuze but they have the same keyboard and software issues.
The complete solution with hyperlinks is located here: http://www.fuzemobility.com/?p=1527
Here is the text (the hyperlinks and photos were lost):
Many of you have seen my rants about the lack of traditional autocorrect and autocomplete on the Touch Pro (see here where I did it in a posting on editing the T9 dictionary, or here where I did it in our forums, and here where I did it at XDA (I’m BugsyKoosh)). Why was I so angry? For anyone who used an older Windows Mobile phone knows, the old method of autocompletion was far better than what the Fuze has. First off, when entering a contact the old method provided for a longer list of names that you can click on (whereas the Fuze guesses the single closest one and almost forces you into it). Then when actually typing words the Fuze gives you a few words but I always found it very finicky and ultimately turned it off because the space bar caused the word to complete and the spacing was off. Also, the Fuze wasn’t good at correcting mispelled words. It gave you a dictionary that would complete the words but if you spelled it wrong (because you didn’t use autocompletion and just kept typing) that meant you had a typo. The old style was a list of words as you typed in a drop down (you choose starting from 3 words) and it was both autocomplete and autocorrection so anytime I spelled the word ’spelled’ as ’spellde’ it will change it for me and it works a lot smoother. Also, the old style permits for word replacement using autocorrect so when I type the letters "pcm’ in the old style I edited it so it was replaced with ‘please call me if you have any questions’ and ‘tx’ was replaced with ‘thanks’. In fact I wrote a posting here on TiltMobility describing methods of changing the autocorrect files thinking I would port it over here just to get burned realizing that the Fuze simply wouldn’t do it…until now.
[Warning, this is a little long and filled with detail but I think the payoff is gigantic so please bear with me]
For definitional purposes, autocorrection is the ability to change a typo whereas autocompletion is guessing what I’m typing before or while I type. I cannot change the autocompletion dictionary at this time (the one that guesses as you type). This does propagate itself over time and it will get to know you. It also cannot be transferred from older devices. See this article for more information on why it is so hard but until DictMgr is updated we may be SOL (TVDinner was told by the author that an upgrade is in the works so lets all cross our fingers).
So the first step is to disable T9 (this is the method of autocompletion/correction I hate). The cab is posted here in our forums (I was provided this cab from a member at another forum). Don’t worry because you can uninstall this application and revert back (it’s a simply a single registry change actually). Once installed restart your phone for it to take effect. Then, go to Settings - Input and make sure all of the options for Word Completion are checked (you can change the number of words it suggests - I use three). OK now there’s one little glitch. My problem from the start was that the autocomplete method I like did not work with the Full QWERTY Keyboard (you know, the shiny onscreen keyboard that our Fuze comes installed with and is in the photo). It seemed like it would work and then stop and ultimately I was thinking I would be forced to install another keyboard (more on that later). After messing around with the keyboard I realized that I can get the Full QWERTY Keyboard to work with the old method. You have to make sure that the ABC-T9 toggle is set to T9 (look at the photo and you’ll see T9 is selected even though we disabled T9 entry). If you try to toggle it and it will not let you then try this: press the ABC-T9 button and try to toggle it, then hit the .,123 button and try that a few times until it flips over (if that doesn’t work do the same thing after going into portrait mode and toggle T9 and ABC). Have patience - it will toggle and once it does it stays that way. Now here’s the one flaw - the autocompletion with this keyboard only appears when there’s an odd number of letters (ex on the first, third, fifth) [note: autocorrection happens after you misspell a word so it works with this and any of the other keyboards]. Again, we can correct this with a different keyboard but we’ll get to that. What you’ll notice is that completion of contacts and words is instantly different and I think a lot better. Also, the library will build over time as it knows you and aside from correcting the words you type wrong it will get to know you and start to guess the next word before you even type it (it may even guess a few words at a time and by the time you make it to ‘tha’ it will give you an autocompletion option of ‘thank you very much’).
If you do not use the onscreen keyboard because you’re a physical keyboard kinda person then you’re in luck. Simply set the onscreen keyboard to the keyboard named ‘keyboard’ (it’s the crappy Windows default one) and you’re set. That one works like a charm with no nuances (but is miserable as an onscreen keyboard).
Before I let you all go on your editing ways, lets talk about one solution that gets rid of the nuance of only getting autocompletion on odd numbers (so it works on each letter you type) and that is by using a different onscreen keyboard (sorry, but I believe PocketCM uses T9 so it won’t work). If you use the onscreen keyboard and want to get past this nuisance then simply install freeware Happy Tapping Keyboard. In the attached photo I changed the skin to the iPhone skin (it is in that link provided - use the VGA skin). If you set Happy Tapping as your default keyboard it will not survive a soft reset even if you set it as the default input method. To do this install the Default IM cab and set it as the default keyboard (Settings - Input) and set it as the default keyboard in Default IM and it will stay with you. Happy Tapping is a great keyboard but personally I like the layout of the Full QWERTY Keyboard better, especially the shadowing of the buttons so you know its second function. And I learned that Happy Tapping is missing a ‘\’ key which was a burn when I was using Total Commander but I bet for the rest of you it’s meaningless. I will confess I used Happy Tapping for all of my 8525 and Tilt years and it is really very good.
So, in either event, lets change the dictionary so that typos are corrected (or in my case quick text can be created). You don’t need to do this but it’s a nice perk of using this method. There are two ways to do this - the application method and the Total Commander method. The first one is highly recommended for those of you who want simplicity. Simply install freeware DictMgr and go to the "word correction’ tab and you can begin to add words. The downside is that I only see the first few series of words (I don’t even get out of the A letters) but this doesn’t impact adding new words regardless of their first letter. If you use this method it make sense to use freeware MyMobiler so you can use your PC’s keyboard for ease. For those of you that want to see your entire dictionary and don’t mind a little Total Commander action then all you need to do is navigate to Windows and find a file named autocorrect.04…. You can open this in Total Commander (hit the pen/paper at the bottom) or move this file to your computer, edit it there and then move it back to your Fuze (change the settings to take it out of hidden/system). In either case, if you’re willing to use Total Commander there’s another benefit if you’re a former Windows Mobile user since you can get the file from your old phone and move it to your Fuze (I moved mine from my Tilt) but you can do both (move the old file using Total Commander and then edit it using DictMgr). For a step by step set of instructions on using Total Commander to modify the autocorrect file read the article I wrote here on TiltMobilty. In either case you MUST reset your phone for the changes to take effect (the file is read into ROM at startup). Be careful with autocorrection words (obviously you can change it later) but if you change ‘tx’ to ‘thanks’ that means in a text message you cannot use tx (it will correct itself to thanks) so think of variables like ‘thx’ changes to ‘thanks’ for emailing and ‘tx’ stays uncorrected for texting.
This will work for all versions of the Touch Pro, the Diamond and presumably the Touch HD as they all use the same keyboard configuration.
Wow, I feel like we’ve done a lot. I’m drained but relieved that my single biggest complaint is gone. A special thanks is owed to SCDavis who was the first person to try my disableT9 cab even though I warned him of a possible hard reset since I wasn’t sure what it would do and if it was uninstallable and of course to TVDinner who was with me for the autocorrection ride both in our forums and on XDA’s and brought DictMgr to my attention.
Thanks for the write-up. I must admit I tried the word completion for the full QWERTY keyboard and spotted a few bugs so I haven't used it since. Last night I decided to try the phone keypad as an alternative to the full QWERTY so I'm back in the world of T9 and word completion. If I have too many problems with it then I'll try your solution.
T9 is very very painful in my experience. The correction is poor and you don't have control over it and there's no autocorrect (spellcheck). I'm a fan of the old style a lot more... hope it helps - good luck
what is your post for? is there ia cab or file to autocorrect/autocompletion?
thank you.
Here's the cab and the quick version of what is needed. This all works tog et you back to the old style of autocorrection and autocomplete that Windows has and is much better than T9:
1) Disable T9 by cab and soft reset
2) either use the Windows keyboard (which is poor for onscreen use) or Happy Tapping (which requires the Default IM cab to be your default input) OR to use the Full QWERTY Keypad (the preset default keyboard) you need to toggle T9 to on (even though T9 was disabled) and to do this toggle it, hit the 123/abc button a few times until it sticks and you’ll get the old style completion/correction with that keyboard
3) to change the autocorrect dictionary find the autocorrect file in your Windows directory and change it using Total Commander (or other registry editor even though this is not in your registry) or DictMgr
it's interesting. But it seems that T9 use another dictionary that you can choose. Once T9 is disabled, the autocomplete dictionary is back to english, and I don't find the way to change it
any idea to do this ?
Sorry for OT, but I found touchpal to be much better.
It is commercial though, and does not support landscape properly as of version 3.5.

[Q] No word suggestions bar on ANY keyboard making 9 key input, Chinese etc. unusable

It seems there is a serious incompatibility with keyboards in general (I'm rooted on 1.1 with touchnooter and oc kernel), where the word suggestions bar does not display (in any keyboard). breaking support for 9 key input or chinese IME along with many other input methods. Only keyboards that automatically choose the first result in word suggestions can have auto correct, and even then there is no way to choose between words. What is keeping the word suggestions box from displaying in any keyboard (I have tried about 10 keyboard input methods so far all with the same problem)?
The problem is, normally there is a bar where you type the romanization and it gives you a list of options to click for the correct spelling/characters. That bar is missing from every keyboard app I have installed with spelling correction or chinese character typing.
Does this have anything to do with the nook firmware, or the system folder installation method? What is the proper way to install a keyboard (step by step) and can ANYBODY confirm or get a working keyboard? (EDIT: I'm positive I installed correctly and installing different ways makes no difference on suggestions bar support)
If a dev can please help us out, maybe try installing sougou android pad as it has english config menus. Basically, if you type a word like "xiang" it should give you a list of characters to select between, such as 想,象,向 etc. If it doesn't display the list of characters then obviously you can't type in chinese (not legibly anyway). Imagine chinese input like 9 key input, if you don't have the ability to select the best guess, half of what you type will be gibberish. Well, the bar used to display those guesses are missing in every keyboard I've installed on the nook.
Additional info:
I have tried installing:
Sougou input (tablet)
Sougou phone input method
Baidu
Smart Keyboard plus chinese
smart keyboard plus english
All have the same problem where they do not fetch different spelling options or character options. They are missing that popup selection or bar completely. This also makes it so 9 key keyboards won't work obviously which depend on guessing and allowing you to select the correct 'guess'.
Please help, this may be due to the keyboard support in nook firmware, or it may be a simple setting or missing file that which can be corrected somehow. If you have this problem or have any ideas or suggestions please share your experience! If you have a working suggestion bar (NOT just auto correct) please share how you got it as well. With googling, although hard to find I have seem some reports of this problem appearing on other devices /custom roms as well, so it might not just be nook simple touch specific but a problem with the rom! Thanks!
To avoid any confusion, text prediction, word dictionaries, etc. all work, it doesn't seem to be a problem with the keyboard application, and it applies to every keyboard running on the nook. It's the actual suggestions bar that is not visible on any keyboard. Unfortunately this means that unless the first prediction/suggestion is what you want, you're screwed. Obviously this makes 9 key impossible, as well as typing in languages, especially Chinese. Before someone asks, it doesn't matter if you set the suggestions to be visible or not, no keyboard, regardless of settings, is capable of displaying a word, spelling, or character suggestions bar on my NST until this bug can be fixed.
I posted some images of this problem here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35976521&postcount=2

[Q] Multipress with CM10

Hi, I just registered here, but have been reading parts of the forums for some time. I first had Motorola Milestone, that I managed to successfully flash with CM7 using information found here. Thanks to all for sharing their knowledge .
Now I have switched to Milestone 2 (bought with CM10.1 by Engle_Mars nightly installed, and had some troubles upgrading to 10.2 but it finally worked, and I am happy ). Thanks Engle_Mars for the great job.
There is one feature that I really miss from the previous Milestone. That is multipress, which allows you to double-press a key in the physical keyboard to make a national character associated with this key. For my language (Polish) it is for example a -> ą. This is much faster than the default long pressing and choosing the wanted character from the list, and I very much liked it in CM7 (it was under System Settings -> Device Settings). But in CM10.1 and CM10.2 from Engle_Mars I cannot find this feature. Is it not there, or am I overlooking it? Is there an app that could add this functionality? (I searched, but couldn't find any). If no, is it possible you could add this, Engle_Mars? I found mentions of this feature in threads for other phones using CM10, so I suppose it is a part of CM10, but didn't make it to Milestone 2 port for some reason.
kaziq said:
Hi, I just registered here, but have been reading parts of the forums for some time. I first had Motorola Milestone, that I managed to successfully flash with CM7 using information found here. Thanks to all for sharing their knowledge .
Now I have switched to Milestone 2 (bought with CM10.1 by Engle_Mars nightly installed, and had some troubles upgrading to 10.2 but it finally worked, and I am happy ). Thanks Engle_Mars for the great job.
There is one feature that I really miss from the previous Milestone. That is multipress, which allows you to double-press a key in the physical keyboard to make a national character associated with this key. For my language (Polish) it is for example a -> ą. This is much faster than the default long pressing and choosing the wanted character from the list, and I very much liked it in CM7 (it was under System Settings -> Device Settings). But in CM10.1 and CM10.2 from Engle_Mars I cannot find this feature. Is it not there, or am I overlooking it? Is there an app that could add this functionality? (I searched, but couldn't find any). If no, is it possible you could add this, Engle_Mars? I found mentions of this feature in threads for other phones using CM10, so I suppose it is a part of CM10, but didn't make it to Milestone 2 port for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Czechop cm 10.2 version (4.3.1 jellybean) has polish characters. Have a try.
Fedroid said:
Czechop cm 10.2 version (4.3.1 jellybean) has polish characters. Have a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but I am already using it
The problem is not in the Polish characters availability, because they are available with a long press (and touch), but in the far more convenient way of typing them by double pressing (no touching necessary).
kaziq said:
Thanks, but I am already using it
The problem is not in the Polish characters availability, because they are available with a long press (and touch), but in the far more convenient way of typing them by double pressing (no touching necessary).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Active metakeys and hit alt-lock and then the key asigned.
To access polish letters, choose Qwerty polish in Settings->Language & Input->Sholes keypad->Set up keyboard layout. Use ALT LOCK or ALT LOCK + SHIFT to get polish letters. ALT LOCK + '?' is mapped to pipe symbol('|').
To use META key you have to turn off android hotkey shortcuts. Unfortunately lately they made this option invisible in settings. To open it you have to type this in terminal (with root access):
su
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.quicklaunch.QuickLaunchSettings
It is supposed that you can hit alt lock and another fisical key to get your polish characters (no double pressing but at least pressing two keys)
Greetings:highfive:
Fedroid said:
Active metakeys and hit alt-lock and then the key asigned.
To access polish letters, choose Qwerty polish in Settings->Language & Input->Sholes keypad->Set up keyboard layout. Use ALT LOCK or ALT LOCK + SHIFT to get polish letters. ALT LOCK + '?' is mapped to pipe symbol('|').
To use META key you have to turn off android hotkey shortcuts. Unfortunately lately they made this option invisible in settings. To open it you have to type this in terminal (with root access):
su
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.quicklaunch.QuickLaunchSettings
It is supposed that you can hit alt lock and another fisical key to get your polish characters (no double pressing but at least pressing two keys)
Greetings:highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That feature would be a bit less convenient, but still cool. But I can't make it working.
I called the QuickLaunchSettings, and cleared all shortcuts (there was no option to disable the whole QuickLaunch). Then I entered the Sholes keypad -> Set up keyboard layouts, and chose QWERTY-polish. After that Alt-lock works like before (one Alt-lock + letter gives that letter, another one gives the blue symbol on the same key). Adequately Alt-lock + ? does not give the pipe, but ? or /.
Maybe I should have disabled the QuickLaunch thing as a whole, but I can't find a way to do that.
kaziq said:
Thanks. That feature would be a bit less convenient, but still cool. But I can't make it working.
I called the QuickLaunchSettings, and cleared all shortcuts (there was no option to disable the whole QuickLaunch). Then I entered the Sholes keypad -> Set up keyboard layouts, and chose QWERTY-polish. After that Alt-lock works like before (one Alt-lock + letter gives that letter, another one gives the blue symbol on the same key). Adequately Alt-lock + ? does not give the pipe, but ? or /.
Maybe I should have disabled the QuickLaunch thing as a whole, but I can't find a way to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need contact rabinhood, he will help you. He is the key master!:laugh:
kaziq said:
Thanks. That feature would be a bit less convenient, but still cool. But I can't make it working.
I called the QuickLaunchSettings, and cleared all shortcuts (there was no option to disable the whole QuickLaunch). Then I entered the Sholes keypad -> Set up keyboard layouts, and chose QWERTY-polish. After that Alt-lock works like before (one Alt-lock + letter gives that letter, another one gives the blue symbol on the same key). Adequately Alt-lock + ? does not give the pipe, but ? or /.
Maybe I should have disabled the QuickLaunch thing as a whole, but I can't find a way to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello.
First thing for not to get lost in JB keyboard is that keyboard mapping seems to be done in several "layers":
the closest to hardware is /system/usr/keylayout/sholes-keypad.kl (the exact file name may be different in different ROMs, but this file is used to manage built-in hardware qwerty, there are more files here for other devices - mostly bluetooth keyboards)
This file is used to translate hardware key scan codes to system key names (ALT, SPACE, A, B, C, and so on)
/system/usr/keychars/sholes-querty.kcm (name may also be different ie. snoles-keypad.kcm, more files are for different hardware)
This file is used for telling system what character should be displayed (entered) after pressing a particular key with or without particular modifier keys (what to enter after pressing A, SHIFT+A, ALT+A, META+A, and so on).
Both of these are simple text files, and can be edited directly, to achieve effects you have to reboot system. Also beware! If you mess up with these files, you may disable hardware keyboard completely! Then rescue is overwriting bad files with originals from backup.
options found in android settings -> keyboard (Polish-QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ) work like overlays, if you enable them, the system will use mixture of original kcm file, and the overlay - so depending on what an overlay contents, it may disable some keys you defined in your kcm
So if you want to modify keyboard, you have to disable these overlays, otherwise you will not get any effect (and may become a bit frustrated, like I was before I found this).
I attach my latest files with Polish letters entered with ALT_RIGHT modifier (obtained after holding ALT key), blue symbols entered with ALT (obtained after pressing, then releasing ALT key, and then pressing apropriate letter key), Greek letters with META key (mapped on ALT_LOCK). To have uppercase letters you have to press SHIFT release SHIFT, then ALT+key for Polish letters, or same with META for Greek letters.
To have CAPS, you have to press SHIFT twice. To have ALT_LOCK, you have to press ALT twice.
I'm wondering. Right now I have, let's say, multi-ALT (acting like ALT_RIGHT when held, and like ALT when held and released). Maybe it will be possible to code META in exactly same way, so we'll have another modifier key (META_RIGHT), but that's just an idea, and I haven't researched that yet.
I also wanted to encode arrow characters (right, left, up and down arrows) on META-left, META-right and so on, but also haven't had time to do that yet.
Regards!
Chris
[edit]
Added arrow characters (META+left, META+right, etc). Added not equals sign (ALT+META+G), equal or smaller (ALT+META+Z), qual or greater (ALT+META+X), double tilda (ALT+META+~), euro (META+~).
New files in attachment.
rabinhood said:
Hello.
First thing for not to get lost in JB keyboard is that keyboard mapping seems to be done in several "layers":
the closest to hardware is /system/usr/keylayout/sholes-keypad.kl (the exact file name may be different in different ROMs, but this file is used to manage built-in hardware qwerty, there are more files here for other devices - mostly bluetooth keyboards)
This file is used to translate hardware key scan codes to system key names (ALT, SPACE, A, B, C, and so on)
/system/usr/keychars/sholes-querty.kcm (name may also be different ie. snoles-keypad.kcm, more files are for different hardware)
This file is used for telling system what character should be displayed (entered) after pressing a particular key with or without particular modifier keys (what to enter after pressing A, SHIFT+A, ALT+A, META+A, and so on).
Both of these are simple text files, and can be edited directly, to achieve effects you have to reboot system. Also beware! If you mess up with these files, you may disable hardware keyboard completely! Then rescue is overwriting bad files with originals from backup.
options found in android settings -> keyboard (Polish-QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ) work like overlays, if you enable them, the system will use mixture of original kcm file, and the overlay - so depending on what an overlay contents, it may disable some keys you defined in your kcm
So if you want to modify keyboard, you have to disable these overlays, otherwise you will not get any effect (and may become a bit frustrated, like I was before I found this).
I attach my latest files with Polish letters entered with ALT_RIGHT modifier (obtained after holding ALT key), blue symbols entered with ALT (obtained after pressing, then releasing ALT key, and then pressing apropriate letter key), Greek letters with META key (mapped on ALT_LOCK). To have uppercase letters you have to press SHIFT release SHIFT, then ALT+key for Polish letters, or same with META for Greek letters.
To have CAPS, you have to press SHIFT twice. To have ALT_LOCK, you have to press ALT twice.
I'm wondering. Right now I have, let's say, multi-ALT (acting like ALT_RIGHT when held, and like ALT when held and released). Maybe it will be possible to code META in exactly same way, so we'll have another modifier key (META_RIGHT), but that's just an idea, and I haven't researched that yet.
I also wanted to encode arrow characters (right, left, up and down arrows) on META-left, META-right and so on, but also haven't had time to do that yet.
Regards!
Chris
[edit]
Added arrow characters (META+left, META+right, etc). Added not equals sign (ALT+META+G), equal or smaller (ALT+META+Z), qual or greater (ALT+META+X), double tilda (ALT+META+~), euro (META+~).
New files in attachment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cześć
Thanks for the explanation. Only after Fedroid's suggestion to contact you I have checked the Czechop's CM10.2 thread (found some of your posts there), and found out that you were working on the Polish keyboard. The instruction Fedroid gave me was not working, because I was not using the latest Chechop's CM release. I have now upgraded, and the keyboard is working. However there are some very minor issues:
(I am not using the keys file you posted, but only the features in the rom (23.10.2013).
1. After installation there is no default on-screen keyboard (and you cannot set it). This makes the buttons (Menu, Back, and Search) and the physical keyboard not working at all. The solution is to switch the system to another language and back to Polish. It might be a bug (probably not yours), but I cannot post in the devel threads yet.
2. "Ń" does not work. I remember like 10 years ago I was making a charmap conversion feature for my program, and found out that there was a conflict (of char codes), that "Ń" could not be mapped. I don't remember the details, but I suppose it might be the case here too.
3. Pressing ALT(-Lock) + DEL or ALT(-Lock) and then DEL causes the whole SMS or sentence to be deleted. Since in the SMS app there is no indication of the ALT-Lock state, you can easily do that by an accident and there is no Undo. Is it possible to disable the ALT(-Lock) modifier on the DEL key (so that it will only delete the whole sentence when ALT(-Lock) is pressed together with DEL)?
Thanks for the work you are doing .
Hello.
Czechop has included in his ROM some older version of my files. Without META key, and with ALT_RIGHT mapped to "ALT LOCK" key. Honestly speaking, I cannot tell much about his implementation, since first thing I do after his ROM flash is I overwrite sholes-keypad kl & kcm files with my own (with more features). I also encourage You to do so, since my files seem not to be affected with at least bugs 1 and 2 You presented.
Ad1: I have no problems with on-screen keyboard - if hardware keyboard if closed, on-screen version pops up. Also four capacitive buttons under screen work flawlessly.
Ad2: I have no problems with Ń (right now I've entered it with my hardware keyboard). Czechop told me about some problems with Ń, that system is not able to recognize too big number of keys pressed simultanously, and somehow Ń was suffering, but as you can see I've just entered it for the second time with no problems.
Ad3: I don't know how to fix it. Del key doesn't appear in kcm file, and I don't know how to modify it. And yes, pressing Del+ALT removes whole line, which is quite annoying. I'll do some more investigation, and maybe I'll find something.
Regards! It's nice to see, that at least in the field of MS2 android development Poland has some real power! :-ł
rabinhood said:
Hello.
Czechop has included in his ROM some older version of my files. Without META key, and with ALT_RIGHT mapped to "ALT LOCK" key. Honestly speaking, I cannot tell much about his implementation, since first thing I do after his ROM flash is I overwrite sholes-keypad kl & kcm files with my own (with more features). I also encourage You to do so, since my files seem not to be affected with at least bugs 1 and 2 You presented.
Ad1: I have no problems with on-screen keyboard - if hardware keyboard if closed, on-screen version pops up. Also four capacitive buttons under screen work flawlessly.
Ad2: I have no problems with Ń (right now I've entered it with my hardware keyboard). Czechop told me about some problems with Ń, that system is not able to recognize too big number of keys pressed simultanously, and somehow Ń was suffering, but as you can see I've just entered it for the second time with no problems.
Ad3: I don't know how to fix it. Del key doesn't appear in kcm file, and I don't know how to modify it. And yes, pressing Del+ALT removes whole line, which is quite annoying. I'll do some more investigation, and maybe I'll find something.
Regards! It's nice to see, that at least in the field of MS2 android development Poland has some real power! :-ł
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I finally decided to try your files out, but I have hit a serious problem. When I tried to rename the file /system/usr/keychars/sholes-qwerty.kcm for a backup, I couldn't do it. I tried the ES File Explorer (root mode on), and it showed "the task did not succeed". I also tried typing su then mv sholes-qwerty.kcm sholes-qwerty-old.kcm while in the right directory, and got "Read-only files system".
How do I apply your files?
If czechops rom uses your key mapping files, i like to thank you rabinhood. Works well with german umlauts out of the box. And thanks to this thread I found out how to use them.
Greetings
hamu
kaziq said:
Thanks. I finally decided to try your files out, but I have hit a serious problem. When I tried to rename the file /system/usr/keychars/sholes-qwerty.kcm for a backup, I couldn't do it. I tried the ES File Explorer (root mode on), and it showed "the task did not succeed". I also tried typing su then mv sholes-qwerty.kcm sholes-qwerty-old.kcm while in the right directory, and got "Read-only files system".
How do I apply your files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have problems with root access from file manager, I think the easiest and most reliable way to modify system files is:
1. Enter bootloader menu.
2. Select Tools -> USB Mount tools -> Share system
3. It should be recognized and mounted on your PC. (I'm running Linux, I think Windows won't be able to mount ext3/ext4 partition without some extra software.)
4. To copy files you have to be logged as root.
If I want to copy these files from running Android, I use ROM Toolbox Pro -> Root explorer.
---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 AM ----------
hamuchen said:
If czechops rom uses your key mapping files, i like to thank you rabinhood. Works well with german umlauts out of the box. And thanks to this thread I found out how to use them.
Greetings
hamu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umlauts are Czechop's job. Say "thank you" to him.
rabinhood said:
If you have problems with root access from file manager, I think the easiest and most reliable way to modify system files is:
1. Enter bootloader menu.
2. Select Tools -> USB Mount tools -> Share system
3. It should be recognized and mounted on your PC. (I'm running Linux, I think Windows won't be able to mount ext3/ext4 partition without some extra software.)
4. To copy files you have to be logged as root.
If I want to copy these files from running Android, I use ROM Toolbox Pro -> Root explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I used the bootloader and a small linux pc (OpenPandora), and it worked .
But now only the Polish characters work with ALT-hold. Greek does not work (ALT-Lock + key does not produce anything), but ALT-Lock + arrows also work. It doesn't matter for me, because I don't use Greek letters, and this way is more comfortable for Polish chars.
A small quirk: Capital Polich characters work with Shift + ALT + key pressed as well as Shift press and release and then ALT + key. Except for... Ń, which works only with the latter . It's not an issue for me, just a funny notice.
Thanks again for this.
rabinhood said:
Umlauts are Czechop's job. Say "thank you" to him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, ok. Then, nevermind. But thank you anyway for not letting this device die.
Greetings
hamu
kaziq said:
Thanks. I used the bootloader and a small linux pc (OpenPandora), and it worked .
But now only the Polish characters work with ALT-hold. Greek does not work (ALT-Lock + key does not produce anything), but ALT-Lock + arrows also work. It doesn't matter for me, because I don't use Greek letters, and this way is more comfortable for Polish chars.
A small quirk: Capital Polich characters work with Shift + ALT + key pressed as well as Shift press and release and then ALT + key. Except for... Ń, which works only with the latter . It's not an issue for me, just a funny notice.
Thanks again for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, yes, now I see what's going on with Ń. I haven't noticed it before, as I always press SHIFT, release it, and press ALT+key. Czechop told me that it is some kind of bug in keyboard hardware driver not dealing with too many keys pressed at the same time (but in particular N key).
My Greek letters are working, I don't know what might happen. Just in case I attach again latest version of kl/kcm files. Please copy them over files you have now, and remember to disable any keyboard overlays in CM10.2 settings.
Thanks.

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