So which keyboard you suggest for the Pinephone?

[Peter Gamma]

I did not manage to work with this keyboard for more than a view seconds and then it disconnected. Where you really able to work with this keyboard for 20 - 30 min. with a stable Bluetooth connection?

[Zebulon Walton]

I did not manage to work with this keyboard for more than a view seconds and then it disconnected. Where you really able to work with this keyboard for 20 - 30 min. with a stable Bluetooth connection?

It worked OK for that length of time when I tried actually using the phone as a terminal, That was a couple of years ago. However I found it difficult to type on and the Pinephone screen is not really the right form factor, so I put the keyboard aside. (I only use the Pinephone for telephone calls.) However the test I just did to see if the keyboard still worked was only for a couple of minutes, long enough to pair it with the Pinephone and type a few lines of text into a terminal. (The keyboard certainly did not disconnect after just a few seconds.) I would have to do a longer test to see if that keyboard is going to be stable with the Pinephone for a longer period of time. Also, I'm still on Mobian bookworm. I don't know if changes in trixie would affect bluetooth.

[Peter Gamma]

I have a keyboard which looks idential. My keyboard disconnected immediately. I was not able to write with it.

I invite Zebulon Walton to do a longer test to see if that keyboard is going to be stable with the Pinephone for a longer period of time. If this works then we had now a second keyboard for the Pinephone which is available and has been confirmed that it works.

1. Wibble tested the iGo Stowawy Bluetooth keyboard for 30 min.

- He wrote here in the forum that it works.

- It is a keyboard which is 10 years old and especially designed for mobile phones.

2. A good chance that it works to also have keyboards with a 2.3 Ghz usb dongle:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid122611

- A user in the armbian forum confirmed that a Logitec keyboard worked for hims with a 2.3 Ghz usb dongle:

- For the Orange Pi 5 basically only Bluetooth devices work which do not require drivers.

- The Logitec 2.3 Ghz usb dongle is such a device which requires no drivers.

- If someone can confirm this for the Pinephone this would be fine.

- We have so many distros, and I suppose it should work with all the distros without drivers.

3. If Zebulon Walton makes a 30 min test than we had a 3. th device which would be worth mentioning.

-  And I invite Zebulon Walton again to test it for 30 min. and share the exiting result with us.

[Zebulon Walton]

OK, I left the bluetooth keyboard connected to the Pinephone for a full hour. It did not disconnect. A few notes:

Although the keyboard had been previously paired with the Pinephone it does not connect automatically when switched on even if you press its bluetooth button. You have to go into the Pinephone bluetooth settings and tell it to connect the keyboard.

I had the Pinephone hooked up to USB power so it did not go into sleep mode. I don't know if the phone going to sleep would disconnect bluetooth or how badly the bluetooth connection drains the battery.

I did not actively use the keyboard during the test, I simply connected it. (I would consider actually typing on the thing for an hour to be torture.) At the end of the hour I went to use the keyboard and it worked. The keyboard had gone to sleep, however as soon as a key was pressed it was working, it did not disconnect from the Pinephone.

As previously mentioned I have not moved to Mobian trixie. I only use the Pinephone for telephone calls and that feature is working stably with bookworm so I have not risked updating. I have no idea if changes in trixie would affect this keyboard. For that matter I can't speak for any operating system distributions working with this keyboard other than Mobian bookworm.

[Peter Gamma]

Thank you for the sophisticated test, Zebulon. Did you think about publishing it in the «Linux Journal» in the section "smartphones"?

[zetabeta]

this is not direct recommendation.

i tested following devices on archlinux on pinephone pro, but i don't think it is much different for others and pp regular.

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/...09270.html
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/...mouse.html

both works. but i didn't do extensive tests, like long term and suspend. i used bluetooth, but these devices have usb capability when needed.

[Peter Gamma]

Thanks, zetabeta for sharing this. But according to pifou from the Pine64 forum only one Bluetooth HID work at the same time, which means you have to decide wether you want to use your Bluetooth keyboard or your Bluetooth mouse:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...973&page=2

These are the other keyboard and mice which where confirmed to work with the Pinephone or it's worth testing:

https://petergamma.org/you-are-looking-f...pinephone/

[zetabeta]

Thanks, zetabeta for sharing this. But according to pifou from the Pine64 forum only one Bluetooth HID work at the same time, which means you have to decide wether you want to use your Bluetooth keyboard or your Bluetooth mouse:

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...973&page=2

...

both worked at the same time for me. message is from 2022, but both could be correct.

[Peter Gamma]

This could eventually be that the mouse and the keyboard you tested are both from Logitech. And this basically means that every Bluetooth keyboard and mouse needs to be tested how they work with the Pinephone. With Logitech we have now a good result no one ever has reported before. But the issue for me personally is that Logitech does not offer Bluetoth mini keyboards. 

Therefore I will test the Rii mini 4 with 2.4 GHz usb receiver. I already ordered such a device. And if this one works, this is they way to go for me personally. Since there are many mouse and keyboards with 2.4 GHz usb dongle out there. And someone in the armbian forum wrote, that these 2.4 GHz devices with usb dongle are independent from the SBC and special.

---

I saw the above Logitech keyboard includes his own unifying USB receiver. If you find Bluetooth HID with his own unifying USB receiver and Bluetooth and keyboard from the same manufacturer this is eventually also worth testing.

[Peter Gamma]

Actually there is one mini Bluetooth keyboard from Logitech. It is the diNovo Mini from 2008. Did someone test this? We have now two mice from Logitech which are confirmed to work. And we have one case that a Logitech keyboard and mouse work at the same time with the Pinephone. And a mini Bluetooth keyboard wich works at the same time with a Bluetooth mouse would very interesting.