02-20-2023, 12:14 AM
I think you misunderstood the instructions. A standard USB keyboard should work fine, as long as either you use the USB A ports on the convergence dock, or a USB C male to USB A female adapter, or a USB C keyboard. (I have done it with the convergence dock, that definitely works.) A standard USB keyboard has no battery or other power source, so it cannot charge your phone (but will on the contrary drain a small amount of power from it, as any other USB peripheral).
There are warnings on how to charge a PinePhone with the special PinePhone keyboard case attached. Those warnings do not apply to the use of external USB keyboards.
The reason there is a special keyboard case is not that a standard USB keyboard does not work, but that it is impractical to carry around all the time or to use in space-constrained places such as public transport. So they designed a keyboard that is very small and directly attached on the phone, like on those keyboard phones (that mostly succumbed to touch) or on PDAs.
There are warnings on how to charge a PinePhone with the special PinePhone keyboard case attached. Those warnings do not apply to the use of external USB keyboards.
The reason there is a special keyboard case is not that a standard USB keyboard does not work, but that it is impractical to carry around all the time or to use in space-constrained places such as public transport. So they designed a keyboard that is very small and directly attached on the phone, like on those keyboard phones (that mostly succumbed to touch) or on PDAs.