Looking for software that will allow keyboard/mouse to output to tablet via usb
Hey all,
I have a tablet that I’ve been working on and in order to setup OS I need to plugin a usb hub to the usb port, using an adapter to microUSB, ok, and then plugin either a keyboard and mouse or a combo unit (in my case, the wireless receiver device of a mini keyboard/touchpad device), and finally, the flash drive with the OS install on it.
To put it simply, it’s really a pain in the ass anytime I want to do some testing. It works, but it is a clutter and nuisance.
Is there any software that will allow me to plug in a USB cord from my laptop (Linux) and the other end into the USB port of the tablet, and use the laptop to control the tablet?
Thanks.
Android tablet? Scrcpy: https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
It’s not an anything tablet it’s x86 CPU architecture can run pretty much anything. Originally had a sluggish Win10 but I managed to install a Linux distro. But the idea is to do it without any software on the tablet to run, like even to bring up the BIOS.
Scrcpy does this. If you delve deep into the options you can even set up keyboard input only, but the default is screen mirroring the tablet to the computer. As to whether or not it works before running your OS I'm not sure, because it works via ADB.
Vnc is tried and true
@AndrewZabar
pikvm uses software to emulate keyboard and ie. usb drives, NIC, etc that are then controlled via network/UI, it can fit on a raspberry pi 2w zero and connect via wifi.
however usb usage is limited to a few simultanous things and i dont remember what all was possible at the same time, but to circumvent these or OS limitations (where afaik sometimes a keyboard could not also act as a storage device or such) pikvm people suggest to use a raspi pico to emulate the keyboard with a separate cable.
however to actually connect the rpi zero usb port (that can be host or device, but not at the same time) it is advised to use a usb cable where the 5v wire is cut/disconnected to not somehow damage one of the power sources.
cost: ~20$ for the rpi zero 2w and a cut/soldered micro usb cable to NOT connect the two 5v power sources.
if it fits your purpose i cannot say, but my experience is that it worked fine with PCs (even through a kvm switch but with some quirks) and other raspi's but i never connected it to a tablet or smartphone.
edit:
you also need a spare sd card.
and a direct connection from the notebook to the tablet depends on the usb port of the notebook. usb ports on computers are usually host ports while keyboards etc are device ports. one cannot usb connect two decive ports or two host ports together, but special hardware exists that can switch its role (and somehow needs to be told to do so) on mobile phones the ports detect what is plugged (PC, a keyboard etc) and the port is then configured to be a device (plugged into pc) or host (when a keyboard is plugged in) or maybe just configured for charging.
i dont know which part of pikvm does the configuration for the port to be a device, but without the specialized hardware (that the raspi 2w zero has) it would not be possible. notebooks usually didnt have such ports, but that might have changed meanwhile with usb3 or usb-c or just evolution and cheaper both-role capable chips.
If this needs to be "hardware" level, I saw https://openterface.com/ recently. The PiKVM-style projects are also a bit adjacent to this.
Thanks this is what I am looking for because everyone else misunderstood that I could run software on the tablet to “host” it. I think there’s some limitation of the USB architecture that makes what I want not really possible except with some very specific computers. I understand it but at the same time I don’t understand why. You can’t output raw signals to USB in a way that something on the other end will just hear that data as pure data. There needs to be some kind of mutual agreement on protocol at the fundamental level, if that’s a sloppy way to phrase it.
Thanks I’m gonna look into this because it might be worth a small investment to be able to do this going forward with other devices.
I appreciate your reply. You got what I was asking for. I realize I was not explicit about the unique nature of my needs but you got it.
Hah, no worries. I think it's just an unusual use case and... well, I recognized it because I'm obsessed with PiKVM lately and those things!
I'm not superknowledgeable on USB, but Linux has features to do this; they are called "gadgets" in this list:
https://docs.kernel.org/usb/index.html
I have used this to turn a RPI Zero into a virtual USB drive with these scripts: https://github.com/alexpdp7/rpi-zero-usb-iso/
Likely by searching the Internet for USB gadgets you might find good explanations about requirements. I know there are unexpected difficulties- I'm using a Pi Zero instead of a nicer Pi because... nicer Pis can draw too much power over USB and bork what they're connected to. So be careful.
Thank you, again, for the info. I’ll check out those links. I appreciate it.
KDE Connect can probably do this.
"KDE connect can probably do it"
I'm always shocked how fast accessing the filesystem and copying files between phone and PC is via KDE Connect compared to doing it via USB. At work, I often have to take pictures with my phone and copy them to PC, and it's always a tedious affair. Loading a folder in Windows takes forever when it has tons of pictures in it. At home, my phone automatically connects to my PC when it's on wifi, and accessing a folder on my phone is the same as accessing a local folder.