BTC 9019URF Wireless Keyboard Review Comments thread

[kyley]

Well, so much for distance being an issue...  Even when my keyboard is left less than a foot away from the receiver I lose signal 

I also upgraded to the newer drivers, and that hasn't helped either. 

So, I think either my keyboard is defective (since nobody else has reported this issue), or perhaps there's interference from something else.  I'm wondering if maybe my baby monitor is interfering (I'm not sure what frequency it operates on, but I don't think it could be the same).  The 2 cordless phones are 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz.  I guess I'll have to test without the monitor next!    Take care,
--Kyle

[kyley]

I can now report that it's not the baby monitor.  I lose signal even with it turned off on both ends...  Anybody think something else could be interfering (like our phones - doesn't seem likely since they're different frequencies)?  I'll probably try exchanging it tomorrow.  Grr... 

BTW, now I've noticed that sometimes even while it's being used I lose the connection and have to remove the batteries and reconnect to use it again.    Later,
--Kyle

[thesuper]

As a whole I like the keyboard, the handles are great.

After using the keyboard for a while I noticed the key presses responded instantly. But the Mouse Stick movement seems to have a 1 - 2 second delay before the mouse moves on the screen. (It is very very anoying) I reported the issue to pcalchemy.com and they thought it was a problem and RMA-ed the keyboard. But the replacement has the same delay when the mouse is moved.

If I watch the light on the receiver and move the mouse it initally does NOT turn on. A second later it comes on and the mouse starts moving. Everything work great until it sits. After sitting for a minute, if I press any key first and second move the mouse, it responds instantly there is not delay.

Is this keyboard suppose to be doing this?
Is it by design to save battery life?
Why would the key presses respond so quickly with not delay, but not the mouse?

[SteveH]

Were any of you successful in getting the mouse buttons to work?

I was, and I got the joystick function working with mythtv as well. The reason the buttons don't work out-of-the-box is that it sends unusual codes that don't correspond to the usual codes for mouse buttons. I has to hack my kernel source to recognise those codes. Email me at stevehodge99 at Hotmail if you want to know what I did.

The joystick part was fairly easy as I already had joystick support set up in my kernel. All I had to do was create  a ~/.mythtv/joystickmenurc file with:

devicename /dev/js0

button 6                    Enter
button 5                    Escape

axis   0    -32767  -15000  Left
axis   0     15000   32767  Right
axis   1    -32767  -15000  Up
axis   1     15000   32767  Down


Again the BTC is sending odd codes for the buttons: the "joystick 1" button sends the code that corresponds to "standard" joystick button 5, the button labelled "2" is really joystick button 6, and so on. I decided on using button 1 for escape and button 2 for enter, if you don't like that just change the 5 and 6 around to swap them. You can also assign actions to the other joystick buttons by adding lines for "button 7" through "button 10". More details here: http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Setup_MythTV.

[kyley]

Hi All,
I just wanted to post an update to my issue with the BTC keyboard.  I got a replacement and the new one works perfectly.  I don't lost the connection at all.  ...so far anyway    I think I've used it long enough to be sure it's not going to be an issue though.  So, I had a defective keyboard, nothing more than that!  This keyboard is great!
--Kyle

[shplad]

Hey guys:

Thanks for the informative posts. I was just wondering in which versions of Linux you all installed
the 9019 keyboard. I just bought one for myself, and would love to get it working in KnoppMyth.

Thanks

newmoon

[SteveH]

Newmoon:
I'm using Gentoo with a 2.6.8 kernel. The keyboard part should work fine with any Linux distribution. Mouse movement and the scroll keys also should work fine. I've heard reports that the mouse buttons do work ok for some people so there may be more than one revision of the keyboard being sold. In my case the mouse buttons did not work until I modified the kernel source code slightly. That would be difficult to do with KnoppMyth.

SteveH

[newmoon]

SteveH:

Thanks for that info. I just chatted with a guy who had the keyboard, mouse tracking
and mouse button functioning and automatically configured by Fedora Core 4, so I know
it's possible with up-to-date installation code. That's promising, though it certainly doesn't
help me much. :-0

newmoon

Newmoon:
I'm using Gentoo with a 2.6.8 kernel. The keyboard part should work fine with any Linux distribution. Mouse movement and the scroll keys also should work fine. I've heard reports that the mouse buttons do work ok for some people so there may be more than one revision of the keyboard being sold. In my case the mouse buttons did not work until I modified the kernel source code slightly. That would be difficult to do with KnoppMyth.

SteveH

[solderer]

Sounds good. I have the Gyration Keyboard (small model) and mouse. I'm very happy with these and think they are ideal for HTPC and the KB is very small & thin so you can hide it away out of the wife's view when you dont need it. The mouse takes a bit of getting used to but is handy for use from sofa (and does work as a regular mouse when placed on a surface).
Both are wireless devices using the same receiver. I had no problem using either - even work with the BIOS screen ok, so support for USB kb must be built in a std in new mobos...

[loregood]

Hi,

Good review!

Just wondering if you tried the keyboard on your Xbox? I'm using my Xbox with XBMC and also some light browsing/mail/irc etc. in a Linux dashboard. I have been looking for a wireless keyboard (with onboard mouse functions), and this keyboard looks perfect! But does it work with the Xbox..?

[rampy]

Hi,

Good review!

Just wondering if you tried the keyboard on your Xbox? I'm using my Xbox with XBMC and also some light browsing/mail/irc etc. in a Linux dashboard. I have been looking for a wireless keyboard (with onboard mouse functions), and this keyboard looks perfect! But does it work with the Xbox..?

no... I never modded for regular USB ports nor got the little adapter for pluggin in a keyboard... 

*shrug* sorry...  it's a good question... I assume if other keyboards work in that fashion the BTC woudl as well, but the question would be if the mouse is recognized or not...  methinks..

rampy

[deci]

Just saw this thread.

Pros

• Sleek looking, compact, & fairly sturdy

I think the handles make it look like the magna doodle that my friend's 6-year old daugther loves so much.

But maybe i'm just wierd that way.

[loregood]

*shrug* sorry...  it's a good question... I assume if other keyboards work in that fashion the BTC woudl as well, but the question would be if the mouse is recognized or not...  methinks..

Yeah, that was my primary concern as well. But there are other issues with the Xbox, namely; power output on the gameport/USB and also a limited USB support when booting a "normal" dash. When booting Linux, the USB support is much improved.

Because I live in Denmark, and have to have the keyboard shipped from abroad (no refund) - I would like to know before hand, that the keyboard actually works on the Xbox.

So if anyone knows, I would love to know! Thanks.

[starlabs]

I just got this keyboard last night. Within 5 minutes of using it I knew it was going to replace my MCE Keyboard. That nub on the MCE keyboard is such a hassle.   

One problem I'm having with this keyboard is the left shift key. I'm surprised it's not mentioned (yet) - perhaps only a certain batch are affected? In any case, pressing the left shift key not only generates the shift modifier but also generates a backslash (\) character!! Pretty annoying, as you can imagine, as I usually never use the right shift key (which works as it should on the BTC keyboard).

Anyone have an ideas? Yeah I can use the right shift key for now, but it seems like a crappy solution for $40 that I've plunked down for 

[starlabs]

I have found a solution for the left shift key problem some people are having!  (Well, I didn't find the solution myself... but I found someone who did find the solution).

From a website:

Here is the 'fix' from BTC support, (very easy, takes only a minute) (typical disclaimer: use at your own risk, i am not responsible in any way for your
equipment, warranty, etc):


Sorry about the mistake, it could be something wrong with assembly error for left shift button, and it should be easy to resolve by yourself if it is just the case.
- Procedure:
Pull out left shift button carefully with any way you can, then you should find two sub-buttons(white color). Left one is for shift and right one is for slash(for UK layout).
So all you need to do is remain left one for shift only and pull out right one not for your layout, when finish put shift button back to original location of keyboard, done !!
Best Regards
/Service Center

Turns out there are two "buttons" under the left shift key - hmph. Guess one wasn't removed - so much for QA. 

I've added two pictures for those who are more image-oriented.