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Offline niftyprose

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USB - TRRS
« on: Wed, 03 July 2013, 03:56:03 »
Hi chaps, I'll begin by saying that it's miserable to make the first 'business as usual' post after the announcement about Smallfry. My sympathies to his family and all who knew him.

OK, this morning's question is a lot less serious than mortality -- but it's Google-resistant. Has anyone here got experience of connecting a USB keyboard to an Android tablet or mobile phone through a 3.5mm TRRS jack (that is, to a device that *doesn't offer a USB connector*). If so, how was it?

Best, NP
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Offline Puddsy

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 03 July 2013, 04:03:14 »
AFAIK you only need the adapter. I could test this for you in the next 3 or so days. I'm in Tokyo right now, so I could probably make a trip to Akihabara and grab an adapter. Shouldn't be too hard, considering I've already bought 2 keyboards here.
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Offline niftyprose

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 03 July 2013, 05:35:25 »
Hi TechnicalStache, well, I'd be delighted if you would. Many thanks! Let me know if there's any gofering you need over here in the UK. Best, W.
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Offline Puddsy

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 04 July 2013, 20:24:05 »
Doesn't work. Power draw issue, probably. Going back later to get an adapter for the usb port. Should power a miniLA, but I'm a bit skeptical.
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QFR | MJ2 TKL | "Bulgogiboard" (Keycon 104) | ctrl.alt x GON 60% | TGR Alice | Mira SE #29 | Mira SE #34 | Revo One | z | Keycult No. 1 | First CW87 prototype | Mech27v1 | Camp C225 | Duck Orion V1 | LZ CLS sxh | Geon Frog TKL | Hiney TKL One | Geon Glare TKL



"Everything is worse, but in a barely perceptible and indefinable way" -dollartacos, after I came back from a break | "Is Linkshine our Nixon?" -NAV | "Puddsy is the Puddsy of keebs" -ns90

Offline Topre

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 04 July 2013, 21:28:41 »
Not sure if it will work, but have you tried attaching a powered USB hub to it? If the keyboard works with that then it should be a power issue, if not then it probably won't work regardless of how little power the keyboard needs.
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Offline tjcaustin

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 04 July 2013, 22:13:01 »
There are android devices that don't use micro USB to charge/sync?
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Offline dorkvader

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 04 July 2013, 22:43:05 »
What device is it? You can only connect a KB to a device that can act as a USB host (USB on-the-go), and all the ones I know of that do that, use a microUSB port.

So if your device supports USB on-the-go, then it should work, but if (as I suspect) it can only act as a USB device through that TRRS jack, then you can't use it, though you might be able to get bluetooth working.
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Offline Topre

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 04 July 2013, 22:56:49 »
Headset jacks don't really provide much power, which is why amps are usually needed for speakers. But I don't see why a keyboard can't send data over the jack (assuming it has enough power). There are the square credit card reader things that easily sends a few digits over TRRS, but those are pretty much very low powered devices. A keyboard will probably need some external power.
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Offline Puddsy

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 05 July 2013, 02:46:49 »
Got it working. Wrong adapter. TRRS to USB doesn't work because TRRS is very low power, so I got a USB female to smartphone adapter. That seems to be working (duh, it's an android).
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QFR | MJ2 TKL | "Bulgogiboard" (Keycon 104) | ctrl.alt x GON 60% | TGR Alice | Mira SE #29 | Mira SE #34 | Revo One | z | Keycult No. 1 | First CW87 prototype | Mech27v1 | Camp C225 | Duck Orion V1 | LZ CLS sxh | Geon Frog TKL | Hiney TKL One | Geon Glare TKL



"Everything is worse, but in a barely perceptible and indefinable way" -dollartacos, after I came back from a break | "Is Linkshine our Nixon?" -NAV | "Puddsy is the Puddsy of keebs" -ns90

Offline niftyprose

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 06 July 2013, 15:29:49 »
Hiya TacticalStache, thank you and sorry for the slow acknowledgement -- I've been on the road. Your scouting is much appreciated. See next post for context if interested, and message me if I can give you UK help. Best, W.
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Offline niftyprose

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 06 July 2013, 15:44:15 »
Hi guys, just realised that enough people asked about the contect for my original psot that I thought I should give y'all the full story.

I do about 40% of my work on a good but old Asus netbook which is coming up for retirement.

I'm heading towards a tablet, and -- since I so often find myself working out of doors in bright places -- I'd settled on a daylight-readable tablet, either the Toughlet or forthcoming Earl (meetearl.com). With a waterproof compact keyboard like the Accuratus K82E I could write at the beach!

Toughlet is pretty standard, but the Earl routes its USB through a 3.5mm waterproof TRRS jack. In theory this would enable the connection of a keyboard, but I had the feeling that it would be better for data devices than keyboards. Sounds like that's the case. Any further input much appreciated.

Best, W. 
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Offline Topre

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 06 July 2013, 17:22:34 »
I don't think it's only suppose to work in theory, it should work fine in reality. The only problem you have is finding a way to power your keyboard. You need to attach some sort of external power supply such as a powered USB hub in order for the keyboard to be able to work. I know for sure credit card readers work fine for transmitting data over TRRS.
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Offline dorkvader

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 07 July 2013, 09:11:30 »
looking into the Earl, they say the TRRS jack will support USB OTG as well as charging, which I am skeptical about. The forum they had was one of those awful ones that loads up more responses as you scroll down, but from what I gathered the hardware wasn't set in stone and they were asking backers for their opinion.

Anyway, it all depends on what the current output of the usb otg port is. Since the solar panel is likely removable (the sd card slot is under it) you could power your device directly from that (with some hacking and a votage regulator), though it'll probably drop out if its cloudy.
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Offline niftyprose

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Re: USB - TRRS
« Reply #13 on: Mon, 08 July 2013, 04:09:39 »
Thanks guys, all replies noted. This sounds like a dealbreaker... Best, W.
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