Using PEGA-KB11 Keyboard with TH-55

[Aces]

Here's some more info that implies we will be able to use our older "clasic" PEGA-KB11 keyboards with the TH-55.  I went to the accessory suport area at sony.

http://ciscdb.sel.sony.com/perl/select-clieacc.pl (Then go to "Drivers & Updates" for this keyboard model)

And I discovered that the latest keyboard driver for the PEGA-KB11 (version 1.9.8.S), which was released 11/7/2003, supports PALM OS 5.2!  So I now feel even more sure that my old keyboard will work.:)

BTW, my hard drive has now been upgraded.  I'm now coming to you via my new 80Gb laptop hard drive!

[dach95]

cool, thanks...

[depret]

Aces,

THANKS! Downloaded and ready to installed. TH55 is not on the list but we will see.

Again thanks for the research, community has benefited.

[Unregistered]

I downloaded the new driver, but could not get it to work (though it works fine on my T-415, from which I'm upgrading). The TH-55 recognizes the keyboard; when the screen timed out, a key push would "wake up" the TH-55, but I could not actually type in any of the several applications I tried. This page (http://ciscdb.sel.sony.com/cgi-bin/swu-matrix.pl) indicates that even though the driver supports OS 5.2, it supports no OS 5.2 devices. I also tried Think Outside's driver (http://www.thinkoutside.com/support/index.html), but this explicitly states OS4 only, and I could get no keyboard response at all. If anyone gets this to work, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it.

[Icthus]

I got the same results. I emailed both Sony and ThinkOutside about this. I would encourage others to do the same so that they see it really is a problem that needs to be addresses. Most of my productive time on my Clie is with teh keyboard - not having it available will be a HUGE pain.

[Unregistered]

ThinkOutside has released driver 2.3T, but it's still a no go. The keyboard works, but if I stop typing for more than about 2 seconds, it freezes. I emailed ThinkOutside about this, but haven't heard back.

[Sara]

I also downloaded the new driver from ThinkOutside -- but it doesn't work for me at all. When I attach the TH55 to the keyboard, it starts a hotsync. I tried canceling the hotsync and immediately going to Memo or DocsToGo to type, but the keyboard still won't type on the TH55.

[Bordgious]

I have downloaded the driver and every time that I try to install it, the installation errors and says that it has already been installed. It will only install 1.8s instead of 1.9.8s. The keyboard is still not recognized. Anyone have any help to offer?

[olegsan]

ThinkOutside has released driver 2.3T, but it's still a no go. The keyboard works, but if I stop typing for more than about 2 seconds, it freezes. I emailed ThinkOutside about this, but haven't heard back. The solution has all the time been around - we just needed to add G700 driver to it: http://www.1src.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1059008&postcount=5. Not sure why it works, but my guess is that G700 keeps serial port from closing after those 5 sec of KB11 inactivity:
Smart device conflicts resolution. If any other device tries to use serial port at the same time, driver release port for new application and grab it back on port close.

[LanMan]

Wow, that's really interesting. I've used a G700 for years now, but never thought about applying the driver to another keyboard. Well, the G700 it a great keyboard, and Igor's driver is very powerful.

[arson]

This site is a great resource! Having the ultra-thin keyboard work with the clie th55 is fantastic, but (and there's always a but...) now the driver conflicts with the Palm UWK. Anybody ever find a workaround for this? I saw a dialog box for extra keyboard layouts with the think outside driver. Does anyone know where to find these extra layouts?

For notes: the G700 Belkin keyboard still works fine with the think outside driver.

[olegsan]

You mean KB11 driver conflicts with UWK? Did you try disabling it when using UWK?

[arson]

yes. the kb11 driver overwrote the uwk driver. will try renaming one of them.

[MD_Brite]

Oddly enough, those KB11 mini keyboards are still for sale out there. Shame, I wish palm had come out with something like it for the T5 and TX.

[olegsan]

Yeah, for some odd reason this type of keyboards doesn't seem to be produced anymore. Palm had a similar Palm Portable Keyboard for the older models. I wonder if it's possible to adapt it to the newer ones?