Possible issue with NKRO keyboards on Android 10

Submitted by kibiz0r on #1

I'm trying to accomplish something very specific, but I may have stumbled across a general issue in the Android version of the USB server.

Tested with 2 Android 10 devices, and 4 keyboards:

NKRO Keyboard 1: OS never prompted to grant permission to access the device
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-C
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-A to USB-A hub to USB-C
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-A to USB-A adapter to USB-C

NKRO Keyboard 2: OS never prompted to grant permission to access the device
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-C
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-A to USB-A hub to USB-C
- Attempted via USB-C to USB-A to USB-A adapter to USB-C
- Attempted via 2.4GHz wireless dongle to USB-A to USB-A hub to USB-C

4KRO Keyboards 3 and 4: OS prompted to grant permission, and the devices were fully usable from the USB client
- Success via USB-A to USB-A hub to USB-C
- Success via USB-A to USB-A adapter to USB-C

These keyboards all appear to function the same as far as the OS is concerned. For example, they can all type into Chrome.

Also, these keyboards all work when attached to a Windows USB server -- NKRO or not, hub/adapter or not.

In the end, all I'm after is a decent 2.4GHz wireless (non-Bluetooth) keyboard connected to an Android device, so I can probably find a keyboard the fits my needs, but I'm also afraid I'll keep running into this problem several more times during the hunt.

From some (rather ignorant) googling, it looks like there are rather substantial differences in how NKRO and 6KRO keyboards talk over USB.

Does this seem plausible and/or fixable?

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 2021/07/15 - 07:30

#2

OK it sounds like it might be a limitation of your android 10 device.

It may be either:

1. A lack of available USB power through the usb port on your Android 10 device. Some keyboards may require more than e.g 100ma or 500ma to function and the USB port on your Android device cant provide that power and therefore the keyboard is not detected. You would need a powered usb hub between the android 10 device and the keyboard in this case.

2. Android just does not want to pass the usb device to another app. It wants to keep control itself. VirtualHere will ask android to tell it when there is a new USB device. But maybe your Android 10 operating system is not doing this because it doesn't want to allow it to happen. So therefore virtualhere cant see it. Nothing can be done here. Maybe try updating to android 11?

Submitted by kibiz0r on Thu, 2021/07/15 - 22:14

#3

Thanks for the quick reply!

I don't think it's power. The NKRO keyboards can successfully send input to Chrome and such. Unfortunately, I don't have a powered USB hub I can test with. I have a dock, but it's Thunderbolt 3 and neither of the Android devices pick up on that thing at all.

I looked into whether these devices show up in any other USB-centered apps under Android 10, and they do not! So I suppose there isn't any path forward here.

Unfortunately, I can't update to Android 11. Logitech sounds promising though.

Thanks again. :)