wireless keyboards and nvidia Shield

Submitted by Kuentcha on #1

I got a virtualHere setup between my nvidia Shield (server) and PC (client), and it works perfectly : I can play games on my pc with the xbox controller dongle plugged on my Shield.

BUT when I want to add my wireless keyboard : I plug the dongle on the shield and I can't see it on my virtualHere client, the keyboard controls my shield instead of controlling my PC.

I got two different wireless keyboard : logitech k340 and Rii Mini X8, they both work when I plug them directly on my computer, and they both got the same issue with virtualHere, I got no message from virtualHere server when I connect the dongles.

Is there something I can do ? I hope so, its an important part on my setup thank you

Submitted by Michael on Sat, 2023/02/11 - 08:46

#2

No, not possible google has blocked keyboard passthrough at the moment.

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 2023/02/13 - 08:01

#4

Its probably not advertised as a keyboard initially when you plug it in so it works around the issue.

Basically all USB HID devices are blocked in android 10+, so if your keyboard appears as some other type of device to android then it confuses it and lets it be redirected! 

Perhaps you can tell us the model so the other user can use that keyboard

Submitted by Kuentcha on Mon, 2023/02/13 - 18:31

#5

It may be written somewhere on the virtualHere website that keyboards are not supported, but for sure it should be more obvious !!

Submitted by Kuentcha on Tue, 2023/02/14 - 17:44

#7

Good to know, did you plug it directly to a nvidia shield ? or another device ? Thank you

Submitted by fr500 on Wed, 2023/02/15 - 01:02

#8

I plug it directy to the shield.

I do not recommend this keyboard though, battery life is bad and the battery is not replaceable.

Submitted by Kuentcha on Mon, 2023/07/03 - 05:21

#9

So since i need to have my tiny wireless keyboard, will it work if i switch to a raspberry device ( instead of my nvidia shield )? The latence what quite ok with my shield, will it be the same on raspberry ? Is there any other way to avoid the android blocking keyboard policy ? Thanks

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 2023/07/03 - 07:51

#10

Yes a raspberry would be fine

Submitted by TB303 on Tue, 2025/02/11 - 11:18

#11

I hope it`s ok to post my question under this topic, because I have the exact same problem.

what if I connect the keyboard via BT dongle? I can switch between 2,4ghz and 2 different bt devices. 

or will it show up in Android as HID Device too, when I connect the keyboard via the dongle?

Submitted by Michael on Tue, 2025/02/11 - 13:37

#12

Yes sure its OK to post. 

Important: Windows ONLY allows one Bluetooth adapter. So if you want to use a USB Bluetooth adapter via virtualhere then you need to disable onboard Bluetooth on the client PC (if it has one). Windows might automatically disable the on-board one or it might not, that's why i suggest doing it yourself.

Most BT dongles work fine via virtualhere. (There are a few older problematic ones) and you can sync multiple devices simultaneously to the same Bluetooth dongle just like you normally do as if the BT dongle was directly plugged in.

I don't think a Bluetooth keyboard directly shows up as a HID device but I'm not sure.

 

Submitted by TB303 on Tue, 2025/02/11 - 13:55

#13

that's enough to get a BT dongle for testing! 

thnx! 

I will post my findings.