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bluetooth keyboard: Paired OK but no typing!

W

wonky

Newbie
I recently bought a bluetooth keyboard from China. I simply can't get to type anything when paired with Android.

Pairing procedure
1) turn on bluetooth keyboard
2) press Connect button on bluetooth keyboard (blue LED flashes on the Bluetooth keyboard, just like the instructions say)
3) turn on Bluetooth on phone
4) search for Bluetooth devices on phone
5) Select detected Bluetooth Keyboard on phone
6) phone prompts user to type certain random numbers on the keyboard and press Enter
7) user types numbers on the newly-bought bluetooth keyboard and presses Enter. The bluetooth prompt on the phone then disappears right after pressing Enter, so clearly the keyboard is communicating with the handset
8) user finds out he can't get type in any app whatsoever. No typing in the browser. No typing in the email app. None, nowhere. How to start typing?

I've seen some other posts on Google about this issue but so far found no answer. Any idea what's going on?

The only hint that it's not paired successfully is the blue flashing LED on the keyboard that still flashes. The flashing LED is supposed to turn off after it pairs successfully and it doesn't turn off after "Pairing" with the phone.

The phone is the Lenovo A820 running Android 4.1.2, by the way. The bluetooth keyboard was tested with Windows too and there are absolutely no issues there. Only with Android it doesn't work. I'm grateful for any help, obviously :) Instructions mention Android too, so it's supposed to work with Android as well.
 
Hmm. OK then, I didn't think anyone would know. I guess I can try my luck with another bluetooth keyboard at some point in future. I should test on some other devices too...
 
No, wait. You paired it, but did you turn on it's input method under settings> Language & Input?
 
I had this issue with one Android version - can't remember which - where an error in the build identified the BT keyboard as a game pad and so didn't work. A later Android version fixed it.

Are you rooted? If so I can probably find the fix I used but it does require root access to modify a system file. If you're not rooted I won't waste my time looking for it :-)

PS: it only failed on some BT keyboards, others still worked apparently. Google mistyped some device ID in a configuration file.
 
Joelgp83, the Bluetooth Keyboard doesn't show up under Language and Input. But it shows up as paired on the bluetooth section of the settings. I take it that means it hasn't been paired correctly?
John Bean, I am rooted. What should I look for? I am hopeful now :)


Edit: I think I found it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heightdev.ganhou

Though I don't use Google Play (or any of their services) so I'll look for it elsewhere, thanks. I'm excited to try this.
 
There's a manual fix that I used... I'll look for it.

Later: found it.

The offending file is /system/usr/keylayout/Vendor_0a5c_Product_8502.kl which misidentifies some BT keyboards as game pads of some sort. Rename the file (I added ".bad" to the end) so it won't be used then reboot your device. After restart without the bad file the BT keyboard will default to the layout from /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl and should work normally.

Can't guarantee you have the same problem I had despite similar symptoms, but if you have then this should fix it.
 
John Bean, there are similar-named files but not that exact one. I will investigate further.

today I had another problem where the pairing message comes up for a split second and then quickly disappears. It doesn't give you a chance to type anything in. I actually went to the extent of installing a custom rom on this phone today to get rid of it. Nothing worked. It turns out re-pairing the bt keyboard with the pc and then trying it again with the phone fixed that particular problem & now I'm back to my original problem. Which is somewhat of a relief...lol.

I've never been so frustrated with bluetooth in my life but I'll sniff around for clues with those files, thanks.
 
On further looking I now seem to recall the exact bug was specific to 4.3 so it can't be what you are seeing. Your problem sounds similar but it's unrelated to the fix I mentioned otherwise the file would exist.

You need to find out more about your keyboard - perhaps a catlog viewer will help - because it's possible that it has an ID that's recognised wrongly in a similar way to mine in 4.3. But you need to know the exact ID codes it uses and which layout is being loaded; I really don't recommend messing about with the keyboard layout files at random.
 
The only consolation at this point is that I know I am not the only one suffering.. ;) Seems to affect different Android versions too.

Thanks. Will investigate.
 
Hey,

I just encountered the same exact bug. I tried different android versions(4.1.2; 4.2.1; 4.2.2) None of them has a external keyboard option in input settings. Keyboard works on macbook though.
Tried 3rd party custom apps and so on - nothing seems to change.:confused:
Some people seems to have similar problem in Android 4.3 but most of them say, before update, using ver 4.2, keyboard worked. So it's most likely different issue, probably with Bluetooth software.
Have you came across any solution?

Cheers
 
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