Fremantle Bluetooth Keyboard Layout

Bluetooth keyboards are not officially supported on the N900, i.e. Maemo Fremantle, but it's possible to get them working with some hacking.

Devices

Device Product Link Success Reports
iGo Stowaway Keyboard Amazon] [1]
Nokia SU-8W Nokia] [2]

Procedure

  • Enable HID support as described here
  • As root, download the tar file from [3] and extract it: 
sudo gainroot
cd /usr/share/X11/xkb-chinook/
wget http://talk.maemo.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=5221 -O xkb-chinook.tar
tar xf xkb-chinook.tar
cp -i xkb-chinook/symbols/pc xkb/symbols/.
cp -i xkb-chinook/symbols/us xkb/symbols/.
cp -i xkb-chinook/geometry/pc xkb/geometry/.
  • Every time the keyboard connects, you need to run setxkbmap: 
setxkbmap -device 4 -I -I/usr/share/X11/xkb-chinook -rules base -model pc105 -layout us

For the Nokia SU-8W keyboard, use "nokiasu8w" instead of "pc105".

After running this command, press any key on the N900's internal keyboard, and you should be able to type numbers and symbols on the bluetooth keyboard.

Retrieved from "http://bugs.maemo.org/Fremantle_Bluetooth_Keyboard_Layout"