USB keyboard debounce and typematic repeat

[jgharston]

I've been doing some experiments interfacing to a USB keyboard, but am getting unexpected results from continued keypresses.

Documentation says that it is the responsibility of the host to do typematic key repeats. When reading device data from a keyboard Human Interface Device, you get an 8-byte packet with up to six keypress bytes. When a key is pressed the keycode is in the packet, when the key is released, the keypress is removed from the packet.

So, that should give me:
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' still pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' still pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' released
etc.

What I am getting instead is the packet immediately after the keypress packet is a key-released packet. Also, if the key is held down after a few empty packets I get another keypress packet - the keyboard is doing typematic repeats when I, the host, should be doing it. To make things worse, I sometimes get from a press/release two pairs of press/release packets.

I get:
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - but 'A' is still pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - but 'A' is still pressed
a little later, with 'A' still pressed:
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - but 'A' is still pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - but 'A' is still pressed
etc.

And sometimes, from pressing and releasing 'A' in a normal typematic manner:
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' pressed
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' released
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 -nothing pressed
read data: 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 - oi! 'A' isn't pressed!
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 'A' released
read data: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 -nothing pressed

Is this a familiar problem? I've been testing with a handful of UK1 layout Dell keyboards. I'm planning on getting a handful of non-Dell and non-UK keyboards from the scrappie for more testing. Plugging them into my desktop PC gives the behaviour I expect - no double presses and repeats when I expect the input to repeat.

 

[Pommie]

The keyboard is doing the repeat for you. What do you want it to do different?

Edit, Sorry, missread your post. I'm assuming that modern keyboards can be programmed to autorepeat or not.

Mike.

 

[jgharston]

Device Class Definition for Human Interface Devices (HID) says:
Appendix C: Keyboard Implementation
"/Repeat Rate/ and /Delay Before First Repeat/ are implemented by the host and not in the keyboard"

It does look like the keyboard is performing typematic delay/repeat processing. If so, I can't find how to tell the keyboard what delay/repeat settings to use. It must be possible as with it plugged into a bog standard desktop PC I can set the delay/repeat to whatever I want, not just the rate that it is giving my test hardware. The only host-to-keyboard command I can find is to set the LEDs.

 

[Pommie]

As you say, there must be someway to set the repeat rate etc and maybe even turn it off. Try asking on Game software forums as they must turn this feature off to implement games.

As an aside, A few years ago I wrote the code for an RS232 keyboard for the PC and posted it here. It might be of no interest but was an interesting project at the time.

Mike.

 

[jgharston]

I've more-or-less solved it, the bane of my life, inconsistant and unclear documentation.

When you ask for data from the keyboard you receive a packet length, then a packet of data. A keyboard packet is eight bytes. I was ignoring anything that wasn't an 8-byte packet as non-keyboard data.

It turns out a packet length of zero is a valid packet meaning "no change from last packet". So, doing that correctly gives me:

no key pressed:
08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00
00
00
08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00
etc.
press a key gives:
08 mm 00 kk 00 00 00 00 00
00
00
00
00
00
08 mm 00 kk 00 00 00 00 00
00
00
00
etc.
release the key gives
08 mm 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00
00
00
etc.

I can now implement typematic repeat at the host end now that I'm getting a consistant stream of key-on and key-off data.