Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?

BenMcLean · 23 Apr 2020, 16:05

RetroPie should be set up to use a game controller to configure the wifi and enter the wifi password like you would expect to work out of the box and does in fact work out of the box on every mainstream commercially-released wifi-enabled game console since the Nintendo Wii in 2006 and every mainstream wifi-enabled handheld since the PSP in 2005.

The O-Droid Go Advance images come with a perfectly decent, functional On-Screen Keyboard to set up your Wifi with. Why can't RetroPie just use that one?

BenMcLean · 24 Apr 2020, 17:24

We had an OSK on PSP homebrew in 2006 if not 2005. The Wii had one built in to configure the wifi password when it came out in 2006. We've known how to do this for a decade and a half at least.
People are wasting their time on nonsense like adding gameplay videos to the menu when obvious gaping barriers to basic usability like this are left unaddressed for years.

saccublenda · 24 Apr 2020, 17:31

That's a good idea. Why don't you do it?

markyh444 · 24 Apr 2020, 17:47

Yeh, feel free to contribute instead of complaining that the free project you're using doesn't do everything you want it to.

The Pi was created as a learning tool, and in using it myself I have come to understand Linux so much better. There's plenty on the web, on these forums and in the documentation to get you started, so why not have a crack at configuring one for the project yourself?

sirhenrythe5th · 24 Apr 2020, 18:02

Second this: you want it? Make it!
Of course it is much more easy to state " could someone realize what i want?" but that is not the idea about this project here.

saccublenda · 24 Apr 2020, 18:08

It has been around since 2005, it should be easy to do it.

mitu · 24 Apr 2020, 18:20

@BenMcLean said in Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?:

gaping barriers to basic usability like this are left unaddressed for years.

Entering the Wifi password once, when you set-up your system, is hardly a 'gaping barrier' to get started with RetroPie. There are 2 methods to add the password without a keyboard - importing a wifikeyfile or straight up adding the WPA configuration file to the card, after you write it. See https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Wifi/#connecting-to-wifi-without-a-keyboard.

The comparison to OGA is a bit forced IMHO, because that device has no other input option than the gamepad - as opposed to the PI where you can easily connect a keyboard or an ethernet cable.

dankcushions · 25 Apr 2020, 11:09

there was an OSK done by @jacobfk20 a while ago: https://github.com/jacobfk20/EmulationStation/pull/14 - you'd need to rebase it to the latest es master, and build it. i don't know if it's ready for prime time but i imagine that's the same code the odroid advance thing is using.

BenMcLean · 25 Apr 2020, 15:35

@mitu said in Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?:

The comparison to OGA is a bit forced IMHO, because that device has no other input option than the gamepad - as opposed to the PI where you can easily connect a keyboard or an ethernet cable.

No, the Odroid Go Advance has a USB port just like the Raspberry PI. But it is a problem that you can't plug the wifi dongle and the keyboard at the same time without a usb hub

BenMcLean · 25 Apr 2020, 15:37

@dankcushions said in Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?:

there was an OSK done by @jacobfk20 a while ago: https://github.com/jacobfk20/EmulationStation/pull/14 - you'd need to rebase it to the latest es master, and build it. i don't know if it's ready for prime time but i imagine that's the same code the odroid advance thing is using.

Thanks! I've been searching around trying to find where this file that's in /usr/local/bin/osk on my OGA came from without much luck so far. I'll give that a shot!

BenMcLean · 3 May 2020, 13:32

The changes won't auto-merge into the latest EmulationStation. :(

BenMcLean · 3 May 2020, 13:32

I have decided to fork dialog and attempt adding the on-screen-keyboard there.

ParadoxGBB · 4 May 2020, 16:48

@BenMcLean If you want someone to test, I can help.

I agree that an OSK would be very useful --- now that a lot of us are sticking retropie on mobile form factors, I thought a cool scenario would be:

Hop onto a plane, play some retro games.
Check into a hotel, plug into the TV's HDMI, stream your home library from Kodi / Plex.

I get that RetroPie may not consider itself a similar class device to a FireTV stick or something like that, but IMHO it's there as a real compelling scenario. This would make this close to the ultimate device IMHO.

To keep things light, I don't want to travel with a keyboard or a ton of controllers. Controlling Kodi is pretty straightfoward with the mobile remote control scenarios they already support (Kore). But you still have to configure WiFi.

A while ago I tried to follow some steps that would allow you to pair your phone to a service running on the Pi to emulate a bluetooth keyboard, but I could never get that working. So instead I ended up scripting a pretty horribile solution here (https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/20308/waveshare-game-hat-thoughts/21?_=1588610080231), basically running bash scripts from my phone to copy updated network settings to the Pi, falling back to the credentials to my phone's hotspot if need be and we're isolated. Turns out to you really need to shake your phone pretty hard to get these scripts running and not everyone with a smartphone is willing to root it.

Anyway, apologies for diverting the topic too much here, but yes, this is a great idea.

BenMcLean · 23 Jun 2020, 16:17

I've been committed to my Wolfenstein 3-D VR project since last August, so that has higher priority for me. However, I do plan to work on dialog after Wolfenstein 3-D's done or in-between if it gets stuck.

Jste84 · 23 Jun 2020, 16:40

@ParadoxGBB said in Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?:

@BenMcLean If you want someone to test, I can help.

I agree that an OSK would be very useful --- now that a lot of us are sticking retropie on mobile form factors, I thought a cool scenario would be:

Hop onto a plane, play some retro games.

Check into a hotel, plug into the TV's HDMI, stream your home library from Kodi / Plex.

I get that RetroPie may not consider itself a similar class device to a FireTV stick or something like that, but IMHO it's there as a real compelling scenario. This would make this close to the ultimate device IMHO.

To keep things light, I don't want to travel with a keyboard or a ton of controllers. Controlling Kodi is pretty straightfoward with the mobile remote control scenarios they already support (Kore). But you still have to configure WiFi.

A while ago I tried to follow some steps that would allow you to pair your phone to a service running on the Pi to emulate a bluetooth keyboard, but I could never get that working. So instead I ended up scripting a pretty horribile solution here (https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/20308/waveshare-game-hat-thoughts/21?_=1588610080231), basically running bash scripts from my phone to copy updated network settings to the Pi, falling back to the credentials to my phone's hotspot if need be and we're isolated. Turns out to you really need to shake your phone pretty hard to get these scripts running and not everyone with a smartphone is willing to root it.

Anyway, apologies for diverting the topic too much here, but yes, this is a great idea.

Read this and whilst I'm not saying I wouldn't like an on screen keyboard... I'm not sure the problem matches the solution. I've given some thoughts beloe

If you don't want to bring controllers cables etc, why not look at a portable device. I.e. gpi.
Even if you had an on-screen keyboard, you'd still need an HDMI controllers etc... maybe even a keyboard depending on the system.
Does Plex work. Is that dual boot and if so how would you control it?
It's not a fire TV stick, while it's great you can add things like some home media (Kodi, Spotify) to retropie. . that's not its purpose.... Everyone here does such a great job with that.
You say it would make it close to the ultimate device... But the firestick you can add loads of apps (iPlayer, itv hub etc in the UK) For it to be ultimate, surely you'd want to add those, have access to sports apps like bt, sky and ESPN.. watch box office, wwe, netflix, prime, kids shows.... I think adding all those things is a hell of a lot more complex. I think if retropie incorporated all those... It's not retropie imo.

I don't want to sound dismissive... And I'm sure there are many things in my post that aren't correct...

I just love the work the retropie guys do and to be honest... I love the focus they make on improving performance and how they incorporate changes into it.

BenMcLean · 22 Jul 2020, 16:14

When you bring a commercial game console over to a friends house or a hotel or whatever, you only need the console plus the game controllers in order to connect to the wifi there. But a RetroPie system requires the console plus the game controllers, plus a keyboard and the only reason you need the keyboard is to type in the wifi password. That severely reduces the portability of your RetroPie system, where portability is supposed to be one of its major advantages.

You shouldn't need extra hardware just to type in a password. You should be able to type in the password with your game controller like you can on every commercial console since the Wii which came out 14 years ago. This is a software problem.

I have come up with a plan to fix it but I have another non-RetroPie project I plan to finish implementing first before I get to it. But I will get to fixing this eventually.

WeirdH · 22 Jul 2020, 17:51

@BenMcLean said in Why the hell doesn't RetroPie come with an On-Screen Keyboard?:

We've known how to do this for a decade and a half at least.

I don't. Who is this illustrious "we" you're talking about?

BenMcLean · 27 Dec 2021, 02:43

Rejoice, for this issue has now been fixed.
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/commit/d6cede74dec265b6271fe9b7fd5f4fed3b828961

Sliver X · 29 Dec 2021, 22:34

@benmclean

Yeah, it works great. I incorporated it into a device-specific image I recently made and it's been really nice.

kelvinator3300 · 1 May 2022, 04:17

@benmclean
That's awesome! However, what I've really wanted (and can't believe is not there) is an OSK built into ES. Like when ES throws up a dialog that requires text input...see Kodi for examples. It should be pretty easy. I can program but I haven't programmed in 15+ years. It would take me about 6 months to figure out to get an environment setup to start working on it, then another month to familiarize myself with ES code, then maybe a week to actually code it. I've created an OSK in a script before.

It's just an array of characters. Display the array. 'Earmark' the current position in the array onscreen. Get left/right/up/down input. Move earmark in the array and onscreen. Get 'enter' input. Copy content of current position in the array to the text field.

It would be so nice to be able to edit game metadata from within ES without a keyboard.