Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Donncha · Joined: 02 Oct 2011 Posts: 34

After 3 months and with limited time available for the project have not even reached first base with Puppy and I am a tad depressed!
I hope someone can help!
I cannot do serious work with a QUERTY keyboard!
Since the early days of XP I have used Dvorak for Right Hand [DVR] or my own version made with the Micro$oft keyboard making tool. With either of these keyboards I can touch type. Touch typing is important to me as not only do I have no functional left hand I have no functional left eye -- and the right one is in no great shape.
In Puppy setup Languages I can chose Dvorak-r [DVR] but it does not load. The Information button "I" warns me this may happen and asks me to report this [that’s what I am doing!!].
Setup tells me where the keyboards are stored [/etc/xll/xkb/symbols] -- I looked there but was out of my depth.
In an attempt to resolve this i have tried out half a dozen other distros and on one or two Dvorak [for two hands] has loaded but not Dvorak-r. I wanted to try Ubuntu but could not get it to run live from flash.
So I dusted off an old disused computer with a CD drive dating from 2000 with XP still on it and loaded Ubuntu on top of XP. [As an aside this PC happily works with XP but choked on Ubuntu and i ended up with a cut down version. As a further aside IMHO Ubuntu is a horrible OS and even worse in my hate list than Windose10 and but I boot them both from time to time to see if i have overlooked any redeeming features apart from the fact that they both let me use the DVR keyboard!]
I had the idea I could copy the DVR keyboard from Ubuntu to Puppy but i have no idea how to do this.
I have searched for a solution and stumbled on other people with the problem but did not stumble on the way to solve it.
Any help gratefully received!
Don Smile

april · Posted: Tue 01 May 2018, 17:41 Post subject:

I'm running xenialpup64 7.5

EDIT On my desktop Setup icon gives a screen for keyboard and choosing layout for your country there is a dropdown list containing dvorak right and left options .layout variants in the menu keyboard options gives it too Probably no need to read past this.

I went to PPM (Puppy Package Manager) and typed Dvorak in the search and up came two so I installed the one with Dvorak in the name .

I have no idea how to start that as the setup ->keyboard gives no mention.
It does not start in a terminal
Perhaps you do

http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/linux.html might help
I'll see if I can download and compile a source to run on mine

I tried this

Donncha · Joined: 02 Oct 2011 Posts: 34

Thank you April

I had assumed people would have read my earlier posts but forgot this would be a new subject so the background would not necessarily be seen. I apologise.

I am like you running xenialpup 7.5. and like you in your red edit found Dvorak for Right hand as an option keyboard language. But when I tried it [20 times on xenial and half a dozen other puppy distros] IT DOES NOT WORK. Furthermore on the information button “I” it warns me it may not work.

On one distro [forgot which] it defaulted to Dvorak for Both Hands. This is useless for me and even worse than Querty. You can identify Dvorak-r DVR by typing the first few characters of the querty row: instead of “querty” you would get “56q.or”.

The rest of your post I fear is not anything I can understand. Should you be interested let me explain, yes its tedious! I am 88 and am windows literate having started in the sands of time with MS-DOS and found XP did everything I needed so never upgraded to vista, Win7 or 8. Last year I bought a more fuel efficient computer and it has been fixed not to load XP, only Win 10 --- and Linux of course.

For family reasons I need to dual boot. Personally I hate Win10 with a great hatred. As I have used for years a Puppy distro [Jemimah’s Puppeee] just as it came out of the box on a travel mini-laptop for Mail, Google and Skype and never had to bother my head about learning linux-speak, using a terminal, code and this kind of stuff I do not want to start on this learning curve at my age.

I arrived at choosing Xenial by investing a good deal of time and effort with much help from this wonderful forum. I have chosen and have it loaded on three computers!! I have made up my mind: I get it to work or I quit Linux. XenialPup has everything I need just the way it is – except for the keyboard issue. This seems such a simple matter to me -- just inserting one more keyboard in the hundreds of others already there. Perhaps just a “symbol” [whatever that is] in …/etc/xll/xkb/symbols.

I am writing this on a Dvorak-r keyboard on Windows 10 much as I hate it. If nobody can help me I suppose I will just learn to like Win10 – I have stripped my installation of most of its bloat but it is still horrible and offers 100 features for every one I need. Reminds me of when I am dying for a drink I get asked: Tea or Coffee? maybe juice? Tea! India or China? Hot or cold? Hot! Do you want milk? Sugar? How many lumps? Mug okay or do you want a cup and saucer? Sure you dont want Nescafe? Now please confirw these choices! I am sorry you dont have the right privilages to make these choises……..

Don

april · Posted: Wed 02 May 2018, 14:22 Post subject:

Perhaps 666Philb might help you .
I would suggest a PM
learning new stuff is said to prevent dementure
If you still remember this tomorrow try the Setup-> PPM anyway , its pretty easy as is Phil's Setup->quickpet xenial in the menu

Donncha · Joined: 02 Oct 2011 Posts: 34

Thanks April.
I will look at PPM tonight. Only reason I didn't yesterday was I was using Win10 for my sins being unable to use Xenial!
At the moment I am using an iPad and unbelievably see all the attachments to your post that Win10 did not show me "for my protection" yesterday. Will look at Phil too.
Yes dementia is a bugger but I hope to be dead before it strikes. I am learning Mandarin and try to do an hour or two every day and weekends with teacher in Beijing using Skype on iPads. I help with her English. This is challenging enough and I have no real interest in learning more IT - just need to be able to use an OS to do mail and browse. Nothing else. Xenial fits the bill out of the box (apart for the keyboard problem)!!
Don

foxpup · Posted: Wed 02 May 2018, 17:03 Post subject:

hello Donncha

I got to your 56q.or this way:
- from the menu > Setup > Mouse/keyboard Wizard
-- Layout for your country > dvorak-r
-- Advanced configuration > OK > Layout Variants > 10: dvorak-r > OK > Yes > Exit
Important not to forget the final Yes !!! OK and Yes

It works for me in all Puppies I've tried: dPupStretch, slacko700RC and Xenialpup.

april · Posted: Wed 02 May 2018, 17:23 Post subject:

56q.orsuyb;=\78zaehtdck-
90x,inwvg'

Rqb 6y.dqz ay. wq oyy
Whoops had to change back
Yep working for me too

Donncha · Joined: 02 Oct 2011 Posts: 34

Hi FoxPup
A month ago I tried the Keyboard Wizard but missed the advanced tab and got nowhere except went back to Languages which also got me nowere.
You are some kind of genius. I am dumb it seems. I never went back and tried Keyboard again and I can only conclude Microsoft had brainwashed me to make keyboard setups via Langeges as that is the way they have always done it in their control panel.
I big thank you FoxPup and April for taking an interest too. I feel I can now start to learn to use my new and hopefully last OS
Cheers
Don

foxpup · Posted: Thu 03 May 2018, 05:36 Post subject:

.... or try another Puppy. There are so many to enjoy. Smile

oui · Posted: Mon 14 Oct 2019, 16:26 Post subject:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=117146