Open Pandora: Askarus version


Askarus

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Finally it's here: Pandora - Askarus version!


(It's the big "hardware upgrade" I was talking about :D )


I've changed the keyboard and added 2 buttons.


1: QWERTZ keyboard


Let's start with the easy part: I've cut off the "Z" and "Y" button and switched them. Then I had to go to /home/askarus/.pndXmodmap and change the keycode. That's all.


Here it is:


A german QWERTZ keyboard:


cimg5899w.jpg



That's not the reason why I started this topic.


Now see the interesting part.


2: Additional shoulder buttons


The one of you who like PS1 on Pandora my actually miss buttons for R2/L2. At least I did.


Set's see my solution of the problem.


I've added 2 additional shoulder buttons. I call them CR and CL buttons (ZR/ZL belong to Nintendo and R2/L2 belong to Sony).


cimg5935.jpg



It is no fake. These buttons are real an my Pandora and they work.


Here are some more pictures:


cimg5904f.jpg



For those who want to see the board:


cimg5908w.jpg



cimg5913h.jpg



3: Further plans


My next project will be the stylus. I want to make a pencil out of it :D .


4: Need some help


I need the keycode (in .pndXmodmap) of my CR and CL buttons. If I have them I can use them for the German special letters (äöüß).


Thanks for reading.

CIMG5896.JPG

CIMG5899.JPG

CIMG5901.JPG

CIMG5904.JPG

CIMG5908.JPG

CIMG5913.JPG

CIMG5914.JPG

CIMG5935.JPG
 
Awesome !


I though the L/R spare was the same as L/R.


I see the cables were a bit compressed, maybe you should find another path or carve the plastic ?
 
^ You're right with the cables.


I haven't noticed it yet. It's no problem. As you saied, youst carve the palstic.
 
wow... I need theses mods... through i'll prolly not be sure enough to risk killing a product I waited more than 3 years...


great job
 
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wow... I need theses mods... through i'll prolly not be sure enough to risk killing a product I waited more than 3 years...


great job

I wouldn't advice you to do this if you're not experienced anough. I've built more than 500 Pandoras so I know what I'm doing. Before that I wasn't even brave enough to open my Pandora (and that was good. I'm sure I would have smashed it :) )
 
If you build 500 more, i wonder what you'll be able to do :D .
 
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well, the only part that really bother me would be the soldering on the l2/r2 pads... the rest seems not that bad... seen you can buy spare case/keyboard pad (it is still/already possible right?)
 
Can you tell us more about how you made the buttons themselves?


- Neelix

OK, I'll try.


First I prepared the housing (the wholes for the buttons.


Then I got the R/L switches from ED. I cut them a little and put them between Ligghtpipes and housing. They fit perfectly.


The major task is to make the buttons:



Code:
          	IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

	HHHH   III      S 	III   HHHHHHHH

	HHHH   III 	SS 	III   HHHHHHHH

  IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII   	SS 	IIIIIIIIIIIII

                    	SS

          LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL


Explanation:


III = Button


H = Housing


S = Switch


L = Lightpipe


I hope that helps you a little.


The Wifi-cable is a problem and the microphone. There's no good solution.
 
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Related to the keycodes for r2 and l2. I have to say that I still cannot entirely understand all the code mangling that the kernel and X11 do, so YMMV, but the keycodes could be 82 (R2) and 86 (L2) (already listed in modmap, minus and plus). In the kernel they are KEY_KPPLUS for L2 and KEY_KPMINUS for R2.


You could check them yourself if you had installed xev from opkg, but since messing with opkg is a bit dangerous, I wont recommend that unless you have a SD install to mess up...
 
That's really cool. :)


Makes the normal Pandora seem naked without the extra trigger buttons :p
something to be added in to the P2 ?


bravo man it looks deadly well made.

Thanks you two.

Related to the keycodes for r2 and l2. I have to say that I still cannot entirely understand all the code mangling that the kernel and X11 do, so YMMV, but the keycodes could be 82 (R2) and 86 (L2) (already listed in modmap, minus and plus). In the kernel they are KEY_KPPLUS for L2 and KEY_KPMINUS for R2.


You could check them yourself if you had installed xev from opkg, but since messing with opkg is a bit dangerous, I wont recommend that unless you have a SD install to mess up...

Thanks a lot. Now I have ä and ö.


do you know the Keycode for "Fn + R2" and "Fn + L2" that's for ü and ß then.
 
Added you to the beta discussion about Slackware.


You can dl it and use xev.
 
Nice touch with the CL/CR buttons man!


I guess the remapping of 'z' and 'y' keys is a German kboard layout thing eh?


A torch stylus would be nice, little LED inside.


Look forward to seeing your future additions/mods
 
I'm afraid that the kernel Fn-key handling only works for the keys in the keypad matrix - not with gpio keys (game controls, start,select,pandora,shoulder buttons, hold, lid sensor...). Atleast this is the impression i have gotten from the kernel source.


I personally mapped ä and ö to Fn-K and Fn-L (pound and yen) and didnt miss those currency signs at all. You could use those, YMMV...
 
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