Arduino Keyboard library not working on Debian KDE

Man, I just spent quite a bit of time diagnosing this particular issue.

The problem was that my Symbol Keyboard stopped working. This is a USB keyboard I made from an Arduino Leonardo. The touch screen was working okay, but the keypresses weren’t being delivered over USB.

Long story short, the 7-port USB 3.0 hub attached to my workstation needed rebooting! I disconnected the power supply and disconnected the upstream USB cable to remove both sources of power, then when I reconnected everything my stuff started working again, including my symbol keyboard.

Lesson learned: if you’re debugging a USB device failure try plugging the device directly into the host to avoid any potential issues caused by your hub(s).

It was lucky I had a spare 104-key USB keyboard in the cupboard because I needed one while diagnosing this issue (the Windows box I was using only has a tenkeyless 87-key keyboard plugged into it but the Windows alt-key codes require use of the number pad).

The latest incarnation of my symbol keyboard looks like this:

John's symbol keyboard

Homework

This is a part of the homework feature of my blog, which is an ongoing conversation with my mate S.F.

I found OWC Docks & Hubs. This Thunderbolt 3 Dock looks pretty good.

The stomping kitties video I mentioned is Rathergood – Communist Kittens sing Tanz Mit Laibach by Laibach but unfortunately it’s been taken down for copyright reasons. :(

There are some notes about uniforms on Wikipedia, there are also a bunch of books on the topic of the history of uniforms over on Amazon.

I found a preview for Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Might try and grab it on iTunes some time.

The Foo Fighters track that I said I thought was pretty good was The Pretender. But on listening to it again now it’s not about what I thought it was about when I thought it was pretty good! :P

The expression jamais vu is a sense of unfamiliarity with, or of never having experienced or seen before, something that should be familiar. Like when you walk into your bedroom and have the feeling like you’re seeing it for the first time.

The Prisoner’s dilemma is an interesting thought experiment from game theory.

Never forget Hits from the Bong from Cypress Hill.

The quote about how to fly from Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything is:

“The Guide says there is an art to flying”, said Ford, “or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

I’m gonna put The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Omnibus: A Trilogy in Five Parts on my wish list.

Also there is quite a lot of material on the subject of psychological boundaries.