how to disable the onscreen keyboard?

[FreeLuigi]

I'm currently using the Deck in docked mode, with a regular keyboard & mouse attached to it.

When I click in a chat box in any game, the onscreen keyboard plops up regardless. There surely must be some way to completely disable this feature, unfortunately I can't seem to find how.

One additional finding: If you're using an external controller to play games in docked mode, just touching your mouse or keyboard will result in input delay or outright freezing of your external controller. There is some weird & buggy connection between the peripherals going on.

Appreciate any ideas.

Cheers

[Mahjik]

You cannot at the moment disable the virtual keyboard but there are multiple requests in the Feature Requests section for that capability.

[FreeLuigi]

Thank you ....but JFC, how did noone at Valve think of this? Or just disable it automatically when a real keyboard is connected? That makes the device borderline unusable when used in docked mode with an external keyboard.

This thing was really not ready for launch...

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by AAAbuser:

Thank you ....but JFC, how did noone at Valve think of this? Or just disable it automatically when a real keyboard is connected? That makes the device borderline unusable when used in docked mode with an external keyboard.

This thing was really not ready for launch...

Are you on the current stable branch? At least for me, the virtual keyboard does not automatically launch any longer and I need to manually launch it when I need it.

That being said, it's pretty clear that Valve have been focusing on the Game Mode experience as that is the majority of their users. Doesn't mean Desktop mode won't get any better, but it's not the main focus.

[FreeLuigi]

Out of despair I even tried the Beta branch, to no avail.

Try clicking into any chatbox in any game, the onscreen keyboard will come up no matter what.

And I think you're letting Valve off the hook a bit too easily here. They are literally selling a product, namely the Steam deck dock, that focusses on using the deck with external screens and peripherals.

If you're selling this product, you should make sure your device can actually handle external inputs properly.

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by AAAbuser:

Try clicking into any chatbox in any game, the onscreen keyboard will come up no matter what.

If it's a Steam game, Steam likely needs to update their API. Basically, Steam has been telling game devs they need to be able to launch the virtual keyboard. It's likely the API cannot (today) tell the difference between Game Mode and Desktop Mode.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/recommendations#Input

Text Input: We strongly recommend (and require for Verified on Deck badging) that games automatically display an on-screen keyboard when requiring the user to input text. We recommend using one of the two Steamworks SDK on-screen keyboard APIs, depending on your use case: ShowFloatingGamepadTextInput (sends direct key inputs) and ShowGamepadTextInput (callback-based).

Originally posted by AAAbuser:

And I think you're letting Valve off the hook a bit too easily here. They are literally selling a product, namely the Steam deck dock, that focusses on using the deck with external screens and peripherals.

Nope. There is a priority for everything. Nothing gets done "in one go". That's not how IT works (and I've been in various roles in IT from coder, infrastructure, security, etc for a LOT of years).

[FreeLuigi]

You don't have to explain to me how a product is launched. I have a Valve family & friends account because I was working for a market leading (in their field) soft- and hardware manufacturer. I know how much testing goes into a product before launch.

But I also know that no QA dpt. worthy of their title would ignore a bug like the onscreen keyboard popping up when a real keyboard is connected. This isn't a complex corner case.

This is a very straight forward scenario for anyone using their deck with a dock, and playing an online game. This is inexcusable, and Valve just didn't give enough of a ♥♥♥♥ because they wanted to launch this thing no matter what.

We're basically all Beta testers, and that's sadly par for the course in the games industry.

[Oscarius]

Try -NoKeyboardUI. Some games (like Rocket League) support it

[McJayEmCee]

Originally posted by Mahjik:

Originally posted by AAAbuser:

Thank you ....but JFC, how did noone at Valve think of this? Or just disable it automatically when a real keyboard is connected? That makes the device borderline unusable when used in docked mode with an external keyboard.

This thing was really not ready for launch...

Are you on the current stable branch? At least for me, the virtual keyboard does not automatically launch any longer and I need to manually launch it when I need it.

That being said, it's pretty clear that Valve have been focusing on the Game Mode experience as that is the majority of their users. Doesn't mean Desktop mode won't get any better, but it's not the main focus.

Game mode user here, and even without a keyboard—which I still use—and playing largely with the controller, it's abysmally terrible. The virtual keyboard isn't what bothers me. What bothers me is that an entire, full, black screen pops up and I'm forced to type into this ludicrous textbox the OS generates when I just wanted to type in the in-game chat. It's off-putting to the point that it makes multiplayer games unplayable. I could live with having to manually close the keyboard, if my actual keyboard is hooked up, everytime.

But this ******** textbox crap out of the stone ages makes it impossible to chat in games with people.

[Rhea]

Still no way to disable the keyboard. Why? Why the hell do I need to see an input field and a keyboard on my screen, blocking the "confirm" or any and all other actions I could take in the game, WHEN I HAVE A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD?

[KingDamoseph]

All of this. Cmon steam. All you gotta do is give us an option to disable the on screen keyboard,and ideally an extra option that automatically disables it when a keyboard is connected

[this ♥♥♥♥ is a pipe bomb]

I think the weird part is some games I can put my controller down and type on my keyboard to chat or w/e without it popping up

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by this ♥♥♥♥ is a pipe bomb:

I think the weird part is some games I can put my controller down and type on my keyboard to chat or w/e without it popping up

Input bugs are a combination of political and config hell. Everyone has their own idea about what should be a no brainer idea, but nobody is willing to spend the effort to talk to other people and agree what should be done.

Yes, the agree what should be done is more important than the solution itself.

[Rhea]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Originally posted by this ♥♥♥♥ is a pipe bomb:

I think the weird part is some games I can put my controller down and type on my keyboard to chat or w/e without it popping up

Input bugs are a combination of political and config hell. Everyone has their own idea about what should be a no brainer idea, but nobody is willing to spend the effort to talk to other people and agree what should be done.

Yes, the agree what should be done is more important than the solution itself.

The solution is simple...

OnScreenRequestFromTheGame()
{
    if( !physicalKeyboardConnected() ) // "!" means "not"
        displayOnScreenKeyboard();
}

Yours truly, senior game programmer coming up with brilliant solutions like this every day.

[Mahjik]

Even if that were a thing, it would still be buggy. Many devices today report that they are keyboards, but aren't. It unfortunately is not as clear of a solution as it seems.

There is a current security hack being used with USB drives right now. They make them appear to the OS as keyboards which stops A/V solutions from scanning them.

[Rhea]

Okay, don't use your handheld gaming device with strange accessories? I mean that goes for any computing device (but I get it, there are also people complaining that they got "hacked" on Discord when in fact they handed over their credentials on a silver platter and literally zero hacking took place...)

So yeah, keyboard detected, don't use on screen. And if you are one of the 0.0001% that wants to use a fishy device that shows up as a keyboard while it isn't, just use the keybind to bring up the virtual one, that's what it's for.