On screen keyboard in desktop mode??? And scrollwheel?

[Jcee]

First and most importantly.. There really should be one pre-loaded for a portable device like the steam deck.. where users wont have a keyboard on-hand...
There are 2 main requirements.
1. it should pop up automatically when the user clicks a text box...
2. there should be a button to prompt it, for when a text box is selected by default.
Both of which seem to work in steam mode...

Secondly a scroll-wheel would be rather helpful.. maybe bound to the right joystick?

[Mizufluffy]

I'm glad the on-screen keyboard does not pop up automatically whenever a text box is activated. First of all, it's not that big of a deal to open it with STEAM+X button combination just like you can in the gaming mode. More importantly, can you imagine how annoying it would be to close every time you click a text box if you happen to have Steam Deck docked and plugged in keyboard? The on screen keyboard would easily get on your way if it opened automatically too easily.

I'm not 100% sure but scroll wheel might be already bound. And even if it's not then it's not that hard to add yourself by changing the desktop configuration in Steam settings > Controller > Desktop layout. I like keeping a scroll wheel on the left trackpad. It makes it easier for me when I already have mouse on the right trackpad. That way I can use both of them at the same time. If a scroll wheel was on the right stick then you would be using only mouse or scroll wheel but not both simultaneously (unless you'd bind mouse to left side).

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by Jcee:

1. it should pop up automatically when the user clicks a text box...
2. there should be a button to prompt it, for when a text box is selected by default.
Both of which seem to work in steam mode...

Yea about that. Xorg is broken in this regard. The steam deck was release with keyboard popping up whenever the text box is click, but the detection was too buggy. The blame lies with Linux and Xorg. This issue will take years to fix because it requires a transition to wayland. The wayland transition is slow. Think Deck 2.


I would recommend you to use the keyboard shortcut in the meantime.

Steam + X will reveal the on screen keyboard.

https://www.xda-developers.com/steam-deck-shortcuts/

[Jcee]

@Mizufluffy: let me re-phrase that
steam's OSK should pop up if a text button is CLICKED, AND a physical keyboard is not detected... (this is what i meant, but i wrongly assumed it was obvious)

You dont generally need the mouse and the scroll wheel at the same time, and this isnt necessarily for power users, because you should be able to setup your own key-bindings through steam that go far more in-depth. I'm simply referring to the DEFAULT out of box experience.

@deaddoof

It may be a linux problem.. but with linux being open source and all, couldn't they fix it, and then share that fix under GPL or whatever? it just seems like a big enough nerve point to me that it warrants reasonable effort on their part. I could be wrong though..

The trigger should just be X (while on the desktop profile)
It should not be steam+X because:
1. its easy for a NEW user to hit every button to see what they do.
2. Its difficult for a new user to hit every 2 button combination to see what it does.
3. without a keyboard, you cant type 'how to enable on screen keyboard' into chrome on steam. (yes its easy enough to grab your cellphone, or a computer to google it; but it simply detracts from the OOB experience to need something else for initial setup)
4. its just faster to press 1 key (or ideally 0 keys)

Just saying from my personal experience.. I spent about an hour (because i didn't have internet connection) trying to figure out how to bring up the OSK...
That would have been 15 seconds if any 1 button brought it up. or if there was a shortcut to the keyboard pined to the taskbar(or whatever its called in linux)
Instead we get an icon for 'caps lock is enabled'

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by Jcee:

@Mizufluffy: let me re-phrase that
steam's OSK should pop up if a text button is CLICKED, AND a physical keyboard is not detected... (this is what i meant, but i wrongly assumed it was obvious)

I think the keyboard detection part is what they either can't do or have an issue with... The virtual keyboard used to pop up on the Desktop when entering a text field when the Deck first launched. Those using the device as a desktop PC with a physical keyboard complained and it was removed requiring manually launching of the virtual keyboard.

[Jcee]

Fair enough if they simply cant fix it from a technical standpoint. Im pretty sure its just seen as a non-issue because most people dont use the desktop environment without a keyboard, and those that do have a technical solution via steam+x
and there are certainly better things to devote the efforts to..
I think this is one of those things that should certainly be fixed eventually tho (im sure they are kicking the can down the road and hoping the Linux community does it for them for FREE rather than hiring someone to contribute code they cant directly monetize.

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by Jcee:

Fair enough if they simply cant fix it from a technical standpoint. Im pretty sure its just seen as a non-issue because most people dont use the desktop environment without a keyboard, and those that do have a technical solution via steam+x
and there are certainly better things to devote the efforts to..
I think this is one of those things that should certainly be fixed eventually tho (im sure they are kicking the can down the road and hoping the Linux community does it for them for FREE rather than hiring someone to contribute code they cant directly monetize.

Valve pays Linux plumbing devs to work on important stuff. Valve isn't a freeloader. In fact, our interest aligned well. Valve pretty much gave everything many of us wanted with a cherry on top. I might as well volunteer to show support.

https://www.lunarg.com/

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/03/collabora-talk-briefly-about-their-work-with-valve-on-steamos-steam-deck/

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Valve-Funding-KWin-Work

https://keithp.com/blogs/Valve/

About your other question, the changes needed in Linux cost around $100M across many years and companies. Yes, it isn't an easy problem unless you want to piss everyone off. Yes, Valve is trying to speed up the process. They implemented a special implementation of HDR for gamescope.

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Valve-HDR-Linux-Gaming-Begins

[Jcee]

Its really good to know that they are actually funding the linux development as well;
My assumption was they were making proprietary bits for whatever was needed and leaving the rest as it was.
I do honestly wonder how it can cost 100m for something seemingly as small as this; but it is certainly outside my scope, and I can imagine if it includes a far larger feature-set and proper testing across tens of thousands of devices...

Honestly I assumed it was a 1 million dollar problem tops :P Atleast if the implementation was done specifically for the steam-deck with the code simply shared as open source if others wished to use it as a starting point.