Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

solarmon
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:21 am
Fixed in the last version. The cause wasn't an "electrical glitch" effect. This was more a behavioural issue.
Thanks for the report.
Thank you! I've just tested it and can confirm that it behaves as expected now.

Now that is fixed, what could be done about the trackball sensitivity? I was thinking about having a 0.5 step option?

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:27 am
Jeff wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:21 am
Fixed in the last version. The cause wasn't an "electrical glitch" effect. This was more a behavioural issue.
Thanks for the report.
Thank you! I've just tested it and can confirm that it behaves as expected now.

Now that is fixed, what could be done about the trackball sensitivity? I was thinking about having a 0.5 step option?
Is it a general sensitivity or an issue just when you touch/release the trackball or when you press/release the trackball select button ?

solarmon
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:23 am
Is it a general sensitivity or an issue just when you touch/release the trackball or when you press/release the trackball select button ?
The issue I'm having is when I go to press the select button to insert/eject the file. I'm finding that the trackball is too sensitive and I end up scrolling/stepping to the next/previous file and inserting/ejecting that.

Yes, I know I could just wait for the delayed inject feature, but the option to insert/eject is there so I would like to use that aswell (when I'm too impatient to wait

Actually, rather than the trackball, I was hoping to use a scroll or jog wheel that has detents like the rotary encoder. However, I still cannot find one that is low profile enough for my needs. So the trackball was the compromise.

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:34 am
Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:23 am
Is it a general sensitivity or an issue just when you touch/release the trackball or when you press/release the trackball select button ?
The issue I'm having is when I go to press the select button to insert/eject the file. I'm finding that the trackball is too sensitive and I end up scrolling/stepping to the next/previous file and inserting/ejecting that.
is it at the button release or when you push it (or both ?)

solarmon
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:36 pm
is it at the button release or when you push it (or both ?)
Sorry, maybe I'm not making myself clear on the issue.

The problem is that when I go to press the select button, before that actually happens, the trackball steps to the next or previous file because the up/down or left/right hall-effect triggers are activated because I have slightly moved it up/down or left/right before I actually press down on the switch button.

I'm thinking if the rotary stepping is set to 0.5 then a small movement will not trigger a stepping to the next or previous file?

I hope that is clear?

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

i made a small modification :
https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
let me know if this help.

solarmon
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:59 pm
i made a small modification :
https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
let me know if this help.
I tried the new firmware and I didn't notice any difference.

What change did you make? I didn't see any different options in the custom firmware page?

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:49 pm
Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:59 pm
i made a small modification :
https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
let me know if this help.
I tried the new firmware and I didn't notice any difference.

What change did you make? I didn't see any different options in the custom firmware page?
i just inhibit the up/down entry when the select button is pushed.
ok then i will prepare a new firmware ;)

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »


solarmon
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Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:38 am

Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:53 pm
i just inhibit the up/down entry when the select button is pushed.
ok then i will prepare a new firmware ;)
That wouldn't have worked since the stepping/scrolling occurs before the select button is pushed.

But I assume you figured that out since I just tried v3.2.2.6a and it works perfectly and is not so sensitive to touches of the trackball! Thank you!

What exactly did you change? I assume you just reduced the stepping value, as it does feel you need to scroll the trackball more to get it to step?

Now that this is fixed, I have yet another request...not specifically about the trackball. I would like to see some idle timeout option, where you would have to press the select button to unlock it before it can scroll again.

There is the "Default standby timeout" option but I'm not sure what this does?

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:11 pm
Jeff wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 11:53 pm
i just inhibit the up/down entry when the select button is pushed.
ok then i will prepare a new firmware ;)
That wouldn't have worked since the stepping/scrolling occurs before the select button is pushed.

But I assume you figured that out since I just tried v3.2.2.6a and it works perfectly and is not so sensitive to touches of the trackball! Thank you!

What exactly did you change? I assume you just reduced the stepping value, as it does feel you need to scroll the trackball more to get it to step?

Now that this is fixed, I have yet another request...not specifically about the trackball. I would like to see some idle timeout option, where you would have to press the select button to unlock it before it can scroll again.

There is the "Default standby timeout" option but I'm not sure what this does?
i have just "divided" the step rate by 3. Btw is it fast enough ?

for the "lock" feature, i will do something :) .

solarmon
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 8:41 am
i have just "divided" the step rate by 3. Btw is it fast enough ?

for the "lock" feature, i will do something :) .
It is fast enough for the small list of of files/directories I have at the moment - so it is not an issue at the moment. But you may want to think about some kind of acceleration feature for stepping through larger lists?

I'll look forward to the 'lock' feature!

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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 9:20 am
Jeff wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 8:41 am
i have just "divided" the step rate by 3. Btw is it fast enough ?

for the "lock" feature, i will do something :) .
It is fast enough for the small list of of files/directories I have at the moment - so it is not an issue at the moment. But you may want to think about some kind of acceleration feature for stepping through larger lists?

I'll look forward to the 'lock' feature!
I have reduced the divisor : can you check that this still ok with this firmware ?:

https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/

solarmon
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Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:38 am

Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by solarmon »

Jeff wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 3:51 pm

I have reduced the divisor : can you check that this still ok with this firmware ?:

https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
Just tested v3.2.2.7a and it is still working as expected, and yes, the stepping/scrolling seems to be faster now, without being too sensitive when trying to press the select button.

Jeff
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Re: Rotary encoder alternative - Blackberry Trackball

Post by Jeff »

solarmon wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:16 pm
Jeff wrote:
Sat Jun 08, 2019 3:51 pm

I have reduced the divisor : can you check that this still ok with this firmware ?:

https://hxc2001.com/custom_fw/
Just tested v3.2.2.7a and it is still working as expected, and yes, the stepping/scrolling seems to be faster now, without being too sensitive when trying to press the select button.
Ok fine. Then i will use this new divisor value. Thanks for the tests !

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