Playing with Ergodox, Part Two
The first thing I noticed was that my '" key had been replaced with an “Oryx” training key.
I the checked with my paper backup and I saw that the Oryx key is the only difference between the new latest layout and the default layout that the keyboard shipped with.
Rather than immediately edit out the Oryx key, I decided to try out the Oryx live training thing.
I went to https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/train. I even checked the instructions for Linux users.
…and then I was told that Firefox was not supported, because Oryx required webusb.
I needed to use Edge, something Chromium-based, or Opera.
I looked at ungoogled-chromium for a while, however it looked like effort to install and I wasn’t sure that i trusted it. I saw that Opera was available as a snap.
I opened Opera and tried it out. It seemed like an OK browser, however the semi-translucent window bars reminded me of when I was a teenager ricing my Windows Vista laptop.
I didn’t get the pop up about webusb being incompatible, however my keyboard still didn’t connect when I pressed the Oryx button in Opera.
I then looked at the Linux instructions again and saw that I needed to do them… I skimmed them before. :blush: I also saw that I needed to give my browser permissions for usb direct connectivity.
I didn’t see that option in the “Software” application (gnome-software) on Ubuntu, so I tried relogging to see if Opera would just start working.
…and it was then that I got the sinking feeling that this would only work on chromium…
And guess what… Chromium had that option when installed.
I wondered whether perhaps this permission is specific to the opera snap - lets remove Opera via snap, then install it via .rpm.
I also went and did some googling about why Firefox does not support webusb as a standard. Apparently it is because webusb is “fundamentally insecure”, which I kinda get.
Some more digging. It seems webusb is only supported on chromium-based browsers (hence Opera, Chromium, Edge from the Oryx instructions). Because of this, I was really getting the sinking feeling that I should switch to ungoogled-chromium sooner rather than later…
I downloaded the Opera .deb from here.
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ sudo apt install ./opera-stable_72.0.3815.400_amd64.deb
[sudo] password for peter:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'opera-stable' instead of './opera-stable_72.0.3815.400_amd64.deb'
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libfprint-2-tod1 libllvm9 libllvm9:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
pepperflashplugin-nonfree
Suggested packages:
chromium-browser ttf-dejavu ttf-mscorefonts-installer ttf-xfree86-nonfree
The following NEW packages will be installed
opera-stable pepperflashplugin-nonfree
0 to upgrade, 2 to newly install, 0 to remove and 47 not to upgrade.
Need to get 5,492 B/69.9 MB of archives.
After this operation, 215 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/multiverse amd64 pepperflashplugin-nonfree amd64 1.8.6ubuntu1 [5,492 B]
Get:2 /home/peter/Downloads/opera-stable_72.0.3815.400_amd64.deb opera-stable amd64 72.0.3815.400 [69.9 MB]
Fetched 5,492 B in 1s (9,137 B/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously unselected package opera-stable.
(Reading database ... 243174 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../opera-stable_72.0.3815.400_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking opera-stable (72.0.3815.400) ...
Selecting previously unselected package pepperflashplugin-nonfree.
Preparing to unpack .../pepperflashplugin-nonfree_1.8.6ubuntu1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking pepperflashplugin-nonfree (1.8.6ubuntu1) ...
Setting up opera-stable (72.0.3815.400) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/opera to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode
update-alternatives: warning: skip creation of /usr/share/man/man1/x-www-browser.1.gz because associated file /usr/share/man/man1/opera.1.gz (of link group x-www-browser) doesn't exist
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/opera to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode
update-alternatives: warning: skip creation of /usr/share/man/man1/gnome-www-browser.1.gz because associated file /usr/share/man/man1/opera.1.gz (of link group gnome-www-browser) doesn't exist
Setting up pepperflashplugin-nonfree (1.8.6ubuntu1) ...
--2020-11-29 19:43:55-- https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/webservices/json/?platform_type=Linux&platform_arch=x86_64&browser_dist=Chrome
Resolving get.adobe.com (get.adobe.com)... 193.104.215.66
Connecting to get.adobe.com (get.adobe.com)|193.104.215.66|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: unspecified [application/json]
Saving to: ‘STDOUT’
- [ <=> ] 1.89K --.-KB/s in 0s
2020-11-29 19:43:56 (178 MB/s) - written to stdout [1937]
--2020-11-29 19:43:56-- https://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/flashplayer/pdc/32.0.0.453/flash_player_ppapi_linux.x86_64.tar.gz
Resolving fpdownload.adobe.com (fpdownload.adobe.com)... 2.20.93.213, 2a02:26f0:13b:38f::11e2, 2a02:26f0:13b:39d::11e2
Connecting to fpdownload.adobe.com (fpdownload.adobe.com)|2.20.93.213|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 9764153 (9.3M) [application/x-gzip]
Saving to: ‘STDOUT’
- 100%[===============================================================================================================>] 9.31M 4.35MB/s in 2.1s
2020-11-29 19:43:58 (4.35 MB/s) - written to stdout [9764153/9764153]
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for shared-mime-info (1.15-1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ...
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$
Now, trying the Opera installed via deb.
Hmmmmmm, OK. So Opera downloaded via deb seems to see the Ergodox-EZ, however it never gets any further and still says:
No device selected.
Restart
OK. Removed Opera, installed ungoogled chromium.
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ sudo apt remove opera-stable pepperflashplugin-nonfree
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libfprint-2-tod1 libllvm9 libllvm9:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED
opera-stable pepperflashplugin-nonfree
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 2 to remove and 47 not to upgrade.
After this operation, 215 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
(Reading database ... 243307 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing opera-stable (72.0.3815.400) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode
Removing pepperflashplugin-nonfree (1.8.6ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for shared-mime-info (1.15-1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ...
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$
I installed ungoogled-chromium via instructions from here.
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home-ungoogled_chromium.list > /dev/null
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ curl -s 'https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal/Release.key' | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home-ungoogled_chromium.gpg > /dev/null
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ sudo apt update
Get:1 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal InRelease [1,565 B]
Hit:2 http://ppa.launchpad.net/lutris-team/lutris/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:4 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [114 kB]
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/obsproject/obs-studio/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:6 https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:7 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [109 kB]
Get:8 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal Packages [3,755 B]
Get:10 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [101 kB]
Hit:9 https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt kubernetes-xenial InRelease
Get:11 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [237 kB]
Get:12 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [205 kB]
Get:13 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [2,468 B]
Get:14 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [1,768 B]
Get:15 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [24.3 kB]
Get:16 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [56.6 kB]
Fetched 855 kB in 2s (549 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
47 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$ sudo apt install -y ungoogled-chromium
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libfprint-2-tod1 libllvm9 libllvm9:i386
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
libjsoncpp1 libminizip1 libre2-5 ungoogled-chromium-common ungoogled-chromium-sandbox
Suggested packages:
ungoogled-chromium-l10n ungoogled-chromium-shell ungoogled-chromium-driver
Recommended packages:
libva1
The following NEW packages will be installed
libjsoncpp1 libminizip1 libre2-5 ungoogled-chromium ungoogled-chromium-common ungoogled-chromium-sandbox
0 to upgrade, 6 to newly install, 0 to remove and 47 not to upgrade.
Need to get 49.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 163 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 libminizip1 amd64 1.1-8build1 [20.2 kB]
Get:2 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal ungoogled-chromium-common 84.0.4147.135-1.focal1 [270 kB]
Get:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libre2-5 amd64 20200101+dfsg-1build1 [162 kB]
Get:4 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 libjsoncpp1 amd64 1.7.4-3.1ubuntu2 [75.6 kB]
Get:5 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal ungoogled-chromium 84.0.4147.135-1.focal1 [49.2 MB]
Get:6 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/ungoogled_chromium/Ubuntu_Focal ungoogled-chromium-sandbox 84.0.4147.135-1.focal1 [56.4 kB]
Fetched 49.8 MB in 13s (3,910 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libminizip1:amd64.
(Reading database ... 243178 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../0-libminizip1_1.1-8build1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libminizip1:amd64 (1.1-8build1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libre2-5:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../1-libre2-5_20200101+dfsg-1build1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libre2-5:amd64 (20200101+dfsg-1build1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libjsoncpp1:amd64.
Preparing to unpack .../2-libjsoncpp1_1.7.4-3.1ubuntu2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libjsoncpp1:amd64 (1.7.4-3.1ubuntu2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package ungoogled-chromium-common.
Preparing to unpack .../3-ungoogled-chromium-common_84.0.4147.135-1.focal1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking ungoogled-chromium-common (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package ungoogled-chromium.
Preparing to unpack .../4-ungoogled-chromium_84.0.4147.135-1.focal1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking ungoogled-chromium (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package ungoogled-chromium-sandbox.
Preparing to unpack .../5-ungoogled-chromium-sandbox_84.0.4147.135-1.focal1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking ungoogled-chromium-sandbox (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Setting up libminizip1:amd64 (1.1-8build1) ...
Setting up ungoogled-chromium-sandbox (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Setting up ungoogled-chromium-common (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Setting up libre2-5:amd64 (20200101+dfsg-1build1) ...
Setting up libjsoncpp1:amd64 (1.7.4-3.1ubuntu2) ...
Setting up ungoogled-chromium (84.0.4147.135-1.focal1) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ...
peter@C-3PO:~/Downloads$
I opened Chromium…
I now saw that there were two chromium options, appearing in my launchy thing. I decided to start chromium from the cli.
I went to https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/train .
I clicked on “Connect my keyboard” and not only did “Ergodox EZ” appear as an option, but I was able to select it. I pressed the “Oryx” button and I finally arrived. :tada:
Some interesting links if you made it this far…
Interesting links:
-
https://ubuntu.com/blog/a-guide-to-snap-permissions-and-interfaces
-
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1206951/how-can-snap-permissions-be-viewed-and-modified
-
https://web.dev/usb/
-
https://caniuse.com/#feat=webusb