Native driver for Freedom Scientific displays by bramd · Pull Request #8853 · nvaccess/nvda

bramd · 2018-10-17T21:40:24Z

Link to issue number:

Fixes #7727
fixes #4464
fixes #8849
fixes #8729

Summary of the issue:

The current Freedom Scientific braille display driver requires a binary component from Freedom Scientific. This prevents the driver from integrating fully with NVDA features like braille display auto detection. Also, braille input is not supported by the current driver.

Description of how this pull request fixes the issue:

This is a rewrite of the driver in pure Python. It still requires the USB driver from Freedom Scientific for working with displays over USB, but the communication with the display is now handled in Python.

It also supports braille input and auto detection.
This PR adds a new feature to braille auto detection as well. It keeps searching for a USB display when a Bluetooth connection is active, it will only connect to USB devices for the same driver. This is because a Focus display switches to USB when a cable is plugged in, even if a Bluetooth connection is active. The old binary driver does auto switching to USB as well, so not supporting this would be a regression for users. This also works for other display brands.

Testing performed:

Tested with a Focus 40 blue 4th generation over USB and Bluetooth by me
Tested with a Focus 40 fifth generation by @MarcoZehe over USB and Bluetooth
Other users have done tests as well during development of this driver, see Native driver for Freedom Scientific braille displays #7727
@LeonarddeR tested the new bdDetect behavior as follows:
1. Connect a Handy Tech Basic Braille via Bluetooth. The display is detected
2. Connect a Handy Tech Easy Braille via USB. The Basic Braille is automatically disconnected in favour of the USB device.
3. Disconnect the Easy Braille. NVDA switches back to the Basic Braille over bluetooth automatically.
4. Connect the Handy Tech Easy Braille via USB again. The Basic Braille is automatically disconnected in favour of the USB device.
5. Again, disconnect the Easy Braille. NVDA switches back to the Basic Braille over bluetooth automatically.
6. Connect an Eurobraille Esys over USB. NVDA keeps the connection to the Basic Braille over Bluetooth, since the Esys doesn't belong to the Handy Tech driver

Known issues with pull request:

None

Change log entry:

New features
- Freedom Scientific braille displays are now supported by braille display auto detection (Native driver for Freedom Scientific braille displays #7727)
Changes
- When an auto detected braille display is connected via Bluetooth, NVDA will keep searching for USB displays supported by the same driver and switch to a USB connection if it becomes available
Bugfixes
- The bumper keys now work correctly on Freedom Scientific braille displays (Unhandled Exception / List index out of range error pressing bumper keys on Freedom Scientific Focus 80 Blue Braille display #8849)

…ss. Braille output and wizWheels are working. Tested on a Focus 40 blue

* Use a writeSize of 0 to dynamically allocate a write buffer * Enable extended keys for newer Focus models * Handle keys and extended keys

…-native

…ate displays (hotkeys)

…-native

* Queue cells when an ACK is pending, so we don't overflow the display with new output * Set the correct serial parameters for the Bluetoot hconnection * Handle serial communication in _onReceive * Fix bug in the _getBluetoothPorts method

…-native

* Implement a custom translation table for Focus 1 models. This is untested for now, since I don't have such a display * Better initialization logic to better handle failing ports and correctly raise an exception if no display is found * Better error handling in hwIo.IoBase and hwIo.Bulk if close is called when the device is not initialized or failed to open. This might happen if __init__ fails and close is called by __dell_

…-native

…incorrectly

…it and use generic ACK handling

…-native

…nnected, even if it's still connected via Bluetooth. If there is a Bluetooth connection, we keep the scan for USB devices active for the current driver, so if a Focus is plugged in it will automatically reconnect via USB and drop the Bluetoot h connection.

…anufacturer/model/firmwareVersion

bramd · 2019-04-10T23:21:31Z

@jcsteh You are right, I didn't have a test device while making the last changes. Now I have and I reproduced and fixed the issue. Thanks for testing.

bramd · 2019-04-13T21:48:43Z

Just fixed the last issues and found a problem in the custom translation code for the very first Focus displays. If anyone here has such an old display, please test it with this driver to ensure it now works as expected.

bramd · 2019-04-15T18:43:44Z

After extended use I encountered the following issue two times:

After pressing an unassigned key on the display, I get the following traceback:

error executing script: <function <lambda> at 0x0546F9F0> with gesture 'rightShiftKey'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "scriptHandler.pyc", line 187, in executeScript
  File "inputCore.pyc", line 467, in <lambda>
  File "inputCore.pyc", line 153, in send
NotImplementedError

I didn't find a way to reproduce this reliably. Any thoughts @jcsteh, @michaelDCurran, @LeonarddeR?

lukaszgo1 · 2019-04-25T11:07:32Z

Any chance for combining the routing keys with other keys on the display or is it simply impossible with these models?

LeonarddeR · 2019-04-25T15:15:42Z

I didn't find a way to reproduce this reliably. Any thoughts @jcsteh, @michaelDCurran, @LeonarddeR?

This looks unrelated to this pr. May be you could file a separate issue?

LeonarddeR · 2019-04-25T15:17:09Z

@feerrenrut: Requested another round of review as @bramd noted that this is ready. This is most likely going to change a bit as soon as Python 3 arrives, however it is as good as finished and there's some demand for this being included soon.

The requested changes were addressed.

feerrenrut · 2019-05-03T15:00:52Z

We would really like to get this PR merged before we get into the python3 migration. I will take a look at clarifying some of the remaining numbers and adding comments, I'll submit a PR to you against this branch. Hopefully this process will illuminate whether or not I have understood how this works.

Co-Authored-By: Leonard de Ruijter <leonardder@users.noreply.github.com>

Documentation and code clarification.

…-native

Leonard de Ruijter and others added 30 commits September 25, 2017 11:27

Attempt to create a new hwIo class for USB bulk devices

c1784f0

Merge branch 'bulk' into freedomscientific-native

dd6fae5

Native driver for Freedom Scientific braille displays, work in progre…

20da169

…ss. Braille output and wizWheels are working. Tested on a Focus 40 blue

Key and extended key handling

882a307

* Use a writeSize of 0 to dynamically allocate a write buffer * Enable extended keys for newer Focus models * Handle keys and extended keys

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

52f041e

…-native

Add support for routing and second row of buttons on older Focus/Pacm…

bff76e8

…ate displays (hotkeys)

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

2bddae8

…-native

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

a4b647a

…-native

Add USB VID/PID for Focus/PAC mate displays

fd7e914

Code documentation and cleanup

e37038a

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

d49a493

…-native

Fix typo in br(breedomscientific]:leftBumerbarUp gesture. Fix merged …

d60639f

…incorrectly

Mark brailleDisplayDrivers/freedomScientific.py as UTF-8

331e13d

Fixed reference from numCells to self.numCells

2249037

Merge branch 'master' into freedomscientific-native

f54e54e

Enable auto detection of Freedom Scientific braille displays

cef92d2

Some code cleanup

d783b49

Fix mistake in display initialization introduced in the previous comm…

8364932

…it and use generic ACK handling

Fix key handling if multiple keys are released at the same time

4a50975

Don't set _awaitingAck manually in display method

5ad6818

Merge branch 'master' into freedomscientific-native

d0f6e6e

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

a3fb229

…-native

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

4f4d6ce

…-native

Code cleanup

363ea52

Update UserGuide:Freedom Scientific displays support auto detection

4125f0f

Add key bindings for win+tab and alt+shift+tab

318439b

Use FS_BYTE_NULL instead of FS_DATA_EMPTY in string replacement for m…

9beffd1

…anufacturer/model/firmwareVersion

bramd added 2 commits April 13, 2019 23:27

Use constants for offsets in INFO packet

99cbc02

Fix documentation ans usage of special translation table for Focus 1

90447e1

LeonarddeR requested a review from feerrenrut April 25, 2019 15:15

feerrenrut reviewed Apr 26, 2019

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feerrenrut reviewed May 3, 2019

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Comment thread source/brailleDisplayDrivers/freedomScientific.py

Improve documentation

1545299

feerrenrut reviewed May 6, 2019

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Comment thread source/brailleDisplayDrivers/freedomScientific.py Outdated

Documentation and code clarification.

52dc60b

feerrenrut mentioned this pull request May 6, 2019

Documentation and code clarification. bramd/nvda#3

Merged

feerrenrut and others added 3 commits May 20, 2019 11:32

Update source/brailleDisplayDrivers/freedomScientific.py

2869c9e

Co-Authored-By: Leonard de Ruijter <leonardder@users.noreply.github.com>

Merge pull request #3 from nvaccess/freedomscientific-native

4cd583c

Documentation and code clarification.

Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into freedomscientific…

dc2913b

…-native

feerrenrut approved these changes May 21, 2019

View reviewed changes

feerrenrut merged commit 327b2dd into nvaccess:master May 21, 2019

nvaccessAuto added this to the 2019.2 milestone May 21, 2019

feerrenrut added a commit that referenced this pull request May 21, 2019

Update changes file for PR #8853

aa280b6

bramd deleted the freedomscientific-native branch June 8, 2019 21:36

Adriani90 mentioned this pull request Sep 5, 2023

Focus 40 5th gen not detected under windows 11 22h2 #15361

Closed

DataTriny mentioned this pull request May 7, 2026

Signal routing button presses for Freedom Scientific displays #20077

Closed

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Native driver for Freedom Scientific displays#8853

Native driver for Freedom Scientific displays#8853
feerrenrut merged 59 commits into
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bramd commented Oct 17, 2018 •

edited by LeonarddeR

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bramd commented Oct 17, 2018 • edited by LeonarddeR Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Description of how this pull request fixes the issue:

Testing performed:

Known issues with pull request:

Change log entry:

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bramd commented Oct 17, 2018 •

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